Last Updated on January 14, 2024 by Kittredge Cherry
A new article presents an accessible overview of queer theology, including interviews with Q Spirit publisher Kittredge Cherry and scholar-theologians Robert Shore-Goss and Megan Shannon DeFranza.
Hear all of them in the related podcast, titled simply “Jesus was queer.” Cherry’s interview starts after about 9 minutes and she also has the final quote at 22 minutes. [Update in 2023: The podcast is no longer online, but it used to be at: http://www.fnppodcasts.com/the-needle/2019/4/14/jesus-was-queer.]
“How queer theology is changing the place for LGBTQ Christians in the church” appeared on April 12 on the website of the Frederick News-Post, the local daily newspaper for Frederick County, Maryland.
In the article the theologians discuss of whether Jesus was gay and what he thought of homosexuality and gender nonconformity.
“The word that Jesus used for eunuch is for a sexual minority,” Cherry said. “That’s the closest thing to what we might call today LGBTQ. He reached out to people who the regular religious authorities were saying were sinners, that we’re too far gone to be part of God’s kingdom. He went ahead and said, ‘These are the people that are also welcome in God’s kingdom.’”
The article concludes with a quote from Cherry:
“When I read the Bible thinking that Jesus is like me, it just brings it alive and makes it much more real,” Cherry said. “And I think that’s true for other LGBTQ people. I’m not doing this to say, this is the only way to look at Jesus. … It helps to see that Jesus was like we are and to see ourselves reflected in the holy story. Now for our straight allies, I think it’s also valuable to visualize the idea that Jesus was gay because it helps them then to be able to see the holiness among the LGBTQ community and just to expand their idea of God.”
The interviews and writing were done with sensitivity by Wyatt Massey, a journalist who covers religion and human rights.
The Frederick News-Post illustrated the article with a mural of the Last Supper at the church in Curahuara de Carangas, Bolivia. The 400-year-old church’s elaborate Biblical murals by indigenous artists earned it the nickname “Sistine Chapel of the Andes.”
Queer theology books
BESTSELLER AT Q SPIRIT 2018
“Queer Theology: Beyond Apologetics” by Linn Marie Tonstad.
Going beyond arguments for including LGBTQ people in the church, this guide provides a clear introduction to queer theology and what it reveals about desire, death, money, justice, and Christianity itself. An intelligent yet accessible overview, the book is widely praised for is lucid prose. It is the next best thing to enrolling in the author’s Queer Theology seminar at Yale Divinity School, where she is associate professor of systemic theology. Published by Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipf and Stock.
BESTSELLER AT Q SPIRIT 2016
“Queer Virtue: What LGBTQ People Know About Life and Love and How It Can Revitalize Christianity” by Elizabeth M. Edman.
“Authentic Christianity is and must be queer,” asserts lesbian Episcopal priest Elizabeth Edman in a major new book that brings together queer ethics, Christian theology and her own spiritual journey. In one of the most highly anticipated books of the year, Christian faith calls believers to rupture or “queer” the false binaries of simplistic thinking. LGBTQ experience is celebrated as valuable, virtuous and sacred. The author invites Christians to learn from “queer virtue” — a path that involves identity, risk, touch, scandal, adoption (forming families), pride, coming out, authenticity and hospitality. “Queer Virtue” sparkles with a graceful writing style, provocative ideas, honest self-revelation, and up-to-date LGBTQ pop-culture references such as “Orange is the New Black” and “Fun Home.” The author has served as a hospital and university chaplain and marriage-equality strategist. Foreword by Michael Bronski. Published by Beacon Press.
BESTSELLER AT Q SPIRIT 2015
“Sex Difference in Christian Theology: Male, Female, and Intersex in the Image of God” by Megan K. DeFranza.
Solid theological analysis challenges the gender binary with Biblical resources on eunuchs and critiques various models of sexuality and gender based on images of Christ and God. Author Megan K. DeFranza shows that all people are made in God’s image: male, female and intersex. She has taught at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. This is her first book, published by a major academic religious press (Eerdmans) and endorsed by queer scholars such as Susannah Cornwall.
“Radical Love: An Introduction to Queer Theology” by Patrick Cheng
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Top image credit:
Detail from the Last Supper mural at the church in Curahuara de Carangas, Bolivia (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
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