Theology Prof Claims Bible ‘Portrays Gender as a Colorful Spectrum’
“Yes, the Bible was written in a patriarchal time, but it recognizes that people reimagined and reshaped their gender identities back then—just like they do today.”
This person teaches at a Catholic university. Does this sound factual to you?
The College Fix reports:
Bible ‘portrays gender as a colorful spectrum,’ theology professor says
The Bible supports the idea of individuals changing their sex and taking drugs and surgeries to do so, a professor at a Catholic university in Ohio wrote recently.
Professor Esther Brownsmith teaches classes on Scripture at the University of Dayton in Ohio. She was responding to the vote yesterday to prohibit men from competing in women’s sports and to ban minors from taking drugs and surgeries to make themselves look like the opposite sex. The vote overrode a veto by Governor Mike DeWine.
Brownsmith (pictured) claims that Joseph’s “amazing technicolor dreamcoat” was really clothes a princess would wear.
“This is just one of the ways that the Bible indicates that the ‘shapely and beautiful’ Joseph (Genesis 39:6) crossed gender boundaries, and he was not the only one: Deborah led an army, Mordecai breast-fed his cousin Esther, and Daniel was probably a eunuch,” the Biblical scholar wrote in an opinion piece today for the Dayton Daily News.
The Bible does not support the idea of gender being a “rigid binary,” according to Brownsmith.
She wrote:
For scholars like me who research the Bible, these are just a few of the ways that scripture portrays gender as a colorful spectrum, not a rigid binary. Even God is sometimes described with feminine language, as a midwife or nursing mother. Yes, the Bible was written in a patriarchal time, but it recognizes that people reimagined and reshaped their gender identities back then—just like they do today.
In fact, the Bible supports the idea of kids undergoing drug and surgical interventions to remove healthy organs, according to the professor.
“As a professor of Hebrew Bible at the University of Dayton, I believe that scripture and trans rights are not at odds. To the contrary: the Bible calls for us to support society’s most vulnerable members, and that call has rarely been more urgent,” she wrote.
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Comments
Crazy white wimmin.
Can’t live with ’em, can’t toss ’em out a window in Jezreel.
That’s some take–and what is wrong with the university who continues to employ her?
Um, no. No it doesn’t.
Colors were not some telltale sign of feminine or “gender-changing” qualities.
Colors in clothing and jewels were rare and valuable, which is why Joseph’s brothers grew so jealous. Yes, many women wore them, but it wasn’t to signal gender. It was because they were adorned with gifts from men that desired and sometimes loved them.
This dumb charlatan thinks the LGBTQ rainbow existed in Biblical times. Does she also think God promised Noah a land of many genders with the post-Flood rainbow?
After loading a giant boat with 57 of every animal, Noah deserved more.
Look at her picture and it makes more sense. She looks pretty trans in her own right.
Also, her evidence that Mordecai breastfed is laughably just this verse:
“When her father and mother died, Mordecai had raised her as if she were his own daughter.”
Joseph’s “amazing technicolor dreamcoat” was really clothes a princess would wear.
Dude, you took that musical WAY too seriously. He wasn’t a hippy, either.
Mordecai breast-fed his cousin Esther
What the…?!?!? You have to torture the language to get that. And that makes you a heretic, not misunderstanding.
Daniel was probably a eunuch
And what does that have to do with “gender identity”? If he was, it wasn’t by choice, but because the Babylonians had him castrated.
Deborah led an army
And, yes, that is defying normal “gender roles.” But it has absolutely nothing to do with the concept of “gender identity.” It has to do with the people who should have been taking the lead failing in their roles, so God used the “foolish” choice to show his wisdom and power.
This “theology” professor isn’t studying the same “theo” that I know and love, that’s for sure. Definitely one for the “I never knew you” group.
And all of that is even without reference to the “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” bit. Which is right there in the beginning, and kinda hard to miss.
I have long thought Daniel was probably a eunuch. It was standard practice to take young male slaves and castrate them; if they survive THEN they would be taken to courts to be educated. Also, an un-castrated male would not have been given power in the court, as he would be using it for the good of his own offspring instead of the good of his ruler. But, as you said, it was not his choice. His only choice was HOW he was going to live AFTER it was chosen for him. And he chose well….
I agree with everything else you said. I about wrote my own comment, but you beat me to it.
the Bible calls for us to support society’s most vulnerable members
“Support” is doing a LOT of heavy lifting right there….
Picture of “Esther”
https://www.daytondailynews.com/resizer/b742x2_86B150xxsuFysJGSq7Ac=/814×458/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/coxohio/CDFJLA24SBEPBBP6MP4EKCN3SU.jpg
The more I read of the insanity of our world, the happier I am that I am old.
If you insist on reading what you want into Scripture despite what it says in black and white then you will find it. It doesn’t mean Scripture actually says what you claim it does though.
Jesus is quite clear that people are made male or female, He gives no third option.
Can you say “confirmation bias”, kids? Can you imagine what else she yammers on about when her meds aren’t at therapeutic level?
1. Jacob gave Joseph כתונת פסים, a striped tunic, or possibly a silk tunic. There’s nothing particularly feminine about that.
2. Deborah did not lead an army. That’s what Barak was for. He merely asked Deborah to accompany him for moral support.
3. Mordechai raised his cousin Hadassah, AKA Esther. The word is אומן, a caregiver for children. The same word is used in Numbers 11:12 and Ruth 4:16. In neither case is breastfeeding implied. The word is derived from the root “Amen”, which means security, stability, permanence, which is why it’s used as a response of affirmation.
4. Daniel probably was a eunuch, but not at all by choice. He was a captive, a prince carried off into slavery, and castration was usually part of that. It says nothing about his sex, gender, or identity.
The good professor is engaging in projection and enlightened speculation. Deborah worked as the political leader with Barak as her general. Deborah in no way insinuates that she is a man but rather as a prophetess. There have been throughout history a number of notable female political leaders (some strong and effective) – Deborah being one of them. But this is not an indication of a new gender but rather a demonstration of the (perhaps overlapping) range of recognized social roles available to the two sexes. Mordecai certainly took care of Esther after she became an orphan. But there is no indication of what age this occurred or any indication of his breast feeding. That eastern rulers relied on eunuchs for palace administration is well known. Being a eunuch to serve a king is not an indication of innate gender identification but rather a job requirement.
“Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful.” Genesis 29:17
“Now Joseph was well-built and handsome.” Genesis 39:6
Means corrective lenses are not in the Bible,
The average student of either gender in a yeshiva knows more about the Bible and how it is understood and interpreted than this so called scholar