Reading the Gospel of Thomas from here: a trans-centred hermeneutic
This article adopts a trans-centered approach to reading the Gospel of Thomas, in particular key statements found in Gos. Thom. 22 and 114. Treatments of gender in the gospel are discussed from the author’s position as a queer woman of transgender experience, informed by postcolonial, feminist, and...
Subtitles: | The Bible: Transgender and Genderqueer Perspectives |
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Main Author: | |
Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Sheffield Institute for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies
2020
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In: |
Journal for interdisciplinary biblical studies (JIBS)
Year: 2020, Volume: 1, Issue: 2, Pages: 61-96 |
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Jesus Christus
/ Gospel of Thomas
/ Bible reading
/ Queer theory
/ Study
/ Textual understanding
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IxTheo Classification: | HA Bible |
Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
Summary: | This article adopts a trans-centered approach to reading the Gospel of Thomas, in particular key statements found in Gos. Thom. 22 and 114. Treatments of gender in the gospel are discussed from the author’s position as a queer woman of transgender experience, informed by postcolonial, feminist, and gender-critical theory and practice. Literary and historical comparisons with Philo of Alexandria and the apostle Paul are explored to uncover Thomas’s worldview, which is seen to be darkly critical of the material world, while being hopeful for spiritual transformation. Though the Gospel of Thomas participates in the prevalent masculinist ideology of most literature of the day, many of its sayings may garner a new or nuanced meaning when read through a transgender lens, including especially the demand for replacement of the outer person with the inner person (Gos. Thom. 22), and potential salvation through erasure of conventional gender difference in the making of an ungendered Living Spirit resembling Jesus (Gos. Thom. 114). |
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ISSN: | 2633-0695 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for interdisciplinary biblical studies (JIBS)
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.17613/4etz-b919 |