A Cambridge dean has claimed that Jesus may have been transgender after a row over his wound having a “vaginal appearance” in a painting.
A junior research fellow, Joshua Heath, was showing paintings of the crucifixion from the Renaissance and Medieval periods.
He pointed out that a side wound in the painting “takes on a decidedly vaginal appearance”.
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The 1400s century painting Pietà with the Holy Trinityby Jean Malouel Pietà was used to demonstrate his point.
He pointed out that a side wound in the painting “takes on a decidedly vaginal appearance”.
“In Christ's simultaneously masculine and feminine body in these works, if the body of Christ as these works suggest the body of all bodies, then his body is also the trans body,”
Individuals who attended the sermon were quick to share their outrage at such a suggestion, with one person writing to Dr Michael Banner, the dean.
They said: “I left the service in tears. You offered to speak with me afterwards, but I was too distressed. I am contemptuous of the idea that by cutting a hole in a man, through which he can be penetrated, he can become a woman.
“I am especially contemptuous of such imagery when it is applied to our Lord, from the pulpit, at Evensong. I am contemptuous of the notion that we should be invited to contemplate the martyrdom of a ‘trans Christ’, a new heresy for our age.”
A spokesperson from Trinity College said: “Neither the Dean of Trinity College nor the researcher giving the sermon suggested Jesus was transgender."
Chris Radburn
Responding to criticism, the dean defended the sermon, saying that the speculation was “legitimate”.
He wrote: “I think that speculation was legitimate, whether or not you or I or anyone else disagrees with the interpretation, says something else about that artistic tradition, or resists its application to contemporary questions around transsexualism.”
A spokesperson from Trinity College wrote: “The College would like to make clear the following:
“Neither the Dean of Trinity College nor the researcher giving the sermon suggested Jesus was transgender.
“The sermon addressed the image of Christ depicted in art and various interpretations of those artistic portrayals.
“The sermon’s exploration of the nature of religious art, in the spirit of thought-provoking academic inquiry, was in keeping with open debate and dialogue at the University of Cambridge.”
