Alexiana Fry, “Shall I Fear? The Irony of Affective Politics in Judges 19,” 1–15.
KEYWORDS: Judges 19, Affect Theory, Fear, Levite, Irony
In Judges 19, the Levite from Ephraim, together with his concubine, on their journey back home pass by Jebus and refuse to stay in the hometown of the Jebusites, remarking that “we will not stop at a foreign city where there are no Israelites” (Judges 19:12). It is an ironic comment made as it is precisely within the city of Israelites in Gibeah that danger and violence will occur. This narrative portrayal is particularly poignant in the current context of the United States that is dominated by fear, specifically through the bodies of those who are deemed “other” in terms of their ethnicity. Meanwhile, it may be that the greatest threat in the United States today lies within its own walls, i.e., in the majority demographic. This paper explores the biases majority culture holds towards the supposed morality of “other” ethnicities and nationalities, considering questions regarding what is considered “normal” or “safe.” The fear that characterises the downfall of the narrative reaches beyond ethnic othering to gender and sexual othering as well, not only inside the text, but in interpretation and reception as well. Yet, the narrative shows this as baldly ironic in order to face it; whereas the United States and scholars within have yet to truly name the problem in order to maintain the ideals of hierarchy, power, and White supremacy.
Ellen De Doncker, “Incestual Duplication by Female Sex Offenders: Lot’s Daughters (Genesis 19:30–38) as Challenge to Typologies and Violent Family-Systems,” 16–37.
KEYWORDS: Genesis 19; Lot’s daughters; Lot; male rape; sex offender typologies; systematic psychology; female-to-male sexual violence; forced to penetrate
Against the background of the often female-focused view of sexual abuse victims, this paper addresses the issue of male-identifying victims of sexual violence through the lens of the Bible. I tackle one particular form of sexual abuse: female-on-male sexual violence, of the “forced/made to penetrate” type through a re-reading of Genesis 19:30–38. Bearing in mind that this narrative was written in a social context differing in multiple ways from current societies, I, nonetheless, hope to show its relevance for contemporary practices and thinking. In order to do so, this paper intends to show how the story of Lot and his daughters, as told in Genesis 19:30–38 informs and challenges current perspectives on typologies of female sex offenders. Additionally, in analysing the broader context of the narrative of Lot’s rape by his daughters, the present study aims to incorporate theories of traumatic family systems, all while evaluating in what way this system is present and how it affects the intrafamilial violence. The paper first situates the problem present in the Biblical narrative, and then evaluates the narrative against typologies of female sex offenders and theories of systematic abuse. Next, it assesses the daughters of Lot under a multiform perspective and considers their identity as both victims and abusers. Finally, it aims to show how a biblical narrative could critically inform current typologies of female sex offenders and provide insights considering abusive systems.
Jane Sancinito, “Requiring Apologia? Merchants and Artisans in Acts of the Apostles,” 38–68.
KEYWORDS: Merchants; Stereotypes; Intersectionality; Prejudice; Apology
Christian merchants, artisans, and service providers were explicitly targeted by early critics of the movement, who felt, in line with contemporary prejudices, that such people were dirty, ignorant, and prone to the vices of greed and deceit. Detractors hoped to attack Christianity on two intersecting fronts: that the faith was morally bankrupt and that its faithful were the lowest members of society. Apologists of the 2nd and 3rd centuries denied that Christianity welcomed these workers, emphasizing the virtue of their brothers and sisters. Yet this rejection of commercial and artisanal workers runs counter to the attitudes displayed in the New Testament, especially the letters of Paul and Acts of the Apostles, which largely embraces working people as foundational supporters of the early Jesus movement. This article examines why and how attitudes toward commercial and artisanal workers changed so that a faith that once welcomed professionals later denied them.
Eric C. Smith, “There Was a Man Who Had Two Sons: A Parable of Futurity, Reproductivity, Utopia, and Social Death,” 69–87.
KEYWORDS: Futurity; Reproductivity; Social Death; Utopia; Heteronormativity; Heteropatriarchy; Flourishing; Gospel of Luke
Few of the parables found in the gospels have received more attention than the parable of the man with two sons, commonly known as the parable of the Prodigal Son. In this paper, I argue that discourses of queer futurity can help make new sense of the parable, highlighting its use of family structures and its assumptions about time, and attending to the story’s reflections on the conditions of flourishing. Understood this way, the parable of the man with two sons reads as a debate over bodies, kinship, and possession of the future, and it provokes reflection on the limits that heteronorming structures place on thriving. Read alongside theorists of queer futurity, the parable of the man with two sons affords at least two possible interpretations. It can be understood as a gesture toward a new horizon, embracing a queer future free of the constraints of heteronormative reproductivity. But the parable can also be understood as a conservative cautionary tale that insists on temporal reproductive norms and pathologises deviance from full alignment toward a heteroreproductive future.
Clair J. Hutchings-Budd, “Naming as Human Agency in Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens,” 88–110.
KEYWORDS: Terry Pratchett; Neil Gaiman; Good Omens; Naming; Genesis; Revelation; Adam; Creation; Antichrist; Anthropomorphism; Apocalypse
In Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s 1990 comic novel Good Omens, names act as important signifiers of role and function; the act of naming can be an expression of power so strong and significant that it can literally shape reality. Here, I propose a reading of Good Omens that explores human agency through the process of naming. Focusing on the character of Adam Young, who is himself named after the first human described in Genesis, I examine how Good Omens intersects with the cultural inheritance of the Bible, and specifically with literary and popular cultural engagements with Genesis and Revelation. Approaching the novel primarily via its literary and cinematic intertexts, I position Adam Young as a literary construct who in turn names and shapes other beings out of material from his own mental library. Like his namesake, in Genesis to whom God delegated the naming of the animals, I consider how the Adam of Good Omens uses naming to define the world around him and in doing so, asserts his humanity over his supernatural origins.