A Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) podcast called The Table Podcast hosted three theology professors who argued that transgenderism—or gender dysphoria—is not a sin, but is given by God to teach us things.
Drs. Darrell Bock, Gary Barnes, and Tim Yoder—professors at DTS—are in the video.
When asked by Dr. Darrell Bock about how to deal with transgender people, Dr. Barnes responded, “We can hold firmly to theological truths but also understand that there are exceptions in a broken, fallen world.”
Stunningly, Dr. Tim Yoder (the man on the right with the glorious mullet) goes on to say that transgenderism is not a sin, but is only a trial given by God. He then compares the gender dysphoric with the Bible hero, Job.
Yoder says, “I think there’s a theological…and ethical distinction that really helps here and that’s between a test and a trial and an actual sinful activity. This comes out of the book of Job and really throughout the Scriptures. Just because we live in a broken world we find ourselves in a situation that’s a trial like Job’s…”
Yoder continues, “When people have gender dysphoria, that’s not a sinful choice on their part. It’s a trial that they undergo. Now how are they going to deal with that? There are sinful choices that they can make in that trial and there are righteous choices we can make in that trial. But the situation itself is part of our fallen world, but it’s not a sin-choice itself.”
Then, Yoder went on to compare the gender dysphoric to people born with physical disabilities. You can watch the video below.
The video shows a stunning display of bad theology.
First, the desire for sin is still sin (Matthew 5:28) whether or not its acted upon.
Secondly, a sinful proclivity resulting from the Fall of Man does not absolve anyone of sin but rather condemns us (Romans 5:12-17).
Third, claiming that transgenderism is a gift from God is horrific, because God tempts no one to sin (James 1:13).
Fourth, Job was tempted because of his righteousness heart (Job 1:8), but transgenderism comes from a rebellious heart (Matthew 5:19).
Fifth, claiming that something must be a “choice” in order for it to be sinful is denial of the historic understanding of Original Sin. The professors seem to grasp the fallenness of mankind, but then use it to absolve from sin rather than condemn.
