Gender and Christian Theology
“Gender” relates to the characteristics, language, and expectations that a society attaches to men and women. With words and practices, we differentiate between masculinity and femininity, whether conceived as fluid, binary, or applying to a spectrum of identities. The language that theologians use – for God, in doctrine, in discussing religious life – is inevitably inflected in gendered terms. In this MPhil module, we will ask how gender impinges on the task and practice of theology. 
Following an introductory session, three further seminars address the relation of gender and theology via the themes of knowledge, love, and the Trinity. In each case we read a theological source alongside secondary literature which resists it, challenges us, or questions our interpretations. A variety of methodological standpoints will be considered in the module, and students are welcome to focus on intersex, non-binary and/or trans readings of the texts in question.
[This module may be offered for the first time in 2019-20.]