Deuteronomy 22:5—Why did God call it an abomination for men to dress like women and vice versa?

Problem: What is wrong with wearing the clothes of the opposite sex? Isn’t this just a matter of cultural preference, with nothing intrinsically immoral about it?

Solution: God’s design here was apparently to make it possible to distinguish one sex from the other. Without distinctive clothes and length of hair (see comments on 1 Cor. 11:14), the sexes could be more easily confused and the bounds of social and moral impropriety would have been more easily transgressed. Of course, which clothes are masculine and which are feminine will be determined in large part by the culture. But whatever the case, transvestites were hereby excluded.

This excerpt is from When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1992). © 2014 Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Click here to purchase this book.