Was Eve the First Transgender Female?
Christians continue to be one group that resists the transgender trend. That’s probably why our theological convictions — and the source of those convictions (the Bible) — are always under attack. For example, some people claim God created Eve as a transgender woman. They allege that since Eve was formed out of Adam’s rib, she was created from a bone that contained male DNA. That means, so the argument goes, God created a woman from a man. Therefore, if God made a transgender person, then it follows that he approves of people transitioning.
This isn’t the first attempt to find approval of transgenderism in the Bible. Like so many others, though, it is fraught with problems.
Eve Doesn’t Fit the Transgender Definition
First, Eve doesn’t fit the definition of a transgender person. Modern gender theory bifurcates sex (biology) and gender identity (psychology), saying the two can be congruent or incongruent. According to the standard definition, a transgender person is someone whose gender identity is incongruent with—different from—their biological sex. A transgender woman, then, would be a biological male who identifies as a woman.
Eve, even according to the argument’s claim, was a biological female who, we can safely assume, knew she was a woman. Her biology and gender identity (if you were to map that concept onto the Bible) were congruent. Therefore, by today’s definition, Eve was not a transgender person.
Eve was Supernaturally Created
Second, Eve was supernaturally created and can’t count as a person who transitioned. God fashioned the first humans in a unique way that disqualifies them from being categorized as transgender. Notice, God formed Adam out of “dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Gen. 2:7). He performed a miracle to make a man out of mud.
The Scripture says God also made Eve supernaturally, but he didn’t change a male into a female. Rather, God “fashioned into a woman the rib which he had taken from the man” (Gen. 2:22). Again, this is a miraculous, one-time event. It doesn’t describe how anyone—male or female—was ever made again.
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Just because Adam was created by a transition from dust to flesh, this does not mean Adam was trans in any way. Similarly, just because Eve was created by a transition from a male rib to a full-bodied female, this does not mean she was trans in any way. These were special creation events necessary to kick-start humanity. It’s illegitimate to attempt to force-fit Eve into the modern category of transgender.
God Says It’s Sin
Third, it doesn’t make sense to conclude that God “approves of people transitioning” if he says in Scripture it’s sin to take on the identity of the opposite sex. In the Old Testament, for example, Deuteronomy 22:5 says, “A woman shall not wear man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.” This command, intended to maintain the distinction between the two sexes, prohibits what many transgender people do today: take on the identity of the opposite sex by virtue of how they dress.
A similar prohibition is found in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 6:9–10, where Paul writes, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.” The word translated “effeminate” is from the Greek word malakoi, which literally means “soft men.” The word refers to men in the first century who took on the identity of a woman by their mannerisms, jewelry, and makeup, or sometimes even by castration. The Bible says that men who behaved this way would “not inherit the kingdom of God.” Therefore, it’s highly implausible that God created Eve as a transgender person since he condemns (in both the Old and New Testament) taking on the identity of the opposite sex.
God did not change a male into a female. He miraculously created a man from dust and a woman from a rib. The Genesis account of Eve’s creation is not a transgender narrative. Rather, modern gender theorists are trying to impose 21st-century ideology onto an Ancient Near Eastern text. It’s anachronistic, relies on strained logic, and is ultimately unconvincing.
Alan Shlemon is an author and speaker for Stand to Reason. He trains Christians to share their convictions in a persuasive, yet gracious manner. He has been a guest on both radio and television, and has spoken to thousands of adults and students across the country at churches, conferences, and college campuses.
Copyright 2023 StandtoReason.org. Republished with permission.
