#MeToo Jesus: Jesus as Victim of Sexual Abuse

On 16 January 2018, Dr Jayme Reaves (Public theologian, Dorset) and Professor David Tombs (University of Otago) delivered the joint paper “#MeToo Jesus: Why Naming Jesus as a Victim of Sexual Abuse Matters”, a Shiloh Project lecture at the University of Sheffield.

 

The #MeToo hashtag and campaign created by Tarana Burke in 2007 and popularized by Alyssa Milano in October 2017 has confirmed what feminists have long argued on the prevalence of sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexually abusive behaviour. It has also prompted a more public debate on dynamics of victim blaming and victim shaming which contribute to the silences which typically benefit perpetrators and add a further burden to survivors. As such, the #MeToo movement raises important questions for Christian faith and theology. A church in New York offered a creative response in a sign which adapted Jesus’ words ‘You did this to me’ in Mt 25:40 to read ‘You did this to #MeToo’. This presentation will explore the biblical and theological reasons for naming Jesus as a victim of sexual abuse drawing on earlier work presenting crucifixion as a form of state terror and sexual abuse (Tombs 1999). It will then discuss some of the obstacles to this recognition and suggest why the acknowledgement nonetheless matters. It will argue that recognition of Jesus as victim of sexual abuse can help strengthen church responses to sexual abuses and challenge tendencies within the churches, as well as in wider society, to collude with victim blaming or shaming.

For further reading, see David Tombs, ‘Crucifixion, State Terror, and Sexual Abuse’ in Union Seminary Quarterly Review (1999).

Johanna Stiebert on Sex between Brothers and Sisters in the Bible and Rape Culture

Associate Professor Johanna Stiebert (University of Leeds) explores sex between brothers and sisters in “Exploring Connections between Rape Culture and the Hebrew Bible: Brother and Sister and Sex in Biblical Text and Popular Culture”, a paper delivered at the University of Chester on June 1, 2016.

Associate Professor Stiebert is the author of First-Degree Incest and the Hebrew Bible: Sex in the Family (Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2016), which deals in more detail with the same topic.

Jeffrey H. Tigay: Jewish Interpretations of the Canaanite Genocide

On September 24, 2015, Professor Jeffrey H. Tigay (University of Pennsylvania) lectured on “Jewish Interpretations of the Canaanite Genocide”, at Wheaton College.

David Tombs on The Rape and Sexual Abuse of Jesus

Professor David Tombs (University of Otago) presented a Public Lecture at the University of Auckland on July 20, 2016 entitled “Acknowledging Jesus as Victim of Sexual Abuse”.

Feminist and womanist theologians have questioned traditional Christian models of atonement that appear to render God complicit in the extreme violence of the cross, likening Jesus’ crucifixion to a form of ‘divine child abuse’. These models of atonement often reinforce unhealthy attitudes towards the acceptance of sexual violence and abuse.

Professor Tomb’s presentation will link the critiques of atonement to recent research on crucifixion, which re-reads the historical and scriptural evidence on Roman crucifixions to suggest that sexual humiliation and sexual violence were prominent features in this event. This will lead to discussion on the theological and ethical relevance of such an understanding of crucifixion, including its significance in light of recent sexual abuse scandals within the church.

The paper may be listened to in mp4 format, with accompanying visuals here, or the mp4 file may be downloaded here.

h/t: Caroline Blyth

Amy-Jill Levine on The Carpenter, Gender, and Sexuality: The 42nd Annual Antoinette Brown lecture

Professor Amy-Jill Levine (Vanderbilt Divinity School) delivered the 42nd Annual Antoinette Brown lecture on March 31, 2016, at Benton Chapel, Vanderbilt University Divinity School. The lecture also celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Carpenter Program in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality.

Levine’s lecture was entitled “The Carpenter, Gender, and Sexuality: The Use and Abuse of the Gospels in Politics and Piety”. Her lecture looks at what the Bible teaches about rape, adultery, and women’s sexual pleasure. She also discusses the contemporary deployment of the Bible as a weapon: contemporary interpretations of the Bible which result in people dying, such as condemnations of homosexuality and abortion, and domestic abuse. Lastly, she examines the roles and authority of women in the Bible.

The lecture begins at 9:00.

The Human Condition: The Ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible – Thomas Römer’s 2013 Seminars at the Collège de France

Videos of Thomas Römer’s 2013 seminars at the Collège de France, entitled The Human Condition: The Ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible, are available at the Collège’s website, or for download at the links provided below (800mb+). The seminars have been overdubbed by an English translator.

Thomas Römer is Professor of Old Testament at the University of Lausanne (UNIL) and the Collège de France, and author of many works, including Israels Väter (1990) on the Patriarchal traditions in the Pentateuch.

In these seminars, Römer discusses the question of the human condition, drawing on ancient Near Eastern texts such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and, especially, on biblical texts.

07 FEBRUARY 2013, 2:00 pm
Introduction: The Gilgamesh Epic Read as a Reflection on the Human Condition

14 FEBRUARY 2013, 2:00 pm
Man “Image of God” or “Sinner From The Very Beginning”?

21 FEBRUARY 2013, 2:00 pm
Divine Violence, Human Violence

28 FEBRUARY 2013, 2:00 pm
Diversity of Cultures and Languages

21 MARCH 2013, 2:00 pm
Friendship, Love, Sexuality 1/2

28 MARCH 2013, 2:00 pm
Friendship, Love, Sexuality 2/2

04 APRIL 2013, 2:00 pm
Man in the Face of Death

11 APRIL 2013, 2:00 pm
Individual Death and the End of the World – Is Man Able to Imagine an Absolute End?