Envisioning Fire Theophanies as Gender-Neutral Expressions of Selfhood

The Bible is not an obvious source of affirmation for non-binary or agender identities. Commentaries on gender in the Bible focus on narratives in which gender is foregrounded by the text, and queering these narratives requires negotiation around binary categories of gender. This article proposes th...

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Autor principal:	Rebekah Dyer
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	University of Sheffield 2020
Materias:	genderqueer agender non-binary theophanies exodus acts burning bush pentecost god imago dei personhood fire imagery The Bible BS1-2970
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/c4ad8d32d47f4f439bbb3307b1027ee4
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:c4ad8d32d47f4f439bbb3307b1027ee42021-11-18T14:47:02ZEnvisioning Fire Theophanies as Gender-Neutral Expressions of Selfhood2633-069510.17613/pnwy-5e56https://doaj.org/article/c4ad8d32d47f4f439bbb3307b1027ee42020-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://hcommons.org/deposits/view/hc:29254/CONTENT/3.-rebekah-dyer-final-40-60.pdf/https://doaj.org/toc/2633-0695The Bible is not an obvious source of affirmation for non-binary or agender identities. Commentaries on gender in the Bible focus on narratives in which gender is foregrounded by the text, and queering these narratives requires negotiation around binary categories of gender. This article proposes that biblical narratives which portray God through gender-neutral images may speak especially to non-binary and agender identities. This premise can be demonstrated by applying a genderqueer hermeneutic to two biblical fire theophanies: Moses’ encounter at the burning bush (Exod 3) and the arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2). Exodus 3 and Acts 2 describe encounters with the divine in which divine selfhood is revealed in gender-neutral or ungendered terms. The deeply personal nature of divine self-disclosure within these encounters is underpinned by expressions of selfhood which exist outside binary categories of gender—indeed, beyond gendered categories altogether. Far from being irrelevant to the discussion of gender, gender-neutral images in the Bible offer a method of “re-imaging” divine selfhood in ways which affirm genderqueer expressions of the self.Rebekah DyerUniversity of Sheffieldarticlegenderqueeragendernon-binarytheophaniesexodusactsburning bushpentecostgodimago deipersonhoodfire imageryThe BibleBS1-2970ENJournal for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies, Vol 1, Iss 2, Pp 40-60 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	genderqueer agender non-binary theophanies exodus acts burning bush pentecost god imago dei personhood fire imagery The Bible BS1-2970
spellingShingle	genderqueer agender non-binary theophanies exodus acts burning bush pentecost god imago dei personhood fire imagery The Bible BS1-2970 Rebekah Dyer Envisioning Fire Theophanies as Gender-Neutral Expressions of Selfhood
description	The Bible is not an obvious source of affirmation for non-binary or agender identities. Commentaries on gender in the Bible focus on narratives in which gender is foregrounded by the text, and queering these narratives requires negotiation around binary categories of gender. This article proposes that biblical narratives which portray God through gender-neutral images may speak especially to non-binary and agender identities. This premise can be demonstrated by applying a genderqueer hermeneutic to two biblical fire theophanies: Moses’ encounter at the burning bush (Exod 3) and the arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2). Exodus 3 and Acts 2 describe encounters with the divine in which divine selfhood is revealed in gender-neutral or ungendered terms. The deeply personal nature of divine self-disclosure within these encounters is underpinned by expressions of selfhood which exist outside binary categories of gender—indeed, beyond gendered categories altogether. Far from being irrelevant to the discussion of gender, gender-neutral images in the Bible offer a method of “re-imaging” divine selfhood in ways which affirm genderqueer expressions of the self.
format	article
author	Rebekah Dyer
author_facet	Rebekah Dyer
author_sort	Rebekah Dyer
title	Envisioning Fire Theophanies as Gender-Neutral Expressions of Selfhood
title_short	Envisioning Fire Theophanies as Gender-Neutral Expressions of Selfhood
title_full	Envisioning Fire Theophanies as Gender-Neutral Expressions of Selfhood
title_fullStr	Envisioning Fire Theophanies as Gender-Neutral Expressions of Selfhood
title_full_unstemmed	Envisioning Fire Theophanies as Gender-Neutral Expressions of Selfhood
title_sort	envisioning fire theophanies as gender-neutral expressions of selfhood
publisher	University of Sheffield
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/c4ad8d32d47f4f439bbb3307b1027ee4
work_keys_str_mv	AT rebekahdyer envisioningfiretheophaniesasgenderneutralexpressionsofselfhood
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Envisioning Fire Theophanies as Gender-Neutral Expressions of Selfhood

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