see theology in a new light. Althaus-Reid certainly did that in her books Indecent Theology and The Queer God, which contained provocative chapters such as “Oral Sex: sexual his/torias in oral theology”16 and “Kneeling: deviant theologians.”17 Hence, queer theology differs from prophetic discourse in that queer theology is self-consciously transgressive in terms of methodology, whereas prophetic discourse involves speaking on behalf of the divine and subordinating one’s will to that of God (which, of course, may also be a transgressive act).
Third, in light of the definition of “queer” as erasing boundaries, queer theology can be understood as a way of doing theology that is rooted in queer theory and that critiques the binary categories of sexuality (that is, homosexual vs. heterosexual) and gender identity (that is, female vs. male) as socially constructed. In other words, queer theology argues that the discourse of classical Christian theology ultimately requires the erasing of the boundaries of essentialist categories of not only sexuality and gender identity, but also more fundamental boundaries such as life vs. death, and divine vs. human. The recent work of the openly lesbian theologian Elizabeth Stuart of the University of Winchester on the eschatological dimension of the sacraments (such as baptism and the Eucharist) is strongly rooted in this view of queer theology.18
While this book will draw upon all three definitions of queer theology, the main focus will be on the third definition: that is, how queer theology, like queer studies and queer theory, erases boundaries by challenging and deconstructing the “natural” binary categories of sexual and gender identity. Indeed, it is the thesis of this book that Christian theology itself is a fundamentally queer enterprise because it also challenges and deconstructs—through radical love—all kinds of binary categories that on the surface seem fixed and unchangeable (such as life vs. death, or divine vs. human), but that ultimately are fluid and malleable.
In other words, Christian theology is fundamentally a queer enterprise because it focuses upon the incarnation, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and second coming of Jesus Christ, all of which are events that turn upside down our traditional understanding of life and death, divine and human, center and margins, beginnings and endings, infinite and finite, and punishment and forgiveness. As with the case of queer theory, it is in Jesus Christ that all of these seemingly fixed binary categories are ultimately challenged and collapsed.
Four Sources of Queer Theology
Where did queer theology come from? Did it just fall out of the sky? Was it an invention of LGBT activists? For many people, the notion of queer theology is an oxymoron, particularly in light of how traditional Christianity has condemned— and continues to condemn—same-sex acts and gender-variant identities as intrinsically sinful. However, in recent years an increasing number of theologians have written about queer theology, drawing upon a variety of different theological sources.19
Like all other theologies, queer theology draws upon at least four sources: (1) scripture, (2) tradition, (3) reason, and (4) experience. This multiplicity of sources is important because, on the one hand, theology has never been simply about reading the Bible literally (that is, scripture) nor simply about what the church authorities have taught (that is, tradition). On the other hand, theology has never been simply a matter of drawing upon philosophy (that is, reason) nor has it simply been equated with the human experience of the divine (that is, experience).
Rather, theology is a synthesis of all four sources, and each of these sources acts as a “check and balance” for the other three. Of course, different traditions give different weight for each of these sources. For example, evangelical Protestants rely heavily upon scripture, Roman Catholics rely heavily upon tradition, Anglicans rely heavily upon reason, and progressive Protestants rely heavily upon experience. But it is important to realize that each of these sources must still be read in light of the other three. Let us now turn to each of these four sources in the context of queer theology.
Queer Scripture
First, queer theology draws upon scripture—that is, the Hebrew and Christian scriptures (also known as the First and Second Testaments)—in creative ways. Although scripture (and, in particular, the handful of “texts of terror”20 for LGBT people) traditionally has been used as a means of oppressing LGBT people, queer biblical scholars in recent years have not only countered these antiqueer readings with alternative readings, but they have also “taken back” or “reclaimed” the Bible by interpreting it positively and constructively from their own perspectives.
For example, take the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19, which has been the paradigmatic story for God’s punishment of same-sex acts. In that story, two angelic visitors stay overnight in the town of Sodom. However, the lawless men of Sodom demand that the visitors’ host, Lot, turn the visitors over so that they may “know” them. The visitors escape along with Lot’s family, and God destroys Sodom and its sister city, Gomorrah, with fire and brimstone.21
Although the story of Sodom and Gomorrah has been interpreted traditionally as evidence of God’s punishment of LGBT people, queer biblical scholars have argued that the story is actually a condemnation of the sin of inhospitality toward strangers, which had life or death consequences in the harsh desert environment of the biblical world. This is evidenced by the descriptions of Sodom and Gomorrah elsewhere in the Bible (for example, Ezekiel 16:48–49), which focus on inhospitality instead of same-sex acts.22
Ironically, some LGBT theologians and ethicists such as Nancy Wilson and Kathy Rudy have “queered” the Sodom narrative by placing hospitality at the center of queer theological reflection. For example, Wilson has constructed a “queer theology of sexuality” by focusing on the gift of “promiscuous” or “bodily hospitality” that many LGBT people have.23 Rudy, an openly lesbian ethicist at Duke University, has suggested that nonmonogamous sex acts—including anonymous and communal sex—can be viewed in terms of a progressive ethic of hospitality.24
Much has been written about the debate over the meaning of the half-dozen or so LBGT “texts of terror” in the Bible, and I will not rehearse those arguments here.25 However, it is important to note that queer theologians have gone beyond these “texts of terror” and have read the Bible in creative and constructive ways as a means of affirming LGBT experience.26 For example, Nancy Wilson has argued that LGBT people can be found in a number of biblical narratives—including David and Jonathan, Ruth and Naomi, the Roman Centurion, the Ethiopian Eunuch, and Mary, Martha, and Lazarus—which she refers to as “our gay and lesbian tribal texts.”27
In 2006, over thirty LGBT religious scholars, ministers, and writers contributed to The Queer Bible Commentary, which was the first queer commentary on all the books of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation. As the preface states, the commentary shows that biblical texts have the “ever-surprising capacity to be disruptive, unsettling and unexpectedly but delightfully queer.” Furthermore, the contributors employed a wide range of hermeneutic approaches, including “feminist, queer, deconstructionist, postcolonial, and utopian theories, the social sciences, and historical-critical discourses.”28
Other examples of using scripture as a positive source for queer theology include: Jacob’s Wound: Homoerotic Narrative in the Literature of Ancient Israel; Queer Commentary and the Hebrew Bible; The Subversive Gospel: A New Testament Commentary of Liberation; Take Back the Word: A Queer Reading of the Bible; Torah Queeries: Weekly Commentaries on the Hebrew Bible; When Deborah Met Jael: Lesbian Biblical Hermeneutics; and The Word Is Out: Daily Reflections on the Bible for Lesbians and Gay Men.29 By engaging with scripture from our unique social locations, queer people are able to articulate more clearly how the Word of God
