I joined the University of Toronto with the intention to finish my undergrad in 4 years, get out, and start working. When I didn’t get accepted into my Program of Study (commerce) come second year, I panicked of course. It threw off my entire academic game plan.
So far, this setback has been the best thing to come out of my university education - despite the fact that I am currently enrolled in the commerce program now.
Knowing I still wanted to pursue accounting, I decided to spend my second year raising my GPA by taking what university students love to call “bird courses”. Although I strongly believe those do not exist, I chose to take courses I knew would be engaging.
During my second year, I spent my days endlessly reading and writing essays about Christianity – a complex domain that has always sparked my interest.
Below you will find one of my essay’s that I had written during my time taking a Contemporary Christianity course with Dr. Adam Lehto, a religion professor at the University of Toronto, Mississauga.
Reforming sexual ethics within the Church
The topics of sexual identity and gender roles within the church often elicits a defensive and complicated response. Where the prevalence of androcentric language throughout the church has sparked several ongoing debates on the role of women in Christianity. However, major theological changes within Christianity occurred in the latter half of the twentieth century, including growing support for the use of contraception, non-traditional family life, divorce and more. Adjustments in sexual ethics have changed the way sexuality is addressed in the church mainly through the rejection of sexual repression, widespread participation in the discussion of sex and the growth of feminist theology.
Traditionally, a Christian man on his journey toward salvation, displays many acts of self-restraint corresponding to the vices of the world. Masculinity, in fact, is defined by self-restraint which is constantly threatened by carnal urges and desires. By extension, women are a threat to a man’s capacity to maintain self-restraint. Nadia Bolz-Weber, a Lutheran pastor, describes how human flourishing should be the grounds of a new sexual ethic and not “rules encoded by men centuries ago” (Griswold, 2019). She also describes the Evangelical purity culture in which a woman must remain a virgin until she is married consequently subjecting them to their husbands (Griswold, 2019). In this context, a fundamental fracturing of the self occurs as women are disconnected from their sexuality (Griswold, 2019). In recent decades, however, there has been a major shift in the concept of virginity, with millions of Catholic and Protestant believers taking birth control. Contraceptives have so changed the situation that Christians have almost entirely rejected the sexual repression traditionally taught by the Church.
Bolz-Weber is one of many Christians who uphold a non-traditional path of faith. While explaining her history with the Church, the article provides insight into what a Lutheran Pastor can resemble in the twenty first century. It is her story, in fact, that makes her appealing for a younger generation of believers seeking a “model for authentic faith outside of conservative American culture” (Griswold, 2019). Bolz-Weber is a very non-traditional pastor in the sense that she commonly uses profanity and not only encourages but openly discusses the topic of sex. For centuries, the alterity of womanhood has been problematic, but she uses her platform to discuss matters of sexual reformation, which certainly does not align with the androcentric construction of gender roles within the Church. As Brian Stanley observes, in the late 20th century, an “individualized approach to sexual morality and identity posed a mounting challenge to the traditional ethical teaching of the churches” (Stanley 2018, p. 269). The church no longer dictates Christians behaviour when it comes to sex, especially with respect to contraceptives. It was through what Bolz-Weber describes as “better sex, she found herself, in fact, closer to God leading her to rethink the relationship between sex and religion” (Griswold, 2019). This is another modification of sexual ethics within the church today that exemplifies change by openly participating in the discussion about sex.
Feminist theology seeks to reinterpret religious doctrines and theologies through a feminist lens. This type of theology has grown the most in the West, but many non-western examples now exist too. Bolz-Weber uses her platform in various ways to discuss the tensions around sexuality that Christianity continues to hold. Her book Shameless promotes a sexual reformation within Christianity by approaching the topic from various historical and contemporary viewpoints, including those of Martin Luther and Augustine of Hippo (Griswold, 2019). She challenges the authority of men and identifies social issues faced by women, the LGBTQ2S+ society and more. Despite leaving her church, Bolz-Weber broke ground as a female in a male-dominated religious atmosphere. She paved the way for a church that is now thriving, with over six hundred attendees after beginning with eight.
Traditionally, Christianity, like many other religions, has preserved a patriarchal framework. The Christian construction of gender has established gender roles that preserve a traditional androcentric social order. In today’s increasingly secular world, the expansion of various social dimensions has allowed for the flourishing of a new pattern of sexual ethics within the church. Rejection of sexual repression has given women and others the opportunity to redefine gender expectations within and outside of marriage. Lastly, feminist theology has paved wave for pastors such as Nadia Bolz-Weber to engage in an authentic faith that appeals to less-traditional believers. New ways of approaching the topic of sexual identity – whether through religious theology, social analysis or even literature – has the potential to generate positive change in the Church, and perhaps even a sexual reformation.
Works cited
Griswold, E. (2019, February 11). The Lutheran Pastor Calling for a Sexual Reformation. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/news/on-religion/the-lutheran-pastor-calling-for-a-sexual-reformation
Stanley, B. (2018). Christianity in the twentieth century: a world history. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 266-288.
Thatcher, A. (2008). Male and Female (Vol. 9). Cambridge University Press. 534-568.
Illustration: Saurabh Singh