A Reddit user posted to the trans subReddit an AI-generated Bible verse about transgender people.
Reddit user Psychological_Dog527 asked ChatGPT to write a Bible verse about Jesus Christ's thoughts about transgender people.
The results they received not only sound like they could have actually come from the Bible, but they present a different Jesus Christ than many Evangelical Christians promote.
Redditor Psychological_Dog527's post reads:
"I was feeling sad today so I asked chat gpt to write a fake biblical passage about Jesus accepting trans people. Here’s what it came up with:"
The Reddit user then included the verse ChatGPT conjured up:
"And a woman, whose heart was divided between spirit and body, came before him. In quiet despair, she asked, 'Lord, I come to you estranged, for my spirit and body are not one. How shall I hope to enter the kingdom of God?’"
"Jesus looked upon her with kindness, replying, ‘my child, blessed are those who strive for unity within themselves, for they shall know the deepest truths of my Father’s creation."
"Be not afraid, for in the kingdom of God, there is no man nor woman, as all are one in spirit. The gates of my Father’s kingdom will open for those who love and are loved, for God looks not upon the body, but the heart.
The Reddit user went on to write:
"I know it’s not real, but it gave me some comfort."
What's perhaps most striking about the verse is how well it describes the way many transgender people say gender dysphoria feels--like a fundamental disconnect between "spirit and body," as the AI put it.
For obvious reasons, the post quickly went viral on Reddit, where many described how much they wished more Christians felt similarly.
"I'm not religious at all. Quite the opposite."
"But having read the bible myself, based on what is written there you don't need to make up verses because Jesus did accept and love trans people. Because he preached about loving and accepting everybody, no exceptions!"
"If only all Christians got that memo." --AmiesAdventures
"Jesus: Love and accept everybody, no exceptions!"
"Christians: So anyway we used that to hate people" --SavvySillybug
"I'm not religious, but I enjoy history, and what I know of Jesus the person (as opposed to the version that so many 'Christians' claim to follow), that honestly seems like something he would have been likely to say. After all, love and acceptance were his jam." --FeartheWeresloth
Others pointed out the historical and theological evidence Jesus probably would have felt precisely as ChatGPT theorized about the transgender people of his time.
"The Talmud, the second most sacred text in Judaism, recognizes 8 genders."
"Jesus was Jewish and although the Talmud was not yet compiled in Jesus’ time the texts were written and studied by the Jewish people."
"There have always existed non-binary genders even before Jesus’ time and he preached to love and accept everyone."
"Jesus was accepting of trans people even if this aspect of his teachings was erased in time by the bigots who call themselves his followers." --JohnnyPoopynutz
"I'm very against religion, think it only causes problems in modern society, but: Galatians 3:28 pretty much says that everyone is equal regardless of everything."
"As well as just his general message being to accept and love each other. Jesus would 100% support trans people." --AnInsaneMoose
Some even dug up excerpts from the many writings excised from the Bible we know today over its centuries of revisions that make it seem like ChatGPT really does know a lot about Christ.
"From the Gospel of Thomas, one of the Nag Hammadi texts, which are arguably closer to the actual teachings of Jesus than the versions that were revised and censored by the ruling powers throughout history:"\
"(22) (4) Jesus said to them: 'When you make the two into one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside and the above like the below—"
"(5) that is, to make the male and the female into a single one, so that the male will not be male and the female will not be female—
"(6) and when you make eyes instead of an eye and a hand instead of a hand and a foot instead of a foot, an image instead of an image, (7) then you will enter [the kingdom].'" --MillenniEnby
Given how much trouble there's been with ChatGPT being pretty openly bigoted at times, it's incredible to see it be able to provide some support and uplift to a community that is under siege both politically and socially.