David has recently published his first book, A War of Loves (Zondervan, 2018). It describes his own story from atheistic gay activism to becoming a follower of Jesus, in which he advocates for a positive moral vision of biblical sexuality and discipleship. His other interests include French, Latin, church history and patristics, writing, travel, cooking, reading books, and living in Christian community.
In this third part of our series “Diversity of Trans*,” I sit down with my good friend Kyla Gillespie. Kyla is female, transitioned to male 10 years ago, then back to female 4 years ago. She tells her story in this episode and discusses why she transitioned in the first place, the results of that transition, her encounter with Jesus in 2017, her decision to detransition back to her birth sex, and her ongoing journey in the gospel.
Renee has experienced gender dysphoria from an early age and it’s never gone away. She hates wearing dresses and has never worn make-up, which means she doesn’t at all resonate with the culturally defined gender stereotypes of western culture. Renee is also a radical follower of Jesus, has a masters in Theology and is pursuing a Ph.D., and aspires to be a writer and theological educator.
Miranda Yardley is an engaging writer, an astute thinker, and a atheist #transsexual (Miranda's preferred term) who's been very outspokenly critical of many tenets of trans* activist ideology. In this episode, we talk about #autogynephilia, the meaning of sex and #gender, human nature, why it’s impossible to change sex, the role that porn plays in the rise of youth exploring sexual and gender identities, and many other things.
Tish Harrison Warren is the real deal. Super raw, super wise, down to earth, yet can hang in the loftiest ivory towers. Tish is a priest in the Anglican Church in North America. She is the author of Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life, which was Christianity Today's 2018 Book of the Year, and the forthcoming Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work, or Watch, or Weep (IVP, 2021). These two books form the backbone of our conversation, and toward the end of the podcast we get super raw and real about the problem of evil and stuff.
David Bennett is the real deal. As he details in his book A War of Loves, David used to be a gay activist and ardent opponent to Christianity. But then one day, God met him in a pub. And the rest is history. David is currently a Ph.D. student in theology at Oxford University and a dynamic speaker, theologian, and evangelist. In this episode, we talk about his story, celibacy, Jesus, same-sex sexuality, Jesus, the gospel, Jesus, sexual desire and its intrinsic relationship to communion with God, and Jesus.
