Personal Writing and Research
Susan Gilchrist 27 August 2018
Research into Personality and Identity and the Attitudes to Gender and Sexually Variant Identities and Behaviour in the Christian Church
For selected papers Click Here
For the full bibliography Click Here
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Bibliographies pdf files
Susan Gilchrist: Selected Papers and Publications: http://www.tgdr.co.uk/documents/000B-SG-SelectedPapers.pdf
Susan Gilchrist: Full
Personal Bibliography:
http://www.tgdr.co.uk/documents/000B-PersonalBibliography.pdf
Overview
Summary
This research involves two
separate investigations. The first is a scientific and neurophysiologically
based study into the development of personality and identity. A second
independently conducted historical, scientific, social and theological
investigation has also been carried out with the aim of discovering the reason
for the contradiction between science and theology which is found to exist.
Because of the adaptations that were needed to survive, and later to preserve
its institutions, it is shown that the Christian Church developed a traditional
doctrine which medically misdiagnoses gender and sexually variant conditions. By
treating these conditions as being derived from the search for reward rather
than identity, the wrong methods of management have also been applied.
Considerable harm has been done since the management techniques that are needed
are almost opposite to each other. Applying the incorrect techniques creates,
instead of relieves, any trauma and distress. In place of combatting the
scapegoating of gender and sexually variant people in secular society, these
changes have led many sections of the Church to collude with it. That still has
considerable force in societies where gender differentiation is legally or
socially enforced. Today the differing approaches taken in different societies
are creating schisms in the Church. A return to a doctrine is needed which removes the
contradiction that the traditional one has imposed. Unless that happens the
current attempts to welcome transgender and gender and sexually variant people
by: “Interpreting the existing law and
guidance to permit maximum freedom within it, without changes to the law, or the
doctrine of the Church” will not succeed. When the teaching of Jesus is
examined in this investigation it is found that the contradiction no longer
exists. This
means that the changes to the doctrine which this investigation demands do not
depart from the Gospel message, they return to the teaching of Jesus himself.
Background and Scope
It is shown that previous attempts to develop a
scientific understanding of the early development of personality and
self-identity and the efforts to reconcile it with the theology of the Christian
Church fail, or give inadequate answers, because the presumption is made that,
in some measure, a cognitive continuum guides the processes of learning and
development at all times of life. An extended neurophysiological and
psychological analysis has been conducted. By challenging and refuting that
assumption this investigation offers a radical new approach.
There are two elements to this study. The first
is a neurophysiological and psychological investigation into the development of
personality and self-identity in early life. The second uses the results of the
neurophysiological and psychological analysis to conduct a critique of the
teaching of the Christian Church. From the neurophysiological and psychological
study it is shown that a moral duality must exist, whereby gender and sexually
variant people who express their true attractions and identities in ways that
conform to the highest moral standards of their own societies are to be highly
regarded, while those who misuse these relationships should be severely
condemned for their acts. This conclusion denies the validity of the traditional
teaching of the Christian Church which condemns homosexuality, and by
implication all gender and sexually variant behaviour, as disordered and
invariably sinful lifestyle choices. Therefore one major focus of this
investigation is to find out how and why this contradiction occurs.
An extended analysis of the attitudes to gender
and sexuality in first century society is conducted. This uses the results of
the neurophysiological and psychological study to examine not just Christianity,
but also the attitudes to these in Jewish, Roman, Greek, and other societies. It
is demonstrated that the teaching of Jesus incorporates the same moral duality
as that predicted by the neurophysiological and psychological study. Therefore
it is concluded that the source of the contradiction must come from changes in
the theology of the Church.
The adaptations which Peter, Paul and the early
Church had to make to survive and to take the Gospel message to the world are
considered.
The approach assumed in
standard theology is that the teaching of the Apostles, Peter and Paul, was
exactly that which Jesus presented, and that the compromises which were
eventually made were those of the later Church. However evidence for the
adaptations that were required is already present in their Epistles and Letters
because of their pursuit of respectability for Christians and the Church. The
nature of this transformation has been the focus of many theological studies:
however the major difficulty has been one of determining how it was managed, and
how the justification for it could be made. By removing the theological
presumptions which have dominated Christianity for the last two thousand years
new insights become available in the understanding of biblical texts and in the
New Testament accounts. That is now addressed in this analysis and the
interpretation which is presented here is a consequence of the independent
examination of first century societies which is conducted in this investigation.
It is shown
that the statement by Jesus in Matthew 19:12 where he says. “He who is able to
receive this, let him receive it” allowed Peter and Paul to move forward with
the compromises that were required.
However this was not just a statement of compromise. It was also the command for the Christian Church to express in full the radical teaching of Jesus on gender and sex as soon as it had the power to do so. Instead of returning to the radical teaching which Jesus had presented: the Church used these opportunities enforce its own power and authority. Today; that has still not happened. It is now time to follow in full this commandment of Jesus by restoring the radical teaching of Jesus on gender and sex to the present day Church.
Impact
Great emphasis is also placed by GAFCON and
others on restoring the “Godly Authority” of bible texts. (The “Global Anglican
Future Conference”, representing the conservative elements in the Church).
However the correct understanding depends on the context in which these are
placed. It is demonstrated in this analysis that the traditional teaching on
marriage and family life remains intact; but it also establishes that other
valid loving relationships should not automatically be denied. This study
additionally supports the views held by GAFCON and others that the traditional
Church teaching on gender complementarity, gender and sexuality and on the
silencing of the public ministry of women has Apostolic Authority. However
GAFCON assumes that these doctrines accurately represent the teaching of Jesus,
while this analysis shows that they are the results of the compromises that were
made to ensure the survival of the Church. These attempts at restoration do not
return to the teaching of Jesus, they return instead to the compromised
Christianity which was presented by the 13th Century Church.
The correct restoration can only be made if the
moral duality disclosed in this neurophysiological study and in the teaching of
Jesus is used. This demands that the same criteria of use and abuse are applied
to all aspects of gender and sex. As with Paul’s statement in Galatians 3:28,
this requires that all transgender people, transsexual lesbian, gay,
heterosexual and bisexual people who attempt to live their lives in ways that
fulfil the love of Christ, and who seek to express their own identities in roles
that are true to themselves; must be accepted alike. All sexual behaviour is
governed by the purity of intention. There is no automatic condemnation of any
same-sex act, and there is no toleration of abusive sex.
It is important to note that discrimination
against gender and sexually variant people is a socially led phenomenon and it
would be a mistake to identify its cause with religious belief. The
transformation needed to gain acceptability in the Greco/Roman culture brought
the Church to collude with these secular demands of society rather than to
challenge them. Not only has this consent reinforced the secular prejudices of
such discriminatory societies; it gave and it still gives religious legitimacy
to them, it reinforces the severity of the penalties that are encountered and it
contradicts the results which the neurophysiological and psychological analysis
presents. Instead of recognising the moral duality which is inherent in gender
and sexual behaviour all of these people, without exception, have been made the
scapegoats for abusive sex. Great harm has been done by the medical misdiagnoses
that have been and still are being made. The persecution and slaughter of gender
and sexually variant people, not only in Christianity but in Islam, Judaism and
all other religions, states and cultures which have drawn their teachings from
this has been enormous, and repentance is needed for these acts.
Centuries of criminalisation and condemnation
have prevented any awareness of the moral duality being observed. Little could
happen for as long as that existed, however the changes in society mean that
this is no longer the case. This moral duality is now available for everybody to
see in the love expressed in same-sex marriage and civil partnerships. It has
become easy for an unbiased observer to separate a same-sex relationship given
in faithfulness, love and lifetime commitment from a strong heterosexual
friendship, and to discriminate between loving and illicit same-sex behaviour,
even in the absence of sex. Instead of exploring this new situation many
Christians have taken refuge in the traditional doctrines of the Church. It is
argued in this analysis that this fervent reliance on its disproved traditional
doctrines is destroying not only the credibility of the Church; it is also
destroying the credibility of Christianity itself.
The increased openness to the possibility of
change which has been evident in the discussions during the Church of England
General Synod is welcomed. Many denominations are now allowing same-sex
marriages to be conducted in their Churches. There is a considerable momentum
towards inclusion, but there is also increasing resistance in many parts of the
world. The refusal to accept any possibility of change to its traditional
doctrines is an immovable requirement of the Catholic Church. The result of this
analysis means that the full acceptance the integrity of the Christian beliefs
of gender and sexually variant people, their full involvement in the Christian
Churches and their ability to express their lives in ways that are true to their
own identities within the love of Christ becomes a matter of right. It is no
longer a matter of the toleration of others or the imposition of the traditions
of the Church.
This is a radical analysis which challenges many
preconceptions. For this reason detailed accounts of it are given in the
accompanying papers. A description of the neurophysiological and psychological
investigation is also provided and an introduction to this is contained in
Chapter 10 of the Sibyls book. One of the features of the traditional teaching
of the Christian Church on gender and sexual variation is that it makes
presumptions which can be tested by science, neurophysiology and psychology. No
doubt this analysis will be accepted by some and challenged by others. However
no investigation into Christian attitudes to gender and sexually variant
behaviour can ever be complete unless all of the scientific, social and
theological arguments are heard.
FULL BIBLIOGRAPHY
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OTHER ITEMS
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Susan Gilchrist