It is good to be Christian—but dangerous when ignorance takes the lead

The Philosophy of the Natural Order and Diversity The use of contrasting opposites—known as merisms—is exceptionally common in classical literature and religious texts, such as the Bible. This rhetorical device is used to evoke universal concepts by naming two opposing poles. For instance, in the Book of Genesis, God creates "the heavens and the earth," a phrasing that simply means God created the entire universe and everything in between. This also applies to gender; He created them "male and female"—and everything in between.

When God created day and night, He also created dawn and dusk. When God created land and sea, He also created marshes and fresh waters.

The concept of Natural Law is a philosophical and theological doctrine implying that God designed the universe with a specific moral and physical order. According to Thomas Aquinas, we can use human reason and observe how the world works to discover God's intentions for how we ought to live.

Now, let us turn to the main subject.

Although ancient Greek philosophers like Aristotle laid the groundwork for the concept of Natural Law, it was the medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) who fully integrated it into Christian theology. His thought became—and remains—the foundation of traditional Catholic moral theology, while also deeply influencing Protestantism.

Aquinas argued that God's eternal law is embedded within creation itself. He believed that through human reason, mankind could discern nature's higher purpose and design.

When Aquinas examined human biology, he noted that the bodies of men and women are biologically designed to fit together (much like Lego bricks) for the sole purpose of reproduction. Because procreation requires a man and a woman, he concluded that God's purpose for human sexuality pertained exclusively to the creative power and conception. Anything falling outside this specific design was deemed unnatural or a violation of the divine order. Due to this line of thinking, tremendous shame has surrounded sexuality, diversity, and infertility throughout the centuries.

Natural Law also directly linked biological sex to the social roles of the two genders, thereby creating a rigid gender binary that was considered legally and spiritually universal:

Men were assumed to be physically stronger, so their natural role was seen as protecting, leading, and governing in the public sphere.

Women were viewed through the lens of fertility and lactation, meaning their natural role was defined as domestic caregiving and submission (for instance, women historically vowed submission, obedience, and honor during wedding ceremonies).

If a woman sought political power, or if a man avoided physical labor, they were not merely breaking social rules—they were seen as rebelling against their God-given nature. Yet, we see examples in the Bible of individuals who defied these norms, and theologians have interpreted them in various ways over the centuries: women serving as judges and leaders, and men who performed domestic duties or dressed differently.

Since Natural Law is based on the idea that nature is a perfect reflection of God’s will, variations and diversity in nature present a certain theological dilemma. For example, when intersex individuals (people with atypical sex characteristics) were born, theologians did not view them as a "third gender." Instead, they classified them as a defect or a mutation of the true design. Because the divine blueprint was believed to consist of only two genders, human law and theology forced these individuals to conform to whichever sex they more closely resembled physically, thereby erasing the natural spectrum in between.

The concept of Natural Law reduces God to a limited and frail human perspective. The image of God is actually found within the soul, the mind, and the capacity to love—none of which are bound by material dualism.

Nature itself is full of gender fluidity, homosexual behavior, and interactions among thousands of species that are entirely unrelated to reproduction. If nature is diverse, then diversity must be natural.

The author is a theologian, pastor, and chairperson of Trans Allies.