Kristna kroppar? Om kristologi, kroppslighet och kön

Abstract

In this article Sigurdson poses three questions: Is there a specific notion of embodiment in the Christian tradition? If so, would a Christian body be a sexed body? And would a theological notion of embodiment have something to contribute to the ongoing philosophical discussion of the body, especially in feminist theory? The answer to all three questions is yes, and Sigurdson then shows how a Christian theology of embodiment takes its cue from the doctrine of incarnation. He develops this further through examples from the history of theology on how the body has been thematized in its existential, social and gendered dimensions: the apostle Paul as not concerned with a dualistic conception of soul and body but with the finiteness and fallibility of the body; patristic and medieval theology as understanding the body as both social and transgressive; medieval women mystics as developing a sense of embodiment as a direct communion with the divine through the suffering Christ. This does not mean that there is just one theological notion of embodiment throughout history that would be considered genuine. The Christian tradition displays a large variety of ideas on bodies, and these could be developed for a theology of the body in deep resonance with contemporary feminist concerns, among them the development of a gendered symbolic horizon that respects the asymmetric sexual embodiment of men and women. Even if parts of the Christian tradition have been somatofobic and androcentric, this does not necessarily mean that it is characteristic for the entire tradition. With and against its own tradition, theology in our time has the resources to conceptualize a more fruitful theology of the body.