#MeToo Jesus: Naming Jesus as a victim of sexual abuse

The #MeToo hashtag and campaign raises important questions for Christian public theology. In 2017, a church sign at Gustavus Adolphus Church in New York City connected Jesus with #MeToo through Jesus’ words, ‘You did this to me too’ (Matt 25:40). This church sign offers appropriate recognition of th...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Reaves, Jayme R. (Author) ; Tombs, David 1965- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage [2020]
In: Review and expositor
Year: 2020, Volume: 117, Issue: 2, Pages: 204-221
IxTheo Classification:FD Contextual theology
NBF Christology
Further subjects:B Jesus
B Victims
B Sexual Abuse
B #ChurchToo
B Crucifixion
B Keywords #ChurchToo
B #MeToo
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:The #MeToo hashtag and campaign raises important questions for Christian public theology. In 2017, a church sign at Gustavus Adolphus Church in New York City connected Jesus with #MeToo through Jesus’ words, ‘You did this to me too’ (Matt 25:40). This church sign offers appropriate recognition of the theological solidarity of Jesus with #MeToo at a metaphorical level, but this article argues a more direct historical connection should also be made. It examines works by Tombs (1999), Heath (2011), Gafney (2013), and Trainor (2014) that go beyond theological solidarity to identify Jesus as a victim of sexual abuse in a more historical and literal sense. It concludes that naming Jesus as victim of sexual abuse is not just a matter of correcting the historical record but can also help churches to address the damage caused by victim blaming or shaming.
ISSN:2052-9449
Contains:Enthalten in: Review and expositor
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0034637320922898