The givenness of gender

Tackling transgender theory is a complex endeavor. The issue encompasses high-level academic debates, real-world confusion and suffering, and concerns about ideological influences on children. Engaging with this topic requires both intellectual sophistication and pastoral sensitivity—a balance few achieve. Thankfully, pastor-theologian Robert S. Smith rises to the challenge.

According to Smith, at the “heart of transgender theory” is the “denial of the view that the sexed body determines the gendered self and so should ground gender identity, guide gender roles, and govern gender expression.” All forms of transgender theory assume four main axioms: (1) everyone has an inner gender identity; (2) not everyone’s gender identity matches their biological sex; (3) gender identity, rather than sex, is what determines whether you are a man or a woman (or neither); and (4) human societies are obliged to recognize and legally protect gender identity, not biological sex. Smith’s stated purpose in The Body God Gives is “to evaluate both the indicative (that the sexed body does not determine the gendered self) and the imperative (that it ought not, or at least need not, ground gender identity, guide gender roles, and govern gender expression) inherent in this denial, and to do so from an evangelical theological perspective.”

Smith primarily deals with the ideas and arguments of transgender theorists rather than sharing personal stories or promoting pastoral practices. Still, he treats the topic with delicacy, writing that “the distressing nature of gender incongruence should arouse our sympathies and inform our care.”

In Part 2, Smith provides a comprehensive survey of the gender-identity literature. Mapping how we got here in our gender confusion is extremely important, even if the journey is somewhat depressing. This material will prove valuable for any Christian leader or educator who wants to get quickly up to speed on the fundamental texts and key conceptual moves that have made transgender theory plausible. Though he treats these authors and their arguments fairly, he reveals internal contradictions and effectively refutes them on their own terms. One significant contradiction: Transgender theory relies on the notion that gender has an “essence” tied to psychological traits and behaviors, while simultaneously claiming that this essence can exist in a body with the “wrong” biological characteristics. Additionally, the theory presupposes that subjective feelings override objective reality—a premise not extended to other aspects of human identity, such as age or race.

Smith makes the case that there is no reason to doubt that sex is a binary, biological reality. He argues that decoupling sex and gender leads to madness. How can “masculinity” or “femininity” have meaning apart from the bodies they originate from? According to Smith, gender is “the culturally mediated set of conceptions, expectations, and roles associated with being either male or female.” Thus they remain distinguishable, but not divorced. Distinguishing between them helps avoid rigid gender stereotypes; but without grounding gender in sex, the former just becomes an infinitely malleable synonym for personality. The only way that the notion of gender can be coherently maintained is to ground it in sex. And this means trans theory cannot be sustained.

In Part 3, Smith turns to Scripture to tease out what the opening chapters of Genesis, the life of Jesus, and the teachings about the new creation have to offer to the contemporary debates over transgender theory. The anthropology of Genesis 1 and 2 affirms not only the sex-and-gender binary, but also the sex-and-gender connection. To claim that “real sex” is independent of the body reflects a Gnostic rejection of material creation. Furthermore, Smith highlights Jesus’s maleness, retained in His resurrected and ascended state, as evidence of sexed embodiment’s eternal significance. He also refutes interpretations of Matthew 22:30 and Galatians 3:28 that supposedly challenge the sex binary. With regard to Galatians 3:28, Smith explains that Paul was not arguing for emancipation from biological sex or an androgynous eschaton. Rather, the distinctions under discussion, which are not erased in Christ, are rendered irrelevant for membership in the community of salvation—not abolished, but adiaphorized.

Smith’s central finding: Human beings must discern and live according to the meaning God has embedded in their sexed bodies. While specific cultural expressions of gender may change, Christians should express gender in ways that acknowledge and respect God-given sex differences rather than obscure them. Faithful gender expression operates within culturally intelligible norms while affirming the fundamental reality of biological sex.

Smith covers a lot of territory in this important work. In fact, I think he covers a bit too much. Part 3 occasionally veers into exegetical tangents that, while insightful, stray from the book’s core argument and could be streamlined. He could pare those arguments down significantly or even push much of that material to the footnotes. Part 1—in which Smith provides a survey of prominent evangelical attempts to address this topic and outlines his methodology—reads like a dissertation. It’s burdensome for a general audience. Radically condensing or cutting these chapters would improve the book’s readability without sacrificing its impact. Still, this book is a crucial resource for Christians seeking to understand and respond to the “transgender moment.”