New book addresses gender theory and faithful responses to transgender inclusion

‘Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians’ now available

WJK Press Release

LOUISVILLE — Westminster John Knox Press is pleased to announce the release of Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians.

In this book, transgender advocate and Christian, Austen Hartke, guides readers through an introduction to gender theory and examines passages from Scripture to make the case for transgender inclusion in the church. Along the way, Hartke interviews other transgender Christians about their experiences and details his personal journey to find an accepting community of faith. Hartke challenges his readers on their assumptions about inclusion and makes the case for God’s love toward all people, providing much-needed hope to those individuals who have felt abandoned by their Christian communities.

In a starred review, Booklist states, “[Hartke] points out the importance of finding a supportive faith community. He writes movingly about his own search for such an environment but also offers the perspectives of a wide variety of other transgender people, whose stories he generously shares….It’s an informative and illuminating quest, supplemented by an extensive appended list of further reading and resources. This is an important book that fills an urgent need.”

Few books have explored the Christian transgender experience from a transgender person’s perspective and offered insight into transgender inclusion in the church. Transforming is one of those rare books. A valuable resource to any reader interested in the topic—secular or religious, trans or cis-gendered—Transformingis available now through Westminster John Knox Press and other major retailers.

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Austen Hartke is the creator of the You-Tube series Transgender and Christian, which seeks to understand, interpret, and share parts of the Bible that relate to gender identity and the lives of transgender individuals. Hartke is a graduate of the Luther Seminary’s Master of Arts program in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible Studies and the winner of Luther’s 2014 John Milton Prize in Old Testament Writing.