Abstract
Both intersex and queer Christians look to the eunuch as a biblical resource for theological reflection today.1 Despite this similarity, theological reflection on intersex should be differentiated from queer theologies for several reasons. First, out of respect for the “specific and urgent issues facing intersex people,” scholars must take care that intersex concerns are not lost in the wider cultural and religious debate over sexual ethics.2 Second, reading intersex as just one more color in the rainbow of queer sexualities tends to undermine efforts for education, inclusion, and medical care for intersex persons and families within conservative religious traditions.3 Third, conflating intersex with queer theory/theology fails to acknowledge the diversity of religious perspectives among intersex persons themselves. Intersex persons come from a variety of religious backgrounds, some holding to conservative sexual ethics despite their understanding of the challenges that intersex brings to heteronormativity.4 At the same time, given the significance of the biblical language of the eunuch for intersex Christians (of various stripes) as well as for queer Christians, it is worth exploring this term in its ancient contexts and its reception in the early church in order to determine its value for Christian reflection on intersex today.
Portions of this chapter are taken from Megan K. DeFranza, Sex Difference in Christian Theology: Male, Female, and Intersex in the Image of God, Chapter 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2015); used with permission.
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© 2015 Susannah Cornwall
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DeFranza, M.K. (2015). Virtuous Eunuchs: Troubling Conservative and Queer Readings of Intersex and the Bible. In: Cornwall, S. (eds) Intersex, Theology, and the Bible. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137349019_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137349019_3
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