Full Description
In this book, Vander Stichele and Penner introduce their own gender-critical approach to the New Testament and other early Christian writings. Building on feminist and post-colonial insights, they explore the importance of gender in both text and context and discuss the diverse issues involved in interpretation as they relate to gender, sex, and sexuality. The authors also set out their methodology and highlight the various hermeneutical issues involved, such as the complexity of gendered and sexed identities in antiquity and the gap that exists between modern and ancient conceptions thereof. They further illustrate their gender-critical approach with concrete examples from the Acts of the Apostles, the letters of Paul, and the Acts of Paul and Thecla, in order to demonstrate how a gender-critical approach works in practice. As such, this book is unique in terms of its range as well as in the explicit methodological focus that is fostered throughout.
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTERSEXIONS
Bibliography
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCING A GENDER-CRITICAL APPROACH
Discourse and the Social Production of Knowledge
Sex, Gender, and Politics
Colonial Contexts and Gender
History and Discourse
Concluding Contextual Observations
Bibliography
Notes
CHAPTER 2: CONTEXTUALIZING GENDER IN THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLD
Discourse and the Meaning of Sex
Models for Understanding Sex
From the Politics of the Body to the Body Politic
Physiognomy as Politics of the Body
Gendering Bodies
The Body Politic
Bodies in Empire
Bibliography
Notes
CHAPTER 3: BOUNDARIES AND BODIES IN EARLY CHRISTIAN DISCOURSE
Canonical and Conceptual Boundaries
Cultural Boundaries
Political Boundaries
Social Boundaries
Conclusion
Bibliography
Notes
CHAPTER 4: GENDER AND THE MODERN INTERPRETER
Race, Gender, and the Formation of Modern Biblical Scholarship
The Racializing of Modern Biblical Scholarship
The Gendering of Modern Biblical Scholarship
Gender and Power in the Discipline of Biblical Studies
Conclusion
Bibliography
Notes
CHAPTER 5: READING (FOR) GENDER
Gender-Critical Reading Assumptions and Strategies
Reading (for) Gender and the Worlds of the Text
The World behind the Text
The World in the Text
The World in front of the Text
Summary
Three Examples of Reading (for) Gender
1 Corinthians 11:2-16
Acts 18:1-18
Acts of Paul and Thecla
Conclusion
Bibliography
Notes
(DIS)CLOSURE
Bibliography
INDEX
