A theology professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., claimed Jesus Christ was a “drag king,” yet the school reportedly still holds the professor in high esteem despite the blasphemous remarks.
Dr. Tat-siong Benny Liew, chair of New Testament Studies called Jesus a “drag king” who had “queer desires,” according to a March article by student Elinor Reilly.
“Professor Liew’s numerous publications reveal an unconventional approach to gender, sexuality, and race in the biblical texts,”Professor Liew’s contribution to this volume, a chapter entitled ‘Queering Closets and Perverting Desires: Cross-Examining John’s Engendering and Transgendering Word across Different Worlds,’ demonstrates the centrality of sex and gender to his way of thinking about the New Testament.”
“In the chapter, Professor Liew explains that he believes Christ could be considered a ‘drag king’ or cross-dresser. ‘If one follows the trajectory of the Wisdom/Word or Sophia/Jesus (con)figuration, what we have in John’s Jesus is not only a ‘king of Israel’ (1:49; 12:13– 15) or ‘king of the Ioudaioi’ (18:33, 39; 19:3, 14– 15, 19– 22), but also a drag king (6:15; 18:37; 19:12),’ he claimed. He later argues that [Christ] ends up appearing as a drag-kingly bride in his passion,” Reilly continued.
Liew went on to question whether Jesus was actually male and called the account of the last supper a “literary striptease” that was “seductive.”
Reilly claims Liew believes Jesus was “excessive” and “deceptive” in his speech and would be considered “feminine” for his time period.
“Women pollute since their moist and soft nature is also more susceptible to the assaults of wanton desires, erotic or otherwise,” Liew wrote. “In short, women are wet and (thus) wild. I am suggesting that John’s constant references to Jesus wanting water (4:7; 19:28), giving water (6:35), and leaking water (19:34) speak to Jesus’ gender indeterminacy and hence his cross-dressing and other queer desire.”
“I want to suggest that John’s cross-dressing Jesus shows that a so-called ‘core’ is but a (significant) effect of bodily acts,” he added.
Liew discussed Jesus’ desire to see his followers “cum with the Father” and called parts of the gospel of John “nothing less than an exciting of the penis, or better yet phallus.”
“Jesus himself needs others to cum with the Father,” Liew claims. “Jesus’ statement that ‘I in them [his followers] and you [the Father] in me’ turns out to be quite a description. What we find in John is a Jesus who longs to be “had” by the Father…Things do not get less queer as one gets to the other parts of John’s Gospel … This constant elevation or stroking is nothing less than an exciting of the penis, or better yet, phallus.”
He further disrespected Christianity by saying Jesus wanted his own father to penetrate him sexually.
“What I am suggesting is that, when Jesus’ body is being penetrated, his thoughts are on his Father. He is, in other words, imagining his passion experience as a (masochistic?) sexual relation with his own Father.”
Liew is still teaching “New Testament” biblical classes and has not been suspended, fired, or even reprimanded in any way by Holy Cross administrators.
“He continues to be held up as an example and a bold successor to the learned and discerning tradition of our Catholic and Jesuit College of the Holy Cross,” Reilly wrote.
The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to several members of Holy Cross’ media team and Professor Liew directly and received a statement from the President of the school.
I know Professor Liew to be a dedicated teacher and an engaged scholar. He is a man of faith, and he and his family are active members of a church community. Academic freedom is one of the hallmarks of a liberal arts education. Scholars in all disciplines are free to inquire, critique, comment, and push boundaries on widely accepted thought. However, I strongly disagree with the interpretation of John’s Gospel, as described in the Fenwick Review, and I find it especially offensive in this most sacred of all weeks in the liturgical calendar.
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