Erotic Christ / Rethinking Sin and Grace for LGBT People

“Crucifix” by Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin

“Rethinking Sin and Grace for LGBT People Today,” a liberating essay by Rev. Dr. Patrick S. Cheng, is presented here as a five-week series starting now.

[Update: A new book based on this series, “From Sin to Amazing Grace: Discovering the Queer Christ” by Patrick Cheng, was published in spring 2012.]

Every week Cheng will present one of five models that arise out of the experiences of LGBT people:

1) Erotic Christ (sin as exploitation; grace as mutuality)
2) Out Christ (sin as the closet; grace as coming out)
3) Liberator Christ (sin as apathy; grace as activism)
4) Transgressive Christ (sin as conformity; grace as deviance)
5) Hybrid Christ (sin as singularity; grace as hybridity)

[Update: Cheng added two more models in his new book:]
6) Self-Loving Christ (sin as shame, grace as pride)
7) Interconnected Christ (sin as isolation, grace as interdependence)

Cheng is assistant professor of historical and systematic theology at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We are honored that this brilliant, up-and-coming gay scholar chose to share his work at the Jesus in Love Blog.

Patrick S. Cheng

He adapted the following essay for the Jesus in Love Blog based on his article of the same title in the new book “Sexuality and the Sacred: Sources for Theological Reflection (Second Edition),” edited by Marvin M. Ellison and Kelly Brown Douglas. His book “Radical Love: An Introduction to Queer Theology” will be published next spring by Seabury Books.

Cheng is an ordained minister with the Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC), an LGBT-affirming Christian denomination that is open to all people. He is also a contributor to the religion section of the Huffington Post. He will deliver the John E. Boswell Lecture at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California in April 2011. Patrick lives in Cambridge with his husband of nearly two decades, Michael.

For more information about Patrick, please visit his website at www.patrickcheng.net.

Rethinking Sin and Grace for LGBT People Today[1]

By Patrick S. Cheng, Copyright © 2010

Introduction

            Sin is a difficult issue for many, if not most, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (“LGBT” or “queer”) people of faith.  It is the primary reason why LGBT people are denied full participation in the life of the Church, including the denial of sacraments and rites such as same-sex marriage and ordination, as well as the denial of many secular rights such as civil marriage and anti-discrimination laws.  Sin also torments LGBT people starting from a young age.  That is, we are taught very early on that same-sex acts are sinful, and we will be condemned to eternal punishment in hell if we fail to repent and abstain from such acts.

            As a result, many LGBT people are unable to understand what grace – that is, the unmerited gift of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ – is all about.  If a central part of our identity (if not the central part), which is the ability to experience embodied love and pleasure with another human being, is understood as intrinsically sinful and in need of repentance and abstinence, then why should we care about God’s grace?  In fact, what kind of sadistic God would create people one way and then insist that they change who they are in order to attain salvation?  It is not surprising, then, that many LGBT people have turned away from the Church and organized religion.

The Traditional Legal Model of Sin and Grace

            The Church traditionally has talked about sin and grace in legal terms.  For example, same-sex acts are understood as sinful because they violate biblical law, natural law, and/or other divine prohibitions against such acts.  Although there are only a handful of biblical passages that discuss same-sex acts (for example, Gen 19:5, Lev 18:22 and 20:13, Rom 1:24-25, 1 Cor 6:9, 1 Tim 1:10), they have been cited time and time again to “prove” the sinfulness of such acts.  Furthermore, the Roman Catholic Church has relied upon natural law to argue that human sexuality must always be expressed in the context of procreation, and any delinking of sexual pleasure and procreation is a violation of God’s law.

            By contrast, grace under the traditional legal model is understood as God’s forgiveness of those who have engaged in same-sex acts (that is, justification) as well as God’s assistance in helping such people to abstain from such prohibited acts in the future (that is, sanctification).  In other words, to accept God’s grace is to refrain from having any non-procreative sex, including same-sex acts.

            There are a number of problems with this traditional legal model of sin and grace.  First, this model detracts from a central message of the New Testament, which is justification by grace alone.  By characterizing sin as the violation of God’s eternal laws, the focus inevitably shifts to who may or may not be violating such laws.  This in turn leads to an obsession with groups that are thought to be sinners (for example, LGBT people), as opposed to a focus on God’s unmerited grace, which is actually the only thing that can help any of us to overcome the bondage of original sin.

            Second, the traditional legal model results in an obsession with defining precisely what the rules for right and wrong behavior are.  Specifically, this takes the form of endless argumentation and prooftexting over what the Bible “actually” says about same-sex acts.  While I believe in the importance of biblical exegesis, I also think that a narrow focus on what God prohibits or allows in scripture takes away from the larger framework of original sin and the theological significance of Jesus Christ in salvation history.  That is, the Bible becomes simply a book of rules, as opposed to the revelation of God’s relationship with – and love for – humanity as the Word made flesh.

The Christological Model of Sin and Grace

            As an alternative to the traditional legal model, I propose a christological model of sin and grace.  Under such a model – which is suggested by the work of christocentric theologians such as Bonaventure and Karl Barth – Jesus Christ is the starting point for thinking about sin and grace.  That is, sin is defined as whatever is opposed to the grace of what God has done for humanity in Jesus Christ.  In other words, sin is defined in relational terms to Jesus Christ.  It cannot be reduced to a laundry list of commandments to obey.

            For example, one way of thinking about sin and grace from a christological perspective is to understand sin as pride and grace as condescension.  That is, to the extent that Jesus Christ is understood as the grace of God’s coming down from heaven for our salvation (that is, condescension), then sin is defined as humanity’s urge to raise itself up above God (that is, pride).  Liberation theologians have characterized this as the sin of economic and political subjugation of the marginalized.

            By contrast, another way of thinking about sin and grace from a christological model is to understand sin as sloth and grace as exaltation.  That is, to the extent that Jesus Christ is understood as the grace of God’s lifting up of humanity in the victory of the resurrection (that is, exaltation), then sin is humanity’s refusal to rise to the level of what God has called us to be (that is, sloth).  Feminist and womanist theologians have characterized this as the sin of hiding or the negation of the self.

            Building upon the christological model, I propose five christological models of sin and grace that arise out of the experiences of LGBT people: (1) the Erotic Christ; (2) the Out Christ; (3) the Liberator Christ; (4) the Transgressive Christ; and (5) the Hybrid Christ.  These five models use the experiences of LGBT people to illustrate how sin and grace manifest themselves within in a specific social context.  It is my hope that these models can lead to a more thoughtful discussion – as opposed to silence or avoidance – about what sin and grace mean to LGBT people today.

Model One: The Erotic Christ

            The first christological model of sin and grace for LGBT people is the Erotic Christ.  According to Audre Lorde, the Black feminist lesbian writer, the erotic is about relationality and desire for the other; it is the power that arises out of “sharing deeply” with another person.  The erotic is to “share our joy in the satisfying” of the other, rather than simply using other people as “objects of satisfaction.”[2]

Grace as mutuality
Detail from The Last Supper
by Becki Jayne Harrelson

The Erotic Christ arises out of the reality that Jesus Christ, as the Word made flesh, is the very embodiment of God’s deepest desires for us.  Jesus Christ came down from heaven not for God’s own self-gratification, but rather for us and for our salvation.  In the gospels, Jesus repeatedly shows his love and desire for all those who come into contact with him, including physical touch.  He uses touch as a way to cure people of disease and disabilities, as well as to bring them back to life.  He washes the feet of his disciples, and he even allows the Beloved Disciple to lie close to his breast at the last supper.

            Conversely, Jesus is touched physically by many of the people who come into contact with him.  He is touched by the bleeding woman who hoped that his powers could heal her.  He is bathed in expensive ointment by the woman at Bethany.  After his resurrection, Jesus allows Thomas to place his finger in the mark of the nails and also to place his hand in his side.  All of these physical interactions are manifestations of God’s love for us – and our reciprocal love for God – through the Erotic Christ.

Carter Heyward, the lesbian theologian and Episcopal priest, has written about the Erotic Christ in the context of the “radically mutual character” of Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.  For Heyward, the significance of Jesus Christ lies not only in the ways in which he touched others (both physically and otherwise), but also in the ways in which he was “healed, liberated, and transformed” by those who he encountered.  This power in mutual relation is not something that exists solely within the trinitarian relationship between God, Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit.  Rather, this power is present in all of us who have ever “loved, held, yearned, lost.”[3]

Sin as Exploitation

            So what is sin and grace in light of the Erotic Christ?  If the Erotic Christ is understood as God’s deepest desire to be in relationship with us, then sin – defined as what opposes the Erotic Christ – can be understood as exploitation, or the complete lack of mutuality or concern for the needs and desires, sexual or otherwise, of another person.

Sin as exploitation
“Judas Kiss” by Robert Recker

            For many people, sin in the context of the Erotic Christ takes the form of sexual practices in which one’s partner is treated as merely an object of gratification or something less than a full person (for example, sex arising out of addiction).  These people, particularly those who struggle with sex addiction and/or low self-esteem, have engaged in anonymous, unsafe, and/or drug-fueled hook-ups in which self-gratification is the primary if not only concern.  The sex addict’s partner or partners are reduced to objects for stimulation and not seen as human beings in themselves.  This is the sin of exploitation at work – using one’s partner as an object for stimulation and not as a fellow human being.

Grace as Mutuality

            By contrast, grace in the context of the Erotic Christ is mutuality, or the deep awareness of being-in-relationship with the other.  As Lorde describes it, grace can take the form of something as simple as “sharing deeply any pursuit with another person” such as dancing.[4]  For Heyward, the grace of the Erotic Christ necessarily takes the form of “justice-love” and sharing in “the earth and the resources vital to our survival and happiness as people and creatures.”[5]  The grace of mutuality is understanding that we are all connected deeply to each other and creation.  It requires a commitment to changing how we see and interact with the world, whether socially, politically, or sexually.  The grace of mutuality is a gift that allows us to feel an authentic connection with others and with God.

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[1] Copyright © 2010 by Patrick S. Cheng.  All rights reserved.  The Rev. Dr. Patrick S. Cheng is the Assistant Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  This essay is adapted from his article, “Rethinking Sin and Grace for LGBT People Today,” in the second edition of Sexuality and the Sacred: Sources for Theological Reflection, edited by Marvin M. Ellison and Kelly Brown Douglas.  For more information about Patrick, please see his website at http://www.patrickcheng.net.

[2] See Audre Lorde, “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power” in Sexuality and the Sacred: Sources for Theological Reflection, ed. Marvin M. Ellison and Kelly Brown Douglas, 2nd ed. (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2010), 75, 77.

[3] See Carter Heyward, Saving Jesus From Those Who Are Right: Rethinking What It Means to Be Christian (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1999), 74.  See also Carter Heyward, Touching Our Strength: The Erotic As Power and the Love of God (New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1989).

[4] See Lorde, “Uses of the Erotic,” 75.

[5] See Heyward, Saving Jesus From Those Who Are Right, 71.

Come back next week for Part 2: the Out Christ by Patrick S. Cheng.

Editor’s note from Kittredge Cherry: The artwork for this post was chosen to contrast the erotic mutuality of Ohlson Wallin's Crucifix at the top (where Jesus and his beloved together BECOME the biracial cross) with the erotic exploitation of Recker’s Judas kiss (where the exploitive biracial kiss sends Jesus to the cross alone).

Click here to see the whole series so far.

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Related link:
Open Hands: Treasure in earthen Vessels: An Exploration of Sexual Ethics (Vol. 13 No. 4)

Happy 5th birthday, blog!

We’re celebrating our fifth anniversary as an online resource for LGBT spirituality and the arts on Nov. 17.

Christian rhetoric is often misused to justify hate and discrimination against LGBT people, so I founded JesusInLove.org to present a positive spiritual vision for queer people and our allies. God loves everyone, regardless of sexual orientation. That message is just as important today as it was five years ago.

In honor of our birthday, we will start a new series tomorrow on “Rethinking Sin and Grace for LGBT People Today” by Patrick S. Cheng, theology professor at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA.

JesusInLove.org was launched on Nov. 17, 2005 with a news release titled “New Website Dares to Show Gay Jesus.” Since then JesusInLove.org has grown to serve more people in more different ways.

Our blog receives 30,000 visits per year and our e-newsletter recently surpassed 500 subscribers. We showcase a wider range of art and writing by more diverse contributors. Our content has also grown beyond the original emphasis on gay Jesus art, and now includes a popular series on queer saints.

We have won many honors for promoting religious and artistic freedom -- and we also get a lot of hate mail from conservative Christians. A typical negative comment is, “Gays are not wanted in the kingdom of Christ! They are cast into the lake of fire.”

The ongoing religious bigotry proves that JesusInLove.org is needed now as much as ever. Jesus loved everyone, including sexual outcasts.

JesusInLove.org is a grassroots effort, with more than 99% of our funding coming from individuals, not institutions. This frees us to present controversial material and nurture each person’s unique spiritual journey.

If you want to give us a birthday gift, contact Kitt for more info. Thank you!

Image credits: Birthday cake from Wikimedia Commons. Birthday gift from Eyehook.com.

Banned photo shows gay Christ figure

Cross Currents Fall 1972 cover with photo by Damon de Winters

A church magazine with a nude cover photo of a gay Christ figure with his friend was banned in 1972, but you can see it now at the Jesus in Love Blog. Almost 40 years later the photo is still risqué -- and beautiful.

The photo by Damon de Winters appeared on the cover of the fall 1972 issue of “Cross Currents,” the quarterly magazine of Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco. The models, Todd and David Eric Charon, were positioned to discreetly hide any frontal nudity.

The photo seems to portray a gay Jesus with his Beloved Disciple. The bearded Christ figure offers a loving touch and a chalice of wine to his kneeling friend. Behind them stands a cross built from natural logs. The image echoes the Last Supper, when Jesus says, “Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant” (Matthew 26:27-28).

The MCC-SF board of directors banned the magazine for release because they felt that the cover was “inappropriate for a church publication,” recalls Lynn Jordan, who served as editor-in-chief of Cross Currents. Jordan recently celebrated 40 years of membership at MCC-SF.

“Senior pastor Reverend Jim Sandmire received a lot of criticism over this issue of the magazine,” Jordan says.

In response to the uproar, Rev. Sandmire wrote an open letter dated Nov. 15, 1972. “While I do not think the cover or other pictures of nudes are in any way obscene, I believe the nudity does not enhance the religious message intended, and may detract from it,” Rev. Sandmire wrote at the time..

A headline on the cover also brings up another subject that remains surprisingly contemporary: “Gay marriage.”

Thank you, Lynn Jordan, for providing this Cross Currents cover image so it can finally reach its audience. It is historically, spiritually and artistically significant.
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P.S. I received this update today from Lynn Jordan: “I spoke with founding member Frank Howell (now 72) who said he thought the photo tried to convey that we bring with us both our sexuality and spirituality when we receive communion.”

See us on Top-50 list of “insightful blog posts on GLBTQ spirituality”

“Pray Together, Stay Together” by Joy A’Che

www.sexyblackrainbows.com

We’re at the top of a new list of “50 Very Insightful Blog Posts on GLBTQ Spirituality.”

Our post “Black lesbian prayers and art offered” heads the list, which was compiled by Theology Degrees Online.

“Almost the entirety of the Jesus in Love Blog could fill up this list, but one blog post offering up poetic prayers and art by Joy A’Che at Sexy Black Rainbows Entertainment stands out as a beautiful tribute to lesbian spirituality,” the list says.

The Top 50 list includes many of my favorite queer spirituality blogs as well as some new ones that I look forward to exploring. They cover a wide range of topics, from growing up gay to "the queerr and the Qur’an.”


Click here for the whole list of “50 Very Insightful Blog Posts on GLBTQ Spirituality.”

Click here to view our top-rated post on “Black lesbian prayers and art offered.”

Protests end gay Jesus exhibit in Spain

“The Doubt of Thomas” (from “Circus Christi” series) by Fernando Bayona Gonzalez, 2009. fernandobayona.com

An exhibit of gay Jesus photos in Spain was closed recently after protests from Catholic groups.

“Circus Christi,” a series of gay Jesus photos by Fernando Bayona Gonzalez, sparked controversy and death threats when it was displayed at the University of Granada in Spain earlier this year. The university abruptly ended the exhibition early, citing concerns for the safety of exhibition viewers. The show opened on Feb. 11 and closed after less than a week, even though it was scheduled to run to March 5.

According to news reports, several Catholic groups and extremist organizations called for a ban on “Circus Christi,” and the artist received several death threats. “I knew it could have a significant impact, but I never imagined we would come to such extremes,” Gonzalez said in a press conference.

“Circus Christi” is a series of 14 large, elaborate photos depicting the life, death and resurrection of a contemporary gay (or bisexual) Jesus. The title is a play on the Latin phrase “corpus Christi,” meaning body of Christ. Its press kit describes the series as a “kitsch, ironic, poignant and subversive contemporary reversal of the Biblical story, a critical view of the New Testament, set in the 1970s and continuing to this day.”

In “Circus Christi,” Jesus is born in a hospital with medical assistance. He and his mother live in an urban world of strippers and prostitutes, leading to Jesus’ first sexual encounter -- with Mary Magdalene as his partner. He goes on to discover (and be betrayed by) homosexuality. His baptism by fire has homoerotic undertones and Jesus turns into a rock-n-roll Messiah. He and Judas enjoy a sensuous kiss in a tunnel where gay men cruise for sex. The next photo shows Jesus lying crucified on the streets, lit by the headlights of a car.

His resurrection occurs in the sterile, tomblike space of a modern hospital. In the final photo, a gay Jesus is reunited with his friends in an exceptionally beautiful version of doubting Thomas touching the wounds of the risen Christ.

Conservatives can find much more so-called “blasphemy” in “Circus Christi” than just the homosexuality of Jesus, but ultimately Gonzalez photos do convey the basic Christian story: Jesus overcame the world’s horrors and rose to live and love again.

Gonzalez lives and works in Granada, Spain and Milan, Italy. Born in 1980, he has a master’s degree in photography from NABA University in Milan. With permission from Gonzalez, some photos from “Circus Christi” are posted here.

“Baptism” (from “Circus Christi” series) by Fernando Bayona Gonzalez

“Kiss of Judas” (from “Circus Christi” series) by Fernando Bayona Gonzalez

“Crucifixion” (from “Circus Christi” series) by Fernando Bayona Gonzalez