Built on Sand: The Historical Roots of Modern Queerphobia within Christianity

Summary

Homosexuality’s place within the church has been a topic of considerable debate among modern theologians. However, most theologians have only focused on homosexuality, disregarding the presence of all other alternative sexual identities and have used only Biblical textual evidence to justify their views on homosexuality. This text contributes a broader scope to the sexuality debate. It considers all queer sexualities, archaeological artifacts, and uses a queer theoretical lens to deconstruct the normalization of queerphobia within Christianity and to propose a new way for understanding the Bible as a source. Because the beginning of queerphobia in Christianity is difficult to trace using the archaeological record, a parallel study in which archaeology can be used to understand the foundation of another prejudice has been considered. This work argues that the emergence of queerphobia parallels the emergence of "false monotheism," including prejudice against polytheism, since both are rooted in misogyny, individual biases, and function to ensure the continuity of the church, unified under one god, Yahweh. Rather than suggesting that these prejudices are justified by God, this article shows how human biases have worked to wrongfully shape Christianity and cause discrimination towards others.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Constructing Archaeology: Moving Sex/Gender and Sexuality Research from the Periphery to the Center

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15194