Queering the Horizon: Gender Abolition, Transgender Identity, and the Eschatology of Gregory of Nyssa
In line with José Esteban Muñoz's claim that ‘[t]he future is queerness's domain’, this article presents an approach to transgender and non-binary identity that is orientated towards a horizon in which there is ‘no longer male and female’ (Galatians 3:28). I consider the theology of the fo...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Heythrop journal
Year: 2025, Volume: 66, Issue: 4, Pages: 351-366 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | In line with José Esteban Muñoz's claim that ‘[t]he future is queerness's domain’, this article presents an approach to transgender and non-binary identity that is orientated towards a horizon in which there is ‘no longer male and female’ (Galatians 3:28). I consider the theology of the fourth-century Church Father Gregory of Nyssa, who envisions a future state beyond sexual difference. I argue that this expectation flows primarily from Gregory's commitment to the prototypical unity of human nature, while situating his view of gender in the context of his apophatic and kinetic anthropology. Moreover, this article brings Gregory's eschatology into dialogue with contemporary debates around the value or otherwise of notions of gender abolition, considering whether—for those interested in trans liberation—an eschatological state beyond sex and gender represents a utopian or a dystopian prospect. I draw out resonances between Gregory's framework and contemporary queer gender abolitionism: both cast gender categories as unstable and contingent, and both look for the eventual negation of the ‘male and female’ binary without proposing an alternative normative ideal. I conclude that Gregory offers a compelling alternative to static, essentialist accounts of human identity, which is conducive to trans liberation in the Church and beyond. |
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| ISSN: | 1468-2265 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Heythrop journal
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/heyj.14447 |