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Gender variance in Christianity: Difference between revisions
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[[Gender variance in spirituality#the six genders in classical Judaism|The six genders in classical Judaism]] are not typically known in Christian tradition, though they are important for scholars to take into account when studying Hebrew texts that are used in Christianity. | [[Gender variance in spirituality#the six genders in classical Judaism|The six genders in classical Judaism]] are not typically known in Christian tradition, though they are important for scholars to take into account when studying Hebrew texts that are used in Christianity. | ||
Saint Abban is not gender-variant, but is said to have changed a baby from female to male after prayer<ref name="TransChristianity">{{Cite web |title=100 - 1399: Mystics, Monks, and Plagues |author=Smith, Avery |work=Trans Christianity |date=July 2019 |access-date=10 January 2021 |url= https://queerlychristian.wixsite.com/transchristianity/100-1399}}</ref><ref name="mary_Life">{{Cite web |title=Life of St. Abban |author= |work=maryjones.us |date= |access-date=10 January 2021 |url= http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/abban.html |quote=Abban took the infant in his hands, and prayed earnestly to God that the king might have an heir; and the girl that he immersed in the font he took out as a boy, and laid it in the king's bosom. }}</ref>, and so can be considered informally a patron saint for transgender people.<ref>Conner, Sparks, and Sparks. ''Cassell's Encyclopedia of queer myth, symbol, and spirit, covering gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender lore''. 1997. P. 39.</ref> | Saint Abban is not gender-variant, but is said to have changed a baby from female to male after prayer<ref name="TransChristianity">{{Cite web |title=100 - 1399: Mystics, Monks, and Plagues |author=Smith, Avery |work=Trans Christianity |date=July 2019 |access-date=10 January 2021 |url= https://queerlychristian.wixsite.com/transchristianity/100-1399|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230508021420/https://queerlychristian.wixsite.com/transchristianity/100-1399 |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref><ref name="mary_Life">{{Cite web |title=Life of St. Abban |author= |work=maryjones.us |date= |access-date=10 January 2021 |url= http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/abban.html |quote=Abban took the infant in his hands, and prayed earnestly to God that the king might have an heir; and the girl that he immersed in the font he took out as a boy, and laid it in the king's bosom. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230508021450/http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/abban.html |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref>, and so can be considered informally a patron saint for transgender people.<ref>Conner, Sparks, and Sparks. ''Cassell's Encyclopedia of queer myth, symbol, and spirit, covering gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender lore''. 1997. P. 39.</ref> | ||
== Gender variance in the Christian Bible == | == Gender variance in the Christian Bible == | ||
One thing all Christian denominations have in common is their basis on the Christian Bible. However, denominations differ in what their Bibles include, and how they interpret the meaning of the Bible. They also place more weight on different parts of the Bible. The Christian Bible is made of two collections of books: the first is the Old Testament, which is derived from a partial selection of the books of the Hebrew Bible, which had been written over the course of the 8th century BCE to 1st century BCE. The second collection is the New Testament, originally in Greek, which focuses on the life of Jesus Christ, written before 120 CE.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible</ref> | One thing all Christian denominations have in common is their basis on the Christian Bible. However, denominations differ in what their Bibles include, and how they interpret the meaning of the Bible. They also place more weight on different parts of the Bible. The Christian Bible is made of two collections of books: the first is the Old Testament, which is derived from a partial selection of the books of the Hebrew Bible, which had been written over the course of the 8th century BCE to 1st century BCE. The second collection is the New Testament, originally in Greek, which focuses on the life of Jesus Christ, written before 120 CE.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible [https://web.archive.org/web/20230707223522/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref> | ||
The Christian Bible doesn't specifically mention transgender people, as such.<ref>"Transgender." ''Hope Remains.'' http://hoperemainsonline.com/Transgender</ref> It also doesn't specifically mention nonbinary people, who are one kind of transgender people. Because of this, the Bible doesn't officially condemn transgender or nonbinary people. The absence of such people in the Bible doesn't mean that they were unknown during Biblical times. [[#the six genders in classical Judaism|Classical Judaism itself acknowledged six genders/sexes]] in texts other than the Bible, and [[History of nonbinary gender#Antiquity|several neighboring cultures also acknowledged genders outside the binary]]. Similarly, the Bible also doesn't mention cats, even though they were domesticated in the right time and place to be known by the writers. | The Christian Bible doesn't specifically mention transgender people, as such.<ref>"Transgender." ''Hope Remains.'' http://hoperemainsonline.com/Transgender [https://web.archive.org/web/20230508021847/https://hoperemainsonline.com/Transgender Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref> It also doesn't specifically mention nonbinary people, who are one kind of transgender people. Because of this, the Bible doesn't officially condemn transgender or nonbinary people. The absence of such people in the Bible doesn't mean that they were unknown during Biblical times. [[#the six genders in classical Judaism|Classical Judaism itself acknowledged six genders/sexes]] in texts other than the Bible, and [[History of nonbinary gender#Antiquity|several neighboring cultures also acknowledged genders outside the binary]]. Similarly, the Bible also doesn't mention cats, even though they were domesticated in the right time and place to be known by the writers. | ||
Some of the following Bible passages can be seen as relevant to transgender and nonbinary people. | Some of the following Bible passages can be seen as relevant to transgender and nonbinary people. | ||
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In context, the above passage is from the first Creation, in the first chapter of Genesis, in which God is called Elohim, and creates animals before humans ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1%3A20-26&version=CEB Genesis 1:20-26]). This is different from the second chapter, a different Creation story, in which God is called Jehovah, and creates humans before animals ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+2%3A18-19&version=CEB Genesis 2:18-19]). Both chapters give a different sequence of events for the Creation, an intriguing conflict which all scholars of the Bible resolve differently. In this case, the Elohistic/Jehovistic conflict makes it challenging to understand exactly which humans are referred to in this passage. Here are several possible interpretations of who these particular humans are, and what that means for humans today: | In context, the above passage is from the first Creation, in the first chapter of Genesis, in which God is called Elohim, and creates animals before humans ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1%3A20-26&version=CEB Genesis 1:20-26]). This is different from the second chapter, a different Creation story, in which God is called Jehovah, and creates humans before animals ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+2%3A18-19&version=CEB Genesis 2:18-19]). Both chapters give a different sequence of events for the Creation, an intriguing conflict which all scholars of the Bible resolve differently. In this case, the Elohistic/Jehovistic conflict makes it challenging to understand exactly which humans are referred to in this passage. Here are several possible interpretations of who these particular humans are, and what that means for humans today: | ||
* Only one human is created in this passage, Adam, who is both male and female. His female part, Eve, has not yet been taken out of him. That happens later, in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+2%3A21-22&version=CEB Genesis 2:21-22]. Because of this order of events, Jewish and Christian teachings often interpret Adam as having been created as both male and female.<ref>Norman Solomon, ''The Talmud: A selection,'' p. 271.</ref> Adam was an example of a "Primal Androgyne," a motif which is common for many cultures' creation stories, making it more likely that Adam was one. Adam is thought to have started as an androgyne because Elohim-- which is a plural term-- says "Let ''us'' make humanity in ''our'' image ... that ''they'' may take charge..." so Adam is made in the image of a plural being, as the Creator is also a Primal Androgyne.<ref name="KasselAndrogynous">Charles Kassel. "Androgynous man in myth and tradition." ''The Open Court'', vol. 18. Chicago: The Open Court Publishing Co., 1904. Page 525-530. Accessed May 2, 2019 via Google Books. https://books.google.com/books?id=VYtGAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA525#v=</ref> This interpretation of Adam as an androgyne can be seen as affirming that [[intersex]], gender variant, and nonbinary people are all part of a natural condition created by God. | * Only one human is created in this passage, Adam, who is both male and female. His female part, Eve, has not yet been taken out of him. That happens later, in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+2%3A21-22&version=CEB Genesis 2:21-22]. Because of this order of events, Jewish and Christian teachings often interpret Adam as having been created as both male and female.<ref>Norman Solomon, ''The Talmud: A selection,'' p. 271.</ref> Adam was an example of a "Primal Androgyne," a motif which is common for many cultures' creation stories, making it more likely that Adam was one. Adam is thought to have started as an androgyne because Elohim-- which is a plural term-- says "Let ''us'' make humanity in ''our'' image ... that ''they'' may take charge..." so Adam is made in the image of a plural being, as the Creator is also a Primal Androgyne.<ref name="KasselAndrogynous">Charles Kassel. "Androgynous man in myth and tradition." ''The Open Court'', vol. 18. Chicago: The Open Court Publishing Co., 1904. Page 525-530. Accessed May 2, 2019 via Google Books. https://books.google.com/books?id=VYtGAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA525#v= [https://web.archive.org/web/20230508021844/https://books.google.com/books?id=VYtGAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA525 Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref> This interpretation of Adam as an androgyne can be seen as affirming that [[intersex]], gender variant, and nonbinary people are all part of a natural condition created by God. | ||
* Two humans are created in this passage: Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve each represent a different gender/sex, but they do not represent all possible kinds of people that can be natural to humans as created by God. Humans have changed a great deal since the Creation. For example, modern humans no longer have the long lifespans described of many humans in Genesis. Adam and Eve were a man and a woman, but later people are different from them, and are not necessarily just men and women. | * Two humans are created in this passage: Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve each represent a different gender/sex, but they do not represent all possible kinds of people that can be natural to humans as created by God. Humans have changed a great deal since the Creation. For example, modern humans no longer have the long lifespans described of many humans in Genesis. Adam and Eve were a man and a woman, but later people are different from them, and are not necessarily just men and women. | ||
* Many humans are created in this passage. These humans may or may not include Adam, because Elohim created much of the world in the first chapter of Genesis, before Jehovah created Adam in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+2%3A7&version=CEB Genesis 2:7]. (These other humans created before Adam are thought to be the origin of the women who later marry into Adam's family in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+4%3A16-19&version=CEB Genesis 4:16-19].) In Genesis 1:27, "male and female" is shorthand for the diversity of the many kinds of humans created at this point, rather than a limitation placed upon what they were or could be. | * Many humans are created in this passage. These humans may or may not include Adam, because Elohim created much of the world in the first chapter of Genesis, before Jehovah created Adam in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+2%3A7&version=CEB Genesis 2:7]. (These other humans created before Adam are thought to be the origin of the women who later marry into Adam's family in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+4%3A16-19&version=CEB Genesis 4:16-19].) In Genesis 1:27, "male and female" is shorthand for the diversity of the many kinds of humans created at this point, rather than a limitation placed upon what they were or could be. | ||
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=== Biblical law about cross-dressing === | === Biblical law about cross-dressing === | ||
There are seven Bible passages that have sometimes been thought of as condemning lesbian, gay, or bisexual people. However, out of the entire Bible, only ''one'' passage seems to specifically condemn cross-dressing. By extension, this is also the one and only passage in the entire Bible that seems to specifically condemn transgender people.<ref name="TransQueerTheology">Shannon Kearns, "Transgender and Christian?" ''Queer Theology.'' Retrieved April 30, 2019. https://www.queertheology.com/transgender-christian</ref> This is the passage, which is in one of the Hebrew books of law, Deuteronomy: | There are seven Bible passages that have sometimes been thought of as condemning lesbian, gay, or bisexual people. However, out of the entire Bible, only ''one'' passage seems to specifically condemn cross-dressing. By extension, this is also the one and only passage in the entire Bible that seems to specifically condemn transgender people.<ref name="TransQueerTheology">Shannon Kearns, "Transgender and Christian?" ''Queer Theology.'' Retrieved April 30, 2019. https://www.queertheology.com/transgender-christian [https://web.archive.org/web/20230508022114/https://www.queertheology.com/transgender-christian/ Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref> This is the passage, which is in one of the Hebrew books of law, Deuteronomy: | ||
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[[File:Skoptsy man and woman.jpg|thumb|150px|Photos of two followers of the White Dove movement. Left: One with the "Greater Seal" (genital nullification), circa 1875. Right: One who had a mastectomy, photographed between 1815 and 1944.]] | [[File:Skoptsy man and woman.jpg|thumb|150px|Photos of two followers of the White Dove movement. Left: One with the "Greater Seal" (genital nullification), circa 1875. Right: One who had a mastectomy, photographed between 1815 and 1944.]] | ||
Other Christians have believed that in this passage, Jesus did recommend being a eunuch for spiritual reasons. One such Christian sect originated in Russia in the 1760s.<ref>[https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%AD%D0%A1%D0%91%D0%95/%D0%A1%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2,_%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B9 Селиванов, Кондратий] Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона (1890—1907).</ref> Followers of this movement called themselves White Doves (белые голуби), though outsiders called them Skoptsy (скопцы "castrate"). The White Doves included those who were assigned female at birth as well as male, and a minority of them practiced voluntary castration (depending on the individual, including [[emasculation]], [[orchiectomy]], and sometimes [[genital nullification]]), as well as [[mastectomy]]. They did this without anesthetic.<ref>Karl R. H. Frick. ''Licht und Finsternis. Gnostisch-theosophische und freimaurerisch-okkulte Geheimgesellschaften bis zur Wende des 20. Jahrhunderts'', vol. 2; Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2005; ISBN 3-86539-044-7</ref> They believed Original Sin had come into the world by the first coitus between Adam and Eve. They believed that human genitals were the mark of Original Sin: that after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had the halves of the forbidden fruit grafted onto their bodies, forming testicles and breasts. They believed that Jesus had been a castrate, and that his example had been followed by the apostles and the early Christian saints. This was because they believed the removal of the sexual organs restored a follower to the pristine state before the Original Sin. In the White Dove interpretation of the passage Matthew 19:12, especially together with [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+18%3A8%E2%80%939&version=KJV Matthew 18:8–9:] (reading in part, "if thy hand ... offend thee, cut them off"), they believed these body modifications were important for rejecting sin.<ref>Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Skoptsi Skoptsi]". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.</ref> The White Doves endured centuries of social ridicule and governmental persecution. Despite suffering this, and even though they had no children, record of their presence continues throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, even to 1999.<ref>Александр Кампов, [https://web.archive.org/web/20180503190522/http://intersed.com.ru/sekty-i-sektantskaja-ideologija-v-rossii Секты и сектантская идеология в России].</ref><ref>Lane, Christel (1978). [https://books.google.com/books?id=VSmdHtacha8C Christian Religion in the Soviet Union: a Sociological Study] | Other Christians have believed that in this passage, Jesus did recommend being a eunuch for spiritual reasons. One such Christian sect originated in Russia in the 1760s.<ref>[https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%AD%D0%A1%D0%91%D0%95/%D0%A1%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2,_%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B9 Селиванов, Кондратий] Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона (1890—1907). [https://web.archive.org/web/20230508021502/https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%AD%D0%A1%D0%91%D0%95/%D0%A1%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2,_%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B9 Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref> Followers of this movement called themselves White Doves (белые голуби), though outsiders called them Skoptsy (скопцы "castrate"). The White Doves included those who were assigned female at birth as well as male, and a minority of them practiced voluntary castration (depending on the individual, including [[emasculation]], [[orchiectomy]], and sometimes [[genital nullification]]), as well as [[mastectomy]]. They did this without anesthetic.<ref>Karl R. H. Frick. ''Licht und Finsternis. Gnostisch-theosophische und freimaurerisch-okkulte Geheimgesellschaften bis zur Wende des 20. Jahrhunderts'', vol. 2; Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2005; ISBN 3-86539-044-7</ref> They believed Original Sin had come into the world by the first coitus between Adam and Eve. They believed that human genitals were the mark of Original Sin: that after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had the halves of the forbidden fruit grafted onto their bodies, forming testicles and breasts. They believed that Jesus had been a castrate, and that his example had been followed by the apostles and the early Christian saints. This was because they believed the removal of the sexual organs restored a follower to the pristine state before the Original Sin. In the White Dove interpretation of the passage Matthew 19:12, especially together with [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+18%3A8%E2%80%939&version=KJV Matthew 18:8–9:] (reading in part, "if thy hand ... offend thee, cut them off"), they believed these body modifications were important for rejecting sin.<ref>Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Skoptsi Skoptsi]". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230508021509/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Skoptsi Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref> The White Doves endured centuries of social ridicule and governmental persecution. Despite suffering this, and even though they had no children, record of their presence continues throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, even to 1999.<ref>Александр Кампов, [https://web.archive.org/web/20180503190522/http://intersed.com.ru/sekty-i-sektantskaja-ideologija-v-rossii Секты и сектантская идеология в России].</ref><ref>Lane, Christel (1978). [https://books.google.com/books?id=VSmdHtacha8C Christian Religion in the Soviet Union: a Sociological Study] | ||
(Google Books). Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press. pp. 94–95. ISBN 0-87395-327-4. Retrieved 2007-12-19.</ref><ref>Кон. ГАЙВОРОНСКИЙ, [http://www.people.nnov.ru/celibate/skop.html Скопский хутор] "СМ", Riga, 22 August 1999.</ref> Available English-language sources don't describe whether the White Doves are gender-variant or transgender. However, the fact that hundreds of them voluntarily chose castration and mastectomy suggests that at least some of them may have sought this solution due to [[gender dysphoria]]. Their spiritual beliefs describing such extreme alienation from their sexual characteristics may also suggest some degree of gender dysphoria. | (Google Books). Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press. pp. 94–95. ISBN 0-87395-327-4. Retrieved 2007-12-19. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230518114011/https://books.google.com/books?id=VSmdHtacha8C Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref><ref>Кон. ГАЙВОРОНСКИЙ, [http://www.people.nnov.ru/celibate/skop.html Скопский хутор] "СМ", Riga, 22 August 1999. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230508022116/http://www.people.nnov.ru/celibate/skop.html Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref> Available English-language sources don't describe whether the White Doves are gender-variant or transgender. However, the fact that hundreds of them voluntarily chose castration and mastectomy suggests that at least some of them may have sought this solution due to [[gender dysphoria]]. Their spiritual beliefs describing such extreme alienation from their sexual characteristics may also suggest some degree of gender dysphoria. | ||
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Individual Christian sects can interpret the '''God of Abraham''' in different ways. God is often thought of as a male patriarch. However, there is also a long history of seeing God as partly or entirely other than female or male, or as both.<ref>{{cite book|year=1991|title=Exploring the Feminine Face of God: A Prayerful Journey |last= Meehan|first=Bridget Mary|page=73 |quote=Since God is both female and male and neither female nor male, there is a need for an inclusive language for God that utilizes the images and experiences of both women and men.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Female Ancestors of Christ |year=1993 |last=Ulanov |first=Ann Belford|quote=But Yahweh is above sexual deities, possessing neither female nor male characteristics.|page=23}}</ref> Jehovah's wife and/or female aspect is Shekinah.<ref name="KasselAndrogynous" /> | Individual Christian sects can interpret the '''God of Abraham''' in different ways. God is often thought of as a male patriarch. However, there is also a long history of seeing God as partly or entirely other than female or male, or as both.<ref>{{cite book|year=1991|title=Exploring the Feminine Face of God: A Prayerful Journey |last= Meehan|first=Bridget Mary|page=73 |quote=Since God is both female and male and neither female nor male, there is a need for an inclusive language for God that utilizes the images and experiences of both women and men.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Female Ancestors of Christ |year=1993 |last=Ulanov |first=Ann Belford|quote=But Yahweh is above sexual deities, possessing neither female nor male characteristics.|page=23}}</ref> Jehovah's wife and/or female aspect is Shekinah.<ref name="KasselAndrogynous" /> | ||
Some Christian sects have called God by the title Father-Mother. For example, one Christian sect, Christian Science, has referred to Father-Mother God by Mary Baker Eddy since she established that sect in 1879. "Father-Mother God" is also the epithet used in a children's bedtime prayer in Christian Science, as written by Eddy.<ref>"Father-Mother God." ''BibleTexts.com'' Retrieved May 10, 2019. http://bibletexts.com/terms/father-mother-god.htm</ref> | Some Christian sects have called God by the title Father-Mother. For example, one Christian sect, Christian Science, has referred to Father-Mother God by Mary Baker Eddy since she established that sect in 1879. "Father-Mother God" is also the epithet used in a children's bedtime prayer in Christian Science, as written by Eddy.<ref>"Father-Mother God." ''BibleTexts.com'' Retrieved May 10, 2019. http://bibletexts.com/terms/father-mother-god.htm [https://web.archive.org/web/20230508022119/http://bibletexts.com/terms/father-mother-god.htm Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref> | ||
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[[File:7 Francesco Botticini Three Archangels with Tobias. (135x154cm) c.1471 Uffizi, Florence.jpg|thumb|''Three Archangels and Tobias'', painting from 1467 by Francesco Di Giovanni Botticini, of a scene from the deuterocanonical, apochryphal Book of Tobit. From left: Michael, Raphael, Tobias, and Gabriel.]] | [[File:7 Francesco Botticini Three Archangels with Tobias. (135x154cm) c.1471 Uffizi, Florence.jpg|thumb|''Three Archangels and Tobias'', painting from 1467 by Francesco Di Giovanni Botticini, of a scene from the deuterocanonical, apochryphal Book of Tobit. From left: Michael, Raphael, Tobias, and Gabriel.]] | ||
Angels are traditionally described with masculine language, and their names are more often given to masculine people. However, Christianity has traditionally held that all angels are neither male nor female. The reasoning for this is because God created all the angels, so they don't need to reproduce. They are spiritual beings, without the limits of physical bodies. God created Angels as perfectly whole combinations of masculine and feminine characteristics.<ref name="AngelsCatholic">Catholic Answers staff, "Can angels be male or female?" ''Catholic Answers.'' August 4, 2011. Accessed May 2, 2019. https://www.catholic.com/qa/can-angels-be-male-or-female</ref><ref>Evelyn Dorothy Oliver, "Angels A to Z." Page 156. Accessed via Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?id=56B7fmmlt6QC&lpg=PA156&dq=angels%20male%20female&pg=PA156#v=onepage&q=male%20female&f=false</ref> Another reason for thinking of angels as genderless is a quotation from Jesus, which has sometimes been taken as mentioning the gender of angels: | Angels are traditionally described with masculine language, and their names are more often given to masculine people. However, Christianity has traditionally held that all angels are neither male nor female. The reasoning for this is because God created all the angels, so they don't need to reproduce. They are spiritual beings, without the limits of physical bodies. God created Angels as perfectly whole combinations of masculine and feminine characteristics.<ref name="AngelsCatholic">Catholic Answers staff, "Can angels be male or female?" ''Catholic Answers.'' August 4, 2011. Accessed May 2, 2019. https://www.catholic.com/qa/can-angels-be-male-or-female [https://web.archive.org/web/20230213102622/https://www.catholic.com/qa/can-angels-be-male-or-female Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref><ref>Evelyn Dorothy Oliver, "Angels A to Z." Page 156. Accessed via Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?id=56B7fmmlt6QC&lpg=PA156&dq=angels%20male%20female&pg=PA156#v=onepage&q=male%20female&f=false [https://web.archive.org/web/20230508021908/https://books.google.com/books?id=56B7fmmlt6QC&lpg=PA156&dq=angels%20male%20female&pg=PA156 Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref> Another reason for thinking of angels as genderless is a quotation from Jesus, which has sometimes been taken as mentioning the gender of angels: | ||
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In context, this was part of Jesus's explanation to a crowd of people about what will happen to men and women in the resurrection. This passage says that angels don't marry, which is generally agreed to imply that angels don't reproduce. Traditionally, Christianity has taken this passage as further implying that all spiritual beings are genderless, even angels and resurrected humans. One reason why Christians have thought resurrected humans might be androgynous is because then they would have returned to being complete, a combination of masculine and feminine characteristics, as the Primal Androgyne, Adam, was originally created male and female in God's image (in [[#Creation|Genesis 1:27]]), before Adam was split.<ref name="BarnhartAngels">Content warning for description of physical and sexual violence in recent history. Rev. Dave Barnhart. "Angels of indeterminate gender in Genesis 19." ''Reconciling Ministries Network.'' March 10, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2019. https://rmnetwork.org/genesis19/</ref><ref name="KasselAndrogynous" /> | In context, this was part of Jesus's explanation to a crowd of people about what will happen to men and women in the resurrection. This passage says that angels don't marry, which is generally agreed to imply that angels don't reproduce. Traditionally, Christianity has taken this passage as further implying that all spiritual beings are genderless, even angels and resurrected humans. One reason why Christians have thought resurrected humans might be androgynous is because then they would have returned to being complete, a combination of masculine and feminine characteristics, as the Primal Androgyne, Adam, was originally created male and female in God's image (in [[#Creation|Genesis 1:27]]), before Adam was split.<ref name="BarnhartAngels">Content warning for description of physical and sexual violence in recent history. Rev. Dave Barnhart. "Angels of indeterminate gender in Genesis 19." ''Reconciling Ministries Network.'' March 10, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2019. https://rmnetwork.org/genesis19/ [https://web.archive.org/web/20201115134108/https://rmnetwork.org/genesis19/ Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref><ref name="KasselAndrogynous" /> | ||
Although it is possible that this passage was intended to imply something about becoming genderless or androgynous, Bible commentaries such as the Expositor's Greek Testament point out that this passage doesn't specifically imply that resurrected humans will become genderless or androgynous.<ref>https://www.biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/22-30.htm</ref> | Although it is possible that this passage was intended to imply something about becoming genderless or androgynous, Bible commentaries such as the Expositor's Greek Testament point out that this passage doesn't specifically imply that resurrected humans will become genderless or androgynous.<ref>https://www.biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/22-30.htm [https://web.archive.org/web/20230508021723/https://www.biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/22-30.htm Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref> | ||
Christian denominations that officially hold the view that all angels are nonbinary include the Catholic church.<ref name="AngelsCatholic" /> | Christian denominations that officially hold the view that all angels are nonbinary include the Catholic church.<ref name="AngelsCatholic" /> | ||