PCA Petitions Biden Protesting Trans Surgeries for Minors: ‘Attempting the Impossible’
The commission grounded its petition in the teaching that God has special care for children, noting when Jesus Christ warned strongly against scandalizing children when he urged his disciples in Mark 10:14: “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” Petitioning the government is an unusual act in the denomination that adheres to the 17th-century Westminster Confession of Faith, which advises churches “not to intermeddle with civil affairs which concern the commonwealth, unless by way of humble petition in cases extraordinary.” Supporters of the measure believe the Biden administration’s support for such interventions fits the definition of “cases extraordinary.”
A Presbyterian Church in America commission sent a letter to President Joe Biden and other U.S. government leaders Sunday asking them not to promote sex-change surgeries and puberty interventions for trans-identified minors.
“It is more important than ever to protect children from the harms that come from rejecting biological sex,” a PCA spokesperson told The Christian Post. “God created humanity male and female; persons who try to change their biological sex are attempting the impossible.”
“Children, above all, must be protected and given time to progress through natural puberty. The PCA’s letter affirms the Bible’s care for children as a reflection of God’s love and asks leaders of the United States government to protect the lives and welfare of the most vulnerable among us,” the spokesperson added.
The letter from a commission appointed by the PCA General Assembly sent to Biden, congressional leaders and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts coincided with the 50th National Sanctity of Human Life Day.
The PCA is the largest body of confessional Presbyterian and Reformed churches in North America, consisting of more than 1,500 congregations and 374,000 members in the U.S. and Canada.
The letter is the result of an overture the conservative denomination passed last June by a vote of 1,089-793 that formed a commission to draft a formal petition urging the government to “renounce the sin” of transgender procedures for minors.
The commission “humbly petition[ed]” the leaders to “protect the lives and welfare of minor children from the physical, mental, and emotional harms associated with medical and surgical interventions for the purpose of gender reassignment.”
The authors stressed that medical attempts to change a person’s gender through surgeries or hormonal intervention are physically impossible and can lead to more suffering.
“Persons who try to change their biological sex through the process of transitioning —including psychotherapy, lifelong hormonal treatments, and extensive nongenital and genital surgeries — are attempting the impossible,” the letter states.
Such interventions are in opposition to God’s design of male and female, the commission said, possibly leading to “sterility, infertility, cancer, cardiovascular disease, strokes, blood clots, pituitary apoplexy, pseudotumor cerebri, and diminished bone density.”
The letter called on leaders to “use your positions to promote the health, bodily integrity, and wellbeing of minors who are suffering from gender dysphoria and related conditions.”
The commission acknowledged the “complexities” around such issues but predicated the appeal on the doctrine that all human beings are created in God’s image, which they described as a “unique status” that “accords all human beings with inherent dignity, a dignity that extends to both soul and body.”
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The Sufficiency of Christ when Life is Dry
Success breeds the desire for more success. If God does not show us our weaknesses, we begin to think that earthly attainment is what we need to be happy. We start to believe that this is what life is about, and without it, contentment starts to disappear. In weakness, Christ calls out to us and says, “do not find your joy in the good or the bad times; find it in me. I am your salvation.”
And he [Samson] was very thirsty, and he called upon the Lord and said, “You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” Judges 15:18
Many times, when God has strengthened us and given us a victory, we will soon find ourselves confounded by our weakness. That is why this passage about Samson is so encouraging. Here is a man who, by the strength of God, defeated many of the enemies of Israel and then, moments later, finds himself about to die from the lack of something as simple as water.
When God gives us victory in doing His work, it is easy to see ourselves as stronger than we are. So, the Lord often allows situations to arise that keep us dependent upon Him. We often thank the Lord for His grace in times of triumph, but how often do we forget to thank Him for our times of defeat? If all things work for the good of those who love Him, then grace comes in many forms. It comes in strength, but it also comes in weakness.
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Which Rabbits are You Chasing?
We all tend to have an exalted view of our oratorical abilities, but strength is not always in the length. Sometimes, brevity is better. Yet, honoring the sufficiency of Scripture in our delivery is best of all.
We were discussing the length of the preacher’s sermon in one of Paul’s letters. “Which rabbits are you chasing?” my friend asked rhetorically, “Are you chasing Paul’s rabbits or your own?” Often, our sermons are too long because we’re chasing the wrong rabbits.
As mentioned, actual sermons in Scripture (and in church history) vary in length (see our previous survey). We agree with Calvin and Luther: Often, we preach “too long” (Luther) and/or fail to consider “what the weakness of men could bear” (Calvin). Or, as my faithful deacon (a retired school teacher) stated, “The mind can bear no more than the rear end can endure!” We’ve all been there before.
Rather than quibble over whether to preach 60-minutes vs. 12-minutes, though, we are interested in a more pertinent issue: The minutes you allot to each point within the sermon (no matter the sermon’s length). We feel the implications of those “minute-allotments” have a direct bearing on the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture. No preaching book I know of makes this connection. We wonder why.
To truly uphold the sufficiency of Scripture, you must “weight” your points in alignment with the biblical author’s emphases (see prior articles: here, and here). Ultimately, this comes down to assigning a specified number of minutes to each point, sub-point, sub-sub-point, etc. To allot more minutes to a minor point and less minutes to a major point “could” misconstrue the biblical author’s intent. Who grants us the authority to take such liberties? If God has spoken in Scripture—and He has—isn’t it only fair (and right) that we reflect His “breathed-out” emphases in our presentation to men?
For instance, our sermon may have three points, but the biblical author might emphasize the last point more than the others. The last point demands more minutes within the sermon than the other two. Otherwise, we implicitly deny the sufficiency of Scripture by over (or under) emphasizing points more (or less) than did the biblical author.
Again, imagine someone stood to explain a short letter you wrote about an urgent issue. In their 30-minute explanation, suppose they spent 2 minutes on the urgent issue and 28 minutes expounding your 3-word salutation? How would you feel about that? In principle, it’s no different than Joel Osteen accentuating the positive portions of a preaching-text and minimizing (or ignoring altogether) the negative injunctions. It denies the the sufficiency of Scripture in the delivery. -
How Metaphysics Can Fix This American Mess
As society reaches its final stages of decay, the price of denying reality will prove ever greater, awakening people to their folly and ruin. A metaphysical crisis of vast proportions awaits a world that has long ignored existential questions to its peril. Thus, there needs to be a return to order reestablishing metaphysics, to know the nature of things. God the Creator will then be acknowledged, and people will share again the things they love. That will make society whole once more and there will be unity and peace.
As American society reaches its final stages of decay, the price of denying reality will prove ever greater, awakening people to their folly and ruin. A metaphysical crisis of vast proportions awaits a world that has long ignored existential questions to its peril.
These are anti-metaphysical times. Most people don’t realize it because they know nothing about metaphysics and how it affects their lives.
However, rejecting metaphysics has tragic consequences for individuals and society in general. An anti-metaphysical world gives rise to individuals who fail to ponder things deeply, skimming the surface of life. Such habits result in persons without certainties, convictions and principles.
Society also suffers because there can be no unity when there are no certainties, convictions, and principles. As this advances, polarization occurs because people can no longer understand the things that might unite them.
Defining Metaphysics
America’s missing metaphysics need not be complicated. It only needs to address the fundamental notion of things.
Metaphysics is the science of determining the real nature of things, thus allowing people to perceive the meaning, structure and principles of whatever exists. With this foundation, it is easy to establish certainties and thus, facilitate unity and communications.
Without realizing it, the innocent child constantly explores the frontiers of metaphysics in the quest to know the world. Throughout life, virtuous people refine their notions of reality and act accordingly.
The key is to know things as they are. For example, a metaphysical concept of “book” would be to consider it to be a bound set of written or printed sheets of paper. Using this concept in everyday life, a person can classify as a book all that conforms to this general notion. Any discussion of a book outside this idea leads to absurdity and disconnection from reality.
When people stay within the notion of what a book is, an immense variety of books can be imagined and produced, including magnificent, splendorous or banal books; large, regular and miniature; page-turners and unappealing; rare, new and used. Thus, metaphysics is the foundation of logic, discussion and debate. It makes progress possible by anchoring the notions of things in reality. It allows the creative imagination to soar while keeping the person away from dangerous fantasy disconnected from reality. Take metaphysics away, and there is no common understanding that can enable communication. This sets the stage for chaos.
Modernity’s Attack on Metaphysics
The modern world has long had a problem with metaphysics. Indeed, modernity seeks to dominate nature, not to understand it. It wants to bend nature to the will of humanity. Its philosophers see metaphysical definitions and categories as restrictive and tend to minimize them.
Modern man limits his understanding of what things are to what helps dominate nature.
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