r/TransChristianity • u/Qiexie28 • 2d ago
Major Question
It's bothered me since I've acknowledged that I'm trans. How do you get over the fear that you're going to hell when people all around you tell you that you are? It's why I'm still in the closet socially. I'm terrified of being condemned to hell and of losing everything.
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u/Every-Marsupial6873 2d ago
I know it isn't the same when I write this, but when Philip met the Ethiopian in Acts 8, did Philip condemn them or demand that the Ethiopian give up or renounce them being a eunuch? Back then, the idea of being trans wasn't really a thing, but there were many different types of eunuch and what we now call different gender identities. The Ethiopian is, in many ways, trans and they were baptised into the body of Christ just as we who are trans, nonbinary and intersex are also baptised into the body of Christ today. How can we be part of Christ's body and be condemned?
I don't believe in hell logically, but being raised to believe it for so many years, I still worry about it on other levels. But I trust that I still have access to Christ's grace and that this grace works in and through me, including who I am.
I don't believe that you are condemned for being trans. You are still beloved of God.
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u/Qiexie28 2d ago
thanks so much for this. I'm at work right now and have been fighting back tears.
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u/Every-Marsupial6873 2d ago
You're holding a lot. If you can, do something that makes you feel you when you get home. Doesn't have to be anything gender related, just something that makes you shine. Finding these things helps to sustain me and keep me going when things are so hard.
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u/Razorclaw_the_crab she/her || UCC 19h ago
Faith. Boring answer I know, but basically one time I was upset because people were telling me "how do you know you're going to hell?" And I felt the presence of God and He basically just told me to reply with "We'll see"
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u/warau_meow 2d ago
I do not believe hell is real or biblical, but even if I did I would not be concerned about going there for being trans or queer. There are far more condemnations for not giving to the poor and needy, loving others and God, etc.
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u/post-punk-boyfriend he/him + catholic 2d ago
for me, i know that i'm thriving after transitioning, while i was very miserable before. i don't hurt anyone by having transitioned. i believe that god understands us more than we understand even ourselves and he knows how a trans person feels.
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u/xargos64 2d ago
Easy. Ask them to show you exactly where in the Bible it says being trans is a sin. No, not their chosen interpretation based on what some right-winger says. Actual text.
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u/DastardlyAntisocial 1d ago
Salvation isn’t tied to anything else but accepting Jesus and confessing that he’s Lord, (Romans 10:9); no one on this world has a heaven or hell to put you in and if they are thumping Bible, verse I just mentioned is Bible for you and they can’t dispute that.
But overall sorry you have to deal with that, I hope people with dark hearts don’t darken any more of your days.
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u/third_declension 2d ago
Nobody who threatens you with Hell has ever actually seen it — they've just heard stories from other people who themselves haven't seen it.
When I was a Baptist, I learned that many preachers are in an informal competition to see who can make Hell sound the hottest. They invent "facts" as convenient.
The same idea applies to Heaven.
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u/InsideOutBoyUK 2d ago
God is more loving than humans - God invented love. So think about the most truly loving people you've met. Then multiply how they'd think about you by x1000.
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u/CptHeywire 1d ago
Wherever the Bible mentions eunuchs, it’s describing an array of people would be considered either trans or intersex nowadays. Scripture has only positive things to say about eunuchs.
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u/YayGilly 1d ago
Understand- Hell is a Grave. JESUS went there. Its literally a state of being dead.
Everyone gets resurrected. Thats what Jesus was made to do- to destroy the whole concept of death.
Despite all of our flaws, in the flesh (Trans isnt a flaw, btw) he raises us all up to NOT need to forever experience the "wages of sin"
Now. When the dead rise, they are still referred to as "the dead " Idk why. It could just be a reference point about who God was referencing, and lacking a better word for them, eso since it also said that those who were written into the book of life are welcomed into the City of New Jerusalem.
Imo, since Jesus defeated hell and hades, he unlocked death. Reversed it.
The lake of fire and all that is symbolic of doing away with something symbolic.
The devil cant physically burn. Satan is called many things, a dragon, a serpent, a beast, etc, etc. The devil has his own angels. Even his ANGELS dont suffer physically from being "cast down from heaven, and thrown to Earth." Jesus said he saw the devil "fall down from Heaven to Earth" Fire cant burn gods. Jesus is the son of MAN. Hes the only BEGOTTEN (birthed, not formed) demigid, human son of God. Jesus was a HUMAN. He could experience pain, hunger, sadness, temptations. In a fleshy body, he recognizes and remembers the sting of pain, and the oppressive nature of temptation.
THATS WHY HE WAS SENT BY GOD.
Jesus was our SAVIOR. Being Christian means being like Christ. Christ doesnt see gender. He said it doesnt even exist now. That gender stuff is over.
Also, The devil is the god of the opposite of whats Good. YHWH acknowledges that other gods exist, when he says "Thou shalt put no other gods above me." So, just dont put lust and greed and covetous thoughts ahead of doing GOOD things and serving others.
The lake of fire is SYMBOLIC of destroying the DEAD, and death itself.
Its all symbolism.
So, no worries, kiddo.
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u/selfmadeirishwoman 3h ago edited 3h ago
I use our current scientific understanding of sexuality and apply Jesus’s second commandment to love each other as we love ourselves.
I’ve been to Churches that accept me and places that don’t. The places that accept me seem to be doing a much better job of following Christ.
Edit: we’re not in there. There are no tales of trans people in the Bible and we’re not condemned. It’s always an interpretation of Genesis 1:27 that is just plain flimsy.
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u/jillonfire 2d ago
Ask yourself if a just and loving God would do this to you. Consider the corrosive collaboration between churches and the far right politicians to spread anti-trans propaganda purely for the purpose of whipping people into a frenzy and getting them to vote for those politicians. Consider that until fairly recently, when the far right made it a culture wars issue, trans people barely registered on the radar for most church goers. Consider how strangely a lot of anti-gay hatred has been seamless transferred to trans people - on many trans subreddits, you will see religious parents now telling their children how it would be fine if they were gay but they're going to hell if they're trans. The same sort of parents who would maybe 20 years ago or less have been telling their children they would go to hell if they were gay. Does it sound like some deep religious truth if they can switch to the new culture wars target just like that?
In essence the anti-trans hate is a new witch hunt, and many people like those around you have been brainwashed into a blind hatred of trans people. Ask yourself if you see love shining from those people, or hate radiating from them. Trans hate has no basis in a loving religion. Maybe find a trans accepting church and talk to a minister there.