Reviewed by: Mary Kyner

Bibliographic Information: Hartke, Austen. Transforming: the Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians. Foreword by Matthew Vines. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018. 216 pages. $16.00. ISBN: 9780664263102.

In Austen Hartke’s book Transforming: the Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians, Hartke brings different trans-affirming theologies together to provide a resource for transgender people and Christian communities. In the first part of the book Hartke explains why this book is necessary and provides a framework to begin the theological conversations regarding gender identity. Chapter one provides a recent history of transgender people’s experience in the church and within wider American society. In chapter two Hartke provides some important definitions to create a common language. As part of these definitions he also details the wider history of transgender people in America as well as the culturally specific gender categories that have been negatively affected by Western colonialism. The first portion of the book then concludes with chapter three, an examination of the work of Mark Yarhouse and various frameworks of Christian relationships with gender identities that he has constructed. 

The second part of the book shifts into biblical interpretation intertwined with interviews of trans people. Chapter four examines the Genesis creation story and reframes it from a binary to an encompassing spectrum of which male and female are the bookends. In addition, Hartke discusses the theology of the imago Dei as being the reflection of God’s image when living into your whole being and in relationship with others (56). Chapter five examines complementarianism, the theological view that men and women have different but complementary roles within the church and social life, and the stories of varied gender expression in the Bible, including Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat. Chapter six examines the renaming stories in the Bible and the different ways that new name either emphasizes something already true and established about that person or displays the way that person has changed and who they aspire to be (77). Chapter seven discusses the Isaiah 56 text and how God gathers those who are outcasts and provides an “unequivocal welcome” (90). Chapter eight examines the Matthew 19 passage where Jesus points to eunuchs as examples of discipleship and discusses how transgender Christians can likewise provide a model for authenticity to the Church. Chapter nine specifically looks at the Ethiopian Eunuch story in Acts 8. Chapter ten engages the theology of the body and the incarnation. 

Chapter eleven then shifts away from biblical interpretation to seek to move beyond apologetics and defense mechanisms as the only theology that LGBTQ+ Christians have.  Hartke argues for an abundant life for trans Christians, which he describes as community and thriving faith beyond survival practices (150). Chapter twelve discusses our call to oneness in Galatians 3:28, which is not a call for erasure of diversity but a “unification of opposites” (157). The conclusion then discusses the importance of the wholeness of a community and inclusion. Hartke also provides a number of resources for different groups: churches and organizations, individuals as allies, and trans Christians. 

In the first part of the book Hartke does an excellent job of using evidence through statistics and history to shape his argument. In the first chapter the statistics and history serve to segue into a discussion about minority stress naming it as a reality that trans people experience and the source behind the mental health crises that trans people endure at extremely high rates. Definitions are always one of the most important parts of a discussion and often easily forgotten, but Hartke does a wonderful job of carefully laying out the various terms and histories that shape the framework he is working within. However, his use of Yarhouse in chapter three, while useful in giving shape to the history and discussions of the previous two chapters, feels as though it concludes in an odd way. He was obviously using the Diversity Framework throughout his book as the supportive and necessary model of understanding gender identities for the health of trans people, but that was not made explicitly clear in the end of this chapter and would have been a useful clarification, as it ends on an odd note about the integrative model that Yarhouse advocates, which synthesizes all three of the frameworks in order to have a discussion about gender identities. 

Part two of Hartke’s argument folds his interpretation of scripture into interviews and stories with other transgender people who come from a variety of social locations. This shows how his hermeneutical approach is to acknowledge that we cannot leave ourselves behind when we approach the text, and indeed we should not do so. Yet, Hartke does not read just anything he wants into scripture, and he does an excellent of providing the historical context of the texts he uses in an academic, yet accessible, way. Every interpretation is done through the lens of a particular person from a particular social location and experience, and Hartke pulls on this to show how these particular texts have spoken to and can speak to trans people.   

I particularly appreciate how Hartke acknowledges the privilege and limitations of his own social location and uses interviews to provide other voices with different experiences to speak to these texts and reflect on life as a transgender Christian. Along those lines, I appreciated the acknowledgement of the work that black theologians, especially James Cone and Kelly Brown Douglas, have done on embodied theology. Their work provides the framework within which Hartke operates for his interpretation of scripture in chapter ten. 

While I loved the purpose behind the integration of interviews into the interpretation of scripture, I found it a bit disorienting. Some of the stories seemed to only loosely connect with the interpretative moves that Hartke was making, and so many of the interviewees were seminarians themselves that it would be interesting to see their own interpretations of these passages as a compilation of essays or chapters within the book and how their social location shapes their understanding of the texts, rather than only interviews with Hartke’s interpretations throughout. This is not to say that Hartke’s interpretations were not good, in fact they were well researched and supported undergirding strong insights.   

But perhaps this disorientation is exactly Hartke’s purpose. Perhaps he is attempting to “queer” the way that interpretative work is presented, which is traditionally either only by one person or in a compilation style. His work challenges those models by making the interpretation part of a conversation with another transgender person, which in turn invites the reader into conversation with the texts as well. 

Overall, I think that Hartke made his point very effectively. As a scholar, I would have enjoyed a deeper dive on particular texts rather than what felt like a lighter brush, but this was not a book meant for the academy. Hartke did an excellent job of speaking to his audience and providing resources for transgender theology. I particularly appreciated the exploration of communal celebrating and flourishing which Hartke weaves throughout the chapters. I found Hartke’s chapter on naming to be particularly compelling, especially the imagery of transgender people fighting to hold on to God in the midst of hard-hearted Christians (82).   

Hartke’s chapter on Yarhouse’s work was the weakest part of his incredibly strong book, and I would have liked to have seen a cleaner conclusion and more explicit explanation of its purpose within Hartke’s argument. However, Hartke did some very excellent work exploring the eunuch as a gender minority throughout chapters seven through nine, and those chapters in particular have helped me to better understand ways in which transgender people experience and speak to God’s presence in unique and particular ways that cisgender people cannot experience beyond hearing of it from their trans siblings. Finally, Hartke’s push to move beyond apologetics and simple survival to thriving and abundant life was a very compelling turn that I would love to continue to explore, as it read as an invitation to do that exploration in community with others beyond this work. 

I found this book to be a compelling read. It was very accessible and easy to understand while still being academically sound. I think that it is a very necessary book written at a crucial time, both for transgender people and for the Church. This is very clearly a book “written by transgender people for transgender people and the faith communities that care about them (3),” and it is all the more powerful for it.   

As someone who identifies as genderqueer, this book helped me to explore my own identity as well as hear the stories of people with different experiences through both the scriptural texts and the interviews. I loved the way that the stories, both those of the interviewees and those of scripture, “spoke parts of my own story back to me,” as Hartke put it (2), and I believe this book will do the same, if in different moments, for others as well. 

As someone going into ministry, I found this to be an invaluable resource for transgender theology and biblical interpretation. I would recommend this book strongly as a necessary tool for any minister and for churches. In addition, I would strongly recommend this book to families as well as any ally, and, of course, to transgender people.   

However, I would like to provide some content warnings. The first chapter details the traumatic recent history of transphobia in the church and American society, pointing to how this is an issue of life or death. As a result, it may be overwhelming or traumatic to transgender readers. In addition, chapter nine shares a brief description of a suicide attempt, and chapter ten includes a short discussion about self-harm. I think that this entire book is an important and valuable resource for any and all people, and I would also like to encourage readers to engage the Further Reading section that Hartke provides. This section includes contacts for helplines as well as other resources sorted by reader group, including parents, kids, ministry professionals, and churches.