Marcella Althaus-Reid

“Only in the longing for a world of economic and sexual justice together, and not subordinated to one another, can the encounter with the divine take place. But this is an encounter to be found at the crossroads of desire, when one dares to leave the ideological order of the heterosexual pervasive normative”

In honour of pride today I wanted to do an LGBT figure close to my own heart – although it’s possibly a bit niche for some!

Professor Marcella Althaus-Reid (1952-2009) was a self-described ‘indecent, Latina, bisexual theologian, " specialising in liberation, feminist, and queer theologies. She was Professor of Contextual Theology at New College, the University of Edinburgh [where I myself studied Religious Studies for 5 years and thus discovered this amazing lady]. At the time of her appointment, she was the only female professor of theology at a Scottish University and the first female professor of theology at New College in its 160-year history.

Althaus-Reid was born in Argentina. She was a practical theologian, undertaking community and social projects supported by the church in impoverished neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires. This work earned her an invitation to work with similarly poor neighbourhoods in Scotland. It was in Scotland that she achieved her postgraduate degrees.

Her first book, Indecent Theology (2000) received widespread recognition in the theological field  despite it’s controversial and outspoken views. Her second book, Queer God (2004), was also a strong and provocative challenge to the sexual oppression inherent in most Christian theologies. She wrote and edited articles in numerous theological journals and was invited to lecture throughout the world. She also co-edited a pioneering series of books, "Queering Theology".  

Althaus-Reid joined the Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) and became an advocate for MCC as a respite from alienating and exclusive liturgies and the hope for an alternative queer Christian community.

Althaus-Reid died on 20 February 2009 after a long illness. At the time of her death she was Director of the International Association for Queer Theology, Director of the Queer Theology Project at the University of Edinburgh, and a member of the Metropolitan Community Church. In the last years of her life, she worked with the Argentine theologian Ivan Petrella to publicize liberation theology in the English-speaking world.

“If…we know nothing about God except for what we know of Jesus, then we need to confront a Jesus/God whose theological identity has become a unique mess of being the One who fucked Mary and is yet her son at the same time…That Jesus who had a preference for men disciples…So Jesus may be a faggot, or a transvestite, so little we know of him except what other people saw in him; sexual appearances are so deceiving.”

Professor Althaus-Reid is perhaps most well-known for her 2002 work, Indecent Theology, in which she challenged feminists in her use of sexual and explicit language. She argued sex has been constructed by a patriarchal worldview which underpins many of the great atrocities of the world. Hence, the virginity of the Virgin Mary needs to be "indecented" as it hides the lives of many poor women who, she describes, as rarely being virgins.

She also speaks about an "indecent Christ," whereby a kenotic Christology speaks of God self-emptying and being embodied in Christ and human sexuality (I barely understand what this means so I can’t explain it, Chrisitianity is not my strong point sorry!) She explains that "[Jesus] has been dressed theologically as a heterosexually oriented (celibate) man. Jesus with erased genitalia; Jesus minus erotic body." Instead, she speaks about the bi-sexuality of Christ as an inclusive understanding of the incarnation. She wants to argue for a larger Christology which recasts Jesus in postmodern sexualities, genders, and economic locations. This is a critique she had against Latin American liberation theology, which she understood as failing to address questions of gender and sexuality alongside the question of conquest and colonization of the Americas.

“Queer Theology is a road of joy and of suffering at the same time. The joy of speaking truth to power and the pain of the lack of love with which that truth may be received.”

Marcella Althaus-Reid has been described as ‘a tireless fighter for the Other, for the poor, the sexual outcast, the oppressed. Her work saw the love of God shed over all the peoples of the earth, especially those beaten down by society.’ Althaus-Reid maintained that God is not just for the religious conservatives of the world, but is a God of radical love and inclusion who yearns for all voices to be heard, who values all people in all their modes of being.  Althaus-Reid envisioned a world where all voices are heard, and where God’s love is not restricted in any way. Her persuasive interpretation of the bible and of Jesus’ love makes this idea seem a lot less radical than conservative theology would have us believe.

As a scholar of religion as well as a feminist, Marcella’s ideas are so interesting and powerful to me, especially as I’ve mainly specialised in gender in religion, and colonialism! I mainly work on Hinduism and Islam so my knowledge on this is limited but I do share Marcella’s critiques of the role of gender/sexuality within traditional Christianity and how they have corrupted or misinterpreted certain biblical figures/stories. (The recent book I posted about on Mary Magdalene also had some really interesting ideas on the sexuality of Christ if anyone is interested!) Marcella’s views were unsurprisingly controversial – and still are – but I think she was a trailblazer in being so unashamedly open about sex and sexuality, and in asking how theology and Christianity can be more accommodating to those it has traditionally excluded – women, LGBT+ people, and the poor. Having tried to write on these issues myself within the same college as Marcella, I know that it’s not always an easy or popular conversation to have. I wish I’d had more time to study Marcella’s work in depth (PhD resolution 101!). As a female student, she was also a hero of mine for leading the way for women in the field of RS and theology, and she certainly didn’t keep her head down once she achieved it! Whatever our faith or occupation, we should all be asking ourselves how we can be more welcoming to these communities, and I think Marcella was a really good example of why academia should be about more than just reading books from the comfort of one’s office.

This portrait of Marcella hung pride of place in our lunch space at New College, and in a sea of white-straight-Christian men, she was a beautifully reassuring reminder that academia, the church, and society itself is open for everyone.