It's always interesting to me when people use a "The Bible is silent" argument for their favorite issue. "Jesus never said anything about gays." "You won't find a single word in the Bible prohibiting transgenderism." "The Bible does not have one word on the topic of child molesting." That last statement, in fact, is absolutely true and illustrates the danger of "The Bible is silent" kinds of arguments. They are often blind and misguided arguments aimed primarily at admitting "my pet sin." They are typically arguments produced with blinders -- "Don't look over there for that principle; you just might find it." And, perhaps most telling, they are almost exclusively offered by people who argue "You can't take the Bible as literal truth" while they're arguing that "the Bible doesn't make that literal argument."
Take the most recent objection to my blog -- transgenderism. "It's not in there," they tell me. "Jesus never said one word about the 'T' of LGBT." You know, they're right. The word is not found in any translation of the Bible. So what is in the Bible? While 1 Cor 6:9-10 includes a denial of the "effeminate" in some translations, it is most clear in the Old Testament when God told His people, "A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God." (Deut 22:5) "Oh, don't be silly," I can already hear, "that's Old Testament." So, God no longer finds it abominable? We're not talking preferences here; we're talking hate from God. "Yeah, I think the idea eventually grew on Him and He wised up and found it perfectly suitable." Jesus said, "The Scripture cannot be broken". (John 10:35) At its core, then, Scripture recognizes two genders: male and female. Nothing in between. Nothing changing (Gen 1:27; Gen 5:2; Matt 19:4). And God assigned roles for each sex that differ based on their design (e.g., Gen 2:18; 1 Cor 11:3; 1 Cor 16:13; Eph 5:22-31). (Critical in those roles, by the way, is a male and a female being married and becoming one (Gen 2:24; Matt 19:5-6; Eph 5:31-32) and producing offspring (Gen 1:28; Gen 8:17), something made absolutely impossible in a transsexual.)
Ultimately, the question is "Who are you going to believe?" Are you going to go with 6000 years of biblical morality or the most recent 20 years of "new morality"? Are you going to buy science (which only recognizes two genders) or modern myth which allows for any range of possibilities (without any method of measuring or quantifying)? (Note: Intersex is not transgenderism and is not the question being discussed here.) Is God's opinion of any value or not? Does how we feel determine what is right or wrong? (Consider that one with care. If you're not careful you open the door to that "The Bible doesn't say anything about child molesting" question and more.)
In the end, they tell me, "If you're really kind and really caring -- if you really love your neighbor -- you won't say bad things about their life choices. (Of course we are perfectly free and correct in telling you that your life choice of believing the Bible as you do is evil and ought to be eliminated, and we have no intention of admitting to that double standard.) If you really care about people, you'll only say nice things about their gender identity and sexual orientation and so on. That's the real loving thing to do." I suppose that appears reasonable (despite the obvious double standard) to many, but if God is to be believed, then I'd suggest that doing things that God hates might not end well for them. I'd offer the perspective that "will not inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor 6:9-10) is not a positive outcome. I would argue that a person who loves another person -- truly loves; cares about their best interests -- would be evil if they knew the negative results and patted them on the back and said, "Be fed and warm." It would be like, "Oh, no, don't you worry your little head about that cancer diagnosis. It's just those crazy doctors that say silly things like 'It can kill you so you'd better take the treatment.' No, no, be yourself. Embrace the cancer. It's not as bad as they say it is. You just be you." I guess I'm just not "loving" enough to consign people I care about to God's wrath. The Bible is not as silent as they want you to believe, and I can't be as silent as they want me to be.
8 comments:
I could be wrong, but I seem to remember a logical fallacy that is similar to this post.
I don't know ... something like "an argument from silence" or something like it? Yep.
Something like that. What's amazing is that some people make this argument with a straight face and just assume that it will end the discussion. I think it's related to selective liberalism as well. The Bible could say "Thou shalt not surgically alter thy body to resemble the other gender", and these folks would argue. "But the Bible doesn't say transgender anywhere.".
Actually, when you get down to it, a "transgender," aside from denying biology, is really a homosexual. The person pretends to be a member of the opposite sex and then has relations with a person of the same sex! And, of course, homosexuality is severely condemned in Scripture.
Almost, Glenn. I actually knew of one girl, raised by two homosexual males, who wanted to be both male and homosexual. She was attracted to males, so she set out to transition to male in order to be homosexual. All very, VERY convoluted.
You're right, Craig. More likely, they'd say something like, "That only pertained to some ancient religious rituals and myth and you're just not understanding it correctly."
Stan,
That's about as convoluted and illogical as it gets! But when you are raised by those who perverse God's gift of sex, your mind has to be somewhat confused!
I love the "Jesus never said" when hearing from Christians who supposedly believe Christ is God. If that is so, then He definitely said a lot in the OT. And as you say, there's no indication that God "warmed" to any sin He prohibited back in the day. But of course, if I truly need to understand what Scripture says, then I always confer with progressives who will make it mean what I need it to mean for my purposes. It's so much easier and there's no one who can criticize me, because they'd be judgemental and progressives tell me we're to "judge not". It's all so easy now. Bury me in asbestos.
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