Synopses & Reviews
Gods Beauty Parlor opens the Bible to the contested body of critical commentary on sex and sexuality known as queer theory and to masculinity studies. Through a series of dazzling rereadings staged not only in Gods beauty parlor, but also in Gods boudoir, locker room, and war room, the author pursues the themes of homoeroticism, masculinity, beauty, and violence through such texts as the Song of Songs, the Gospels, the Letter to the Romans, and the Book of Revelation.
He ponders such matters as the curious place of the Song of Songs in the history of sexuality, or how an apparent paean to male-female love became a pretext for literary cross-dressing for legions of male Jewish and Christian commentators; Jesus face and physique in relation to ideologies of beauty, ranging from the patristic era, when the “earthly” Jesus was regularly represented as ugly, to the contemporary global culture industry, with its trademark equation of looks with worth; the gendered and sexual substratum of Pauls doctrine of salvation embedded in his most influential epistle—not least his gendering of righteousness as masculine and sin as feminine; and the intimate imbrication of masculinity and mass death in Revelation, a book about war making men making war-making men . . . some of whom also happen to be gods.
Gods Beauty Parlor is an exhilarating attempt to bring some of the most significant currents in contemporary gender studies to bear on a text that, even in the post-Christian West, remains the ultimate cultural icon, cipher, and shibboleth.
Review
“For well over a decade Stephen D. Moore has served as a powerful advocate for the intercourse between biblical interpretation and contemporary critical theories. His latest book, Gods Beauty Parlor, shares many of the characteristics that Moores readers have come to expect from his work: a solid if often irreverent grounding in biblical scholarship; a penetrating awareness of the possible implications of utilizing those methods and theories as resources for reading the Bible; and a prose style that is engaging, frequently humorous, and clear but seldom simplistic.”Ken Stone, Chicago Theological Seminary
Review
"Too often the debate about the Bible and homosexuality is reduced to a dull episode of Crossfire. On the right, the Book of Romans condemns queers! On the left, the Book of Romans celebrates queers! In four essays Moore queers the debate for both sides, discussing the gay iconography of Jesus, the Song of Solomon, and the masculinity of the apostles as well as his own travels through the study of the good book. Deftly combining easy humor with academic theory, Moore turns up the disco music and hangs a mirror ball over the debate."Out Magazine
Synopsis
“Too often the debate about the Bible and homosexuality is reduced to a dull episode of Crossfire. On the right, the Book of Romans condemns queers! On the left, the Book of Romans celebrates queers! In four essays Moore queers the debate for both sides, discussing the gay iconography of Jesus, the Song of Solomon, and the masculinity of the apostles as well as his own travels through the study of the good book. Deftly combining easy humor with academic theory, Moore turns up the disco music and hangs a mirror ball over the debate.”—Out Magazine
“For well over a decade Stephen D. Moore has served as a powerful advocate for the intercourse between biblical interpretation and contemporary critical theories. His latest book, Gods Beauty Parlor, shares many of the characteristics that Moores readers have come to expect from his work: a solid if often irreverent grounding in biblical scholarship; a penetrating awareness of the possible implications of utilizing those methods and theories as resources for reading the Bible; and a prose style that is engaging, frequently humorous, and clear but seldom simplistic.”—Ken Stone, Chicago Theological Seminary
Synopsis
God's Beauty Parlor is the first monograph to open the Bible up to the contested body of critical commentary on sex and sexuality known as queer theory, and one of the first to open it up to masculinity studies. The author pursues the themes of homoeroticism, masculinity, beauty, and violence through such texts as the Song of Songs, the Gospels, the Letter to the Romans, and the Book of Revelation. He ponders such matters as the curious place of the Song of Songs in the history of sexuality, or how an apparent paean to male-female love became a pretext for literary cross-dressing for legions of male Jewish and Christian commentators. God's Beauty Parlor is an exhilarating attempt to bring some of the most significant currents in contemporary gender studies to bear on a text that, even in the post-Christian West, remains the ultimate cultural icon, cipher, and shibboleth.
Synopsis
'God\'s Beauty Parlor is the first monograph to open the Bible up to the contested body of critical commentary on sex and sexuality known as queer theory, and one of the first to open it up to masculinity studies. The author pursues the themes of homoeroticism, masculinity, beauty, and violence through such texts as the Song of Songs, the Gospels, the Letter to the Romans, and the Book of Revelation. He ponders such matters as the curious place of the Song of Songs in the history of sexuality, or how an apparent paean to male-female love became a pretext for literary cross-dressing for legions of male Jewish and Christian commentators. God\'s Beauty Parlor is an exhilarating attempt to bring some of the most significant currents in contemporary gender studies to bear on a text that, even in the post-Christian West, remains the ultimate cultural icon, cipher, and shibboleth.'
Synopsis
Opens the Bible up to the contested body of critical commentary on sex and sexuality known as queer theory.
Synopsis
God's Beauty Parlor opens the Bible to the contested body of critical commentary on sex and sexuality known as queer theory and to masculinity studies. The author pursues the themes of homoeroticism, masculinity, beauty, and violence through such texts as the Song of Songs, the Gospels, the Letter to the Romans, and the Book of Revelation.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 279-316) and indexes.
About the Author
Stephen D. Moore is Professor of New Testament at Drew University Theological School. His most recent book is God's Gym: Divine Male Bodies of the Bible.
Table of Contents
List of illustrations; Acknowledgments; Prologue; Introduction; Part I. God's Boudoir, God's Beauty Parlor ...: 1. The song of songs in the history of sexuality; 2. On the face and physique of the historical Jesus; Part II. ... God's Locker Room, God's War Room: 3. Sex and the single apostle; 4. Revolting revelations; In lieu of a conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; General index; Index of ancient and medieval sources.