Theology of Sex: Sexuality and Gender perception

 

A short reflection I made during one of my class courses on early centuries Christians' reflection on Sex and Gender from Canonical sources to non canonical sources.

1) "Consider how Christian scripture impacts the roles that Christians can take up based on gender and sexuality."

From an academic point of view, the impact that Christian scriptures can take up on gender and sexuality will depend on which Scriptures one is drawing his reflection from. If one is basing his reflection from the Canonical Christian scriptures composed in the first century for example, one will come out of it with a view that gender for example is binary, male and female.

Mathew 19:4 - "He answered them, "Haven't you read that the one who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female'"

However, if one look at Christian scriptures beyond the canonical texts, and read the gnostic texts, one may very well look at gender not as a binary construct, but rather a fluid construct. An example comes from the gospel of Thomas which read as follow:

"(114) (1) Simon Peter said to them: "Let Mary go away from us, for women are not worthy of life." (2) Jesus said: "Look, I will draw her in so as to make her male, so that she too may become a living male spirit, similar to you." (3) (But I say to you): "Every woman who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.""

We can note that in this particular gnostic gospel, we can see a possible seed of the trangenderism optic about gender categories, which differs from the Canonical gospels found in the Christian Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).

2) "How do scriptures intersect with cultural norms and power relations? Choose two specific examples (e.g., a passage from the Bible, a biography, or other assigned reading to illustrate your points."

Let's start the comparison first with the cultural norms and we will follow with the power relations.

First, when we compare the first century interpretation of marriage, as we can see from the Pauline letter or the unknown canonical author of Hebrews, we gather a sense that marriage is good. It may not be regarded as the highest good when compared to the gift of celibacy but it is nevertheless regarded as good and noble:

1Corinthians 7:36, 38  "If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. ... So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better." 

Hebrews 13:4, "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous." 

However by contrast, when we read non-canonical texts as it was shared in the class section titled "Christian Scripture and Tradition on Sex and Marriage", we read how marriage is degraded as evil and regarded with strong aversion to the point of being compared to the very act of sin:

"Clement of Alexandria, for example, reports about some Christians in the late second century who "say outright that marriage is fornication and teach that it was introduced by the devil. They proudly say that they are imitating the Lord who neither married nor had any possession in this world, boasting that they understand the gospel better than anyone else" (Stromateis III,6.49.1)."

Second, when we come to power relations, there is a varied way one can assess this. But since Christianity present itself as salvific or salvation religion, then salvation is among the core tenet of Christianity. And here again we can see the place of gender roles in it with we compare the canonical gospels or canonical Christian texts vis a vis the non-canonical gospel from the Gnostic thinkers.

Women are believed that they are capable to attain salvation just like their male counterparts, as since in the baptism of Lydia or the baptism of whole households in the Acts of the Apostles. And even in the ambiguous text that seem to make a condition on women such as, "1Ti 2:15  Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.", women still, even in this case, are candidates to salvation.

But this is not saw as it appears from the gospel of Thomas, which requires women to make a gender transition away from their femaleness in order to be worthy of salvation, entrance into the kingdom of heaven:

"(114) (1) Simon Peter said to them: "Let Mary go away from us, for women are not worthy of life." (2) Jesus said: "Look, I will draw her in so as to make her male, so that she too may become a living male spirit, similar to you." (3) (But I say to you): "Every woman who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.""

It is therefore true that depending on which scriptures one relies on, this will have an impact of ones conception of gender roles and gender power relation to a certain good.

Ancient Christian assumptions on "Sex and Marriage" in light of a Canonical Biblical Text

A short reflection I made during one of my class courses on scriptural on early centuries Christians' assumptions on sex and marriage

Assignment: "Choose one passage from the unit "Christian Scripture on Sex and Marriage" and analyze it using the three assumptions given here. How does reading through that lens affect your interpretation of the Christian text(s)?”

Reflection:

One of the texts that was quoted is Hebrew 13:4 "Let marriage be kept honorable in every way, and the marriage bed undefiled. For God will judge those who commit sexual sins, especially those who commit adultery."

1) The household is a basic social and economic unit; it includes parents and children of several generations as well as slaves.

Viewed through this new testament lenses, marriage has an elevated view. It is regarded as honorable. And by honorable one can extrapolate that it is expected to be the aspired norm in any given society. We know that many modern culture and surely ancient culture also were very strong on honor and their dignity, so much so that they created social strata to separate those who are more honourable than those weren't. Hence if marriage was to be considered honorable, this implies that it must have been regarded as indispensable as a basic social and economic unit in society. At least, this was the aspiration projected by the Christian confidence about the usefulness and value of marriage.

2) "Natural sex" is understood to be phallic and it should properly reproduce hierarchical norms of class, age, and gender. This means that "natural sex" always involves a penetrating male. Moreover, the penetrated person should be of a class status (whether male or female) lower than the penetrator, be younger in age (including children), or be a female.

From the Christian ideal that set all people from different socio-class status on the same rank when it comes to their value in the eyes of God, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." - Galatians 3:28 , it is unlikely that marriage was regarded as simply being a 'phallic' endeavor. And coming back to Hebrews 13:4, the text emphasis on honor bestowed to marriage, meaning on the individuals participating in this marital union, it would be a departure from its ethos if the marriage intimate act of sexuality was regarded simply as a sheer acts of sexual penetration with no other noble sentiments linked to it. I do not conceive this as being feasible based on this first century text of the New testament.

3) Sexual desire is perceived as morally problematic.

From the perspective of Hebrews 13:4, it is adultery and other form of sexual sins that are problematic and which attracts God's judgment. However, the marriage bed is expected to be distanced from unfaithfulness, a concept often linked with adultery - the breaking of one's marital vow toward one's spouse. Hence the marital bed is expected to remain undefiled by unfaithfulness.

Beside that, marriage which in itself assumes the openness to sexual activities between partners falls in the category of what makes marriage honorable according to this texts:

"Because sexual immorality is so rampant, every man should have his own wife, and every woman should have her own husband. A husband should fulfill his obligation to his wife, and a wife should do the same for her husband." - 1Corinthians 7:2-3

 Hence, there is no problematic view regarding sexual desire within marriage, it is the sexual desire outside of marriage which is regarded as problematic, and Christians readers are expected to take all necessary measures against it.