Resurrecting Parts. Early Christians on Desire, Reproduction, and Sexual Difference PDF
Preview Resurrecting Parts. Early Christians on Desire, Reproduction, and Sexual Difference
RESURRECTING PARTS DuringthelatesecondandearlythirdcenturiesC.E.theresurrectionbecame a central question for intellectual commentary, with increasingly tense divisions between those who interpreted the resurrection as a bodily experience and those who did not. The relationship between the resurrected person and their mortal flesh was also a key point of discussion, especially in regards to sexual desires, body parts, and practices. Early Christians struggled to articulate how and why these bodily features related to the imagined resurrected self. The problems posed by the resurrection thus provoked theological analysis of the mortal body, sexual desire and gender. Resurrecting Parts is the first study to examine the place of gender and sexuality in early Christian debates on the nature of resurrection, investigating how the resurrected body has been interpreted by writers of this period in order to address the nature of sexuality and sexual difference. In particular, PetreyconsiderstheinstabilityofearlyChristianattemptstoseparatemaleness and femaleness. Bodily parts commonly signified sexual difference, yet it was widely thought that future resurrected bodies would not experience desire or reproduction. In the absence of sexuality, this insistence on difference became difficult to maintain. To achieve a common, shared identity and status for the resurrected body that nevertheless preserved sexual difference, treatises on theresurrectionfounditnecessarytoexplainhowandinwhatwaytheseparts would be transformed in the resurrection, shedding all associations with sexual desires, acts, and reproduction. Exploring a range of early Christian sources, from the Greek and Latin fathers to the authors of the Nag Hammadi writings, Resurrecting Parts is a fascinating resource for scholars interested in gender and sexuality in classical antiquity, early Christianity, asceticism, and, of course, the resurrection and the body. TaylorG.Petrey isthe Lucinda HinsdaleStone Assistant Professorof Religion and the Director of the Women,Gender, and Sexuality Program at Kalamazoo College, USA. This page intentionally left blank RESURRECTING PARTS Early Christians on Desire, Reproduction, ff and Sexual Di erence Taylor G. Petrey Add AddAdAddd AddAddAdd Add AddAdd AdAddd Firstpublished2016 byRoutledge 2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN andbyRoutledge 711ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017 RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness ©2016TaylorG.Petrey TherightofTaylorG.Petreytobeidentifiedasauthorofthisworkhasbeen assertedbyhiminaccordancewithsections77and78oftheCopyright,Designs andPatentsAct1988. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedorutilized inanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,nowknownor hereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orinanyinformation storageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublishers. Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksorregistered trademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationandexplanationwithoutintent toinfringe. BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Petrey,TaylorG. Resurrectingparts:earlyChristiansondesire,reproduction,andsexual difference/TaylorG.Petrey. pagescm Includesindex. 1.Resurrection--Historyofdoctrines--Earlychurch,ca.30-600.2.Human body--Religiousaspects--Christianity--Historyofdoctrines--Earlychurch,ca.30-600. 3.Sex--Religiousaspects--Christianity--Historyofdoctrines--Earlychurch,ca.30-600. I.Title. BT873.P482015 236’.8--dc23 2015000971 ISBN:978-1-138-90653-2(hbk) ISBN:978-1-315-69544-0(ebk) TypesetinSabon byTaylor&FrancisBooks FOR MY TEACHERS This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Acknowledgments viii Introduction: With What Kind of Body Do They Come? 1 1 Angels, Virgins, and Mules: Pseudo-Justin Martyr, On the Resurrection 19 2 Spiritual Resurrection in the Flesh: The Nag Hammadi Treatise on the Resurrection 35 3 “The Practice of Every Virtue”: Athenagoras, On the Resurrection 52 4 “As a Bridegroom with a Bride”: Irenaeus, Against Heresies 70 5 Flesh and Female: Tertullian of Carthage 86 Conclusion: Parts and the Foundations of Flesh 103 Bibliography 109 Index 122 vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Iamfortunatetohavehadnumerouspeoplesupportthisprojectalongtheway. The book began as the idea for a dissertation at Harvard Divinity School. There, I received the support—financial and intellectual—that came with my doctoral candidacy. I am especially grateful for my advisors, Karen King, Laura Nasrallah, and Amy Hollywood, for their valuable guidance as I was developing my ideas. I have continued to benefit and learn from these teachers long after their formal responsibilities ended. The faculty and students in the dissertation seminar all helped to shape the earlier version of this project, and I offer them my thanks for their time and attention. Myfriendshipshelpedtosustainmeincompletingthisbook.Thesewonderful peopleofferedtheiradvice,time,andexpertise,andaboveallsupportatvarious points along the way. I wish to thank Grant Adamson, Cavan Concannon, CoryCrawford,CarlyDaniel-Hughes,BenjaminDunning,DavidEastman,Chris Frilingos, Michael Ing, Mikael Haxby, David Hunter, Young Kim, Candida Moss, Ellen Muehlberger, Michael Pope, Greg Smith, Charles Stang, Kristi Upson-Saia, and many more who have enriched my personal and professional life with their encouragement, advice, and intellectual stimulation. I owe special gratitude to Derek Krueger for his detailed attention to an earlierdraftofthisproject,andacknowledgethatwithouthisrecommendations and encouragement the project would not have been published. I also wish to expressmygratitudetovariousanonymousreaderswhohelpedmetoimprove the presentation of my argument. I also extend my thanks to Bud Bynack and Audra Wolfe for their invaluable advice. I am grateful for the support of my colleagues and wonderful friends at Kalamazoo College, including Shreena Gandhi, Jeffrey Haus, and especially CarolAnderson.IoweCarolagreatdealforhavingreadthroughnumerousdrafts of chapters, and constantly encouraging me in the most challenging moments. Deia Sportel provided much material support, good humor, and sugar along the way. I am thankful for grants provided by the Kalamazoo College Faculty Development Committee and the Religion Department’s financial support to fund the final preparation of the manuscript. viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I have presented various segments of this project in numerous venues over the years, including the Society of Biblical Literature, North American Patristics Society, Yale University, Kalamazoo College, and Notre Dame. Thank you to the organizers and audiences. Thanks to Becca Cain for her attention to detail intheproofreadingofthismanuscriptandinvaluableworkatcreatingitsindex. Thank you to Lois Ball, Lisa Northam, and Ashley Lenik for providing childcare so that I could work. Above all, I thank my children for their love, enthusiasm, and patience. ix
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