Dear OzSpen,

It might be good if you showed a bit of humility and admitted that the Bible is not a reliable document when it maintains that that the earth is about 6,000 years old, the sun stood still at the battle of Jericho, slavery is ok and it is wrong to combine linen and wool.

Rather than citing logical fallacies that you really don't seem to understand you might admit your own fallacy. Those authorities you cited made the case that the Bible gives an accurate description of the history of early Christianity. Citing a contention that a small part of the Bible is accurate does not make the Bible a reliable document.

You asked, "Where in Scripture do you see anything that looks like transgender?"

The answer is nowhere because those who wrote Scripture only had the knowledge of their time and place. One might also ask “Where in Scripture do you see anything that looks like the theory of gravity?"

To assume that Scripture is the source of all knowledge or is even correct in what it does maintain is a very faulty assumption. The Bible incorporates the definitions of sexuality of the culture in which it was written. Other cultures accepted different versions of sexuality. Some of the American Indian tribes had the Berdache which is a form of transgender.

https://owlcation.com/social-sciences/Native-American-Berdache-Tradition

To limit oneself to the Bible is ignoring the world outside of the Bible.

david f.

<<There are books supporting biblical narratives and there are books denying biblical narratives. I have not gone into these books you mention, but I know there are places where the Bible is unreliable.
According to the Bible the earth is about 6,000 years old, According to the Bible the earth is about 6,000 years old, the sun stood still at the battle of Jericho, slaves should obey their master and it is wrong to combine two different materials such as linen and wool to make a garment.>>

You again refuse to supply evidence to support your claims.

(1) <<There are books supporting biblical narratives and there are books denying biblical narratives>>

You provided not one example to support this statement. You say you want evidence to demonstrate the Bible is reliable. No you don't. You provided ZERO evidence to support your claims.

(2) <<I have not gone into these books you mention>>

That's exactly as I predicted. You are not interested in seeking evidence to refute your view and to demonstrate the Bible contains a series of documents that are trustworthy.

(3) <<I know there are places where the Bible is unreliable.>>

You gave no examples. Again it's your opinion, driven by your atheistic presuppositions.

(4) <<According to the Bible the earth is about 6,000 years old>>

Where?

(5) <<the sun stood still at the battle of Jericho>>

Your presuppositions SHOUT 'I do not believe in miracles. Almighty God does not exist’.

(6) <<slaves should obey their master (sic)>>

It is wrong to say the Bible is pro-slavery. See the article: http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-wrong-say-bible-pro-slavery/

(7) <<it is wrong to combine two different materials such as linen and wool to make a garment>>

Plucking a sentence out of the Old Testament (with no reference supplied) is not an invitation for me to engage with you. You are chucking off at the Bible and God's rules for the Israelites (Lev 19:19; Deut 22:9-11). See an explanation at: http://www.gotquestions.org/different-types-of-fabric.html

If you come back with any more of your pretentious statements, I will not respond.

Dear OzSpen,

My statements are logical and based on reason. I shall not miss your lack of response. Farewell.

Hey david f,

I don't know if the bible mentions transgenders, but they were dealing with female deities at the time, and significant female religious leadership was not uncommon.

One such example is Diana of Ephesus, and this is mentioned in the bible.

Diana was the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Artemis

Interesting the new NASA partnership with Australia is called Artemis.
Diana, often posed as bathing as well as in her traditional guises, became a popular subject in Renaissance art.
She and Apollo were sometimes pictured as a kind of pagan version of Adam and Eve.

The transgender history page on wikipedia seems to suggest transgenders existed, if the information can be relied upon as accurate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_history

Dear Armchair Critic,

Not only have transgenders existed in humanity, but non-binary sexual relationships have existed throughout the animal kingdom.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexual_behavior_in_animals

The Christian Bible is 80% non-Christian. It absorbed the Jewish Bible and then treated the Jews as heretics because they wouldn’t accept the distortion of their religion. The Jewish Bible incorporated a hatred of the pagan cults. Many of the pagan cults were more tolerant toward non-binary forms of sexuality. The prohibition of non-binary sex in the Bible could stem from a rejection of those practices by the pagan cults.

Our society has partially thrown off that biblical prejudice against non-binary sexuality by legalizing same sex marriage. That prejudice still exists in the Abrahamic religions which treat those forms of sexuality as sin. One of the features of sexual development among some teenagers is a search for gender identity. To label such search as sin can cause extreme damage to a teenager who is struggling with many other issues at that time of life. Yet that is what a chaplain in the school may do with the Abrahamic religion’s blinkered view of right and wrong.

Ignorant statements such as "Where in Scripture do you see anything that looks like transgender?" is not helpful to a teenager dealing with developmental gender identity.

That is one of the reasons we should not have chaplains in the schools. School personnel dealing with students should be aware of the sexual and social development of that age group and deal with that development in a non-judgmental fashion. In general chaplains are incompetent in that area since their knowledge is based on biblical attitudes.

Dear Armchair Critic,

There is a woman in a prominent position in the Jewish Bible.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah

According to the Book of Judges, Deborah was a prophetess of the God of the Israelites, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel and the only female judge mentioned in the Bible, and the wife of Lapidoth. Deborah told Barak that God commanded him to lead an attack against the forces of Jabin king of Canaan and his military commander Sisera (Judges 4:6–7); the entire narrative is recounted in chapter 4.

Judges chapter 5 gives the same story in poetic form. This passage, often called The Song of Deborah, may date to as early as the twelfth century BC,[1] and is perhaps the earliest sample of Hebrew poetry.

The suppression of woman in the New Testament is greater than in the Jewish Bible. The Virgin Mary is venerated as a womb. She is not quoted.