Marcella Maria Althaus-Reid (

Rosario, Santa Fe Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

11 May 1952 –

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

20 February 2009) was an Argentine Professor of

Contextual Theology Contextual theology or contextualizing theology refers to theology which has responded to the dynamics of a particular context. Terminology The term contextualizing theology was used in missiology by Shoki Coe when he argued that the Venn- And ...

at New College,

the University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. When appointed, she was the only woman professor of theology at a Scottish University and the first woman professor of theology at New College in its 160-year history. She was born in

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

, , and graduated with a Bachelor in

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

Degree from , the Protestant University Institute in Buenos Aires. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. Her interests included liberation theology,

feminist theology Feminist theology is a movement found in several religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism, Jainism, Neopaganism, Baháʼí Faith, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, and New Thought, to reconsider the traditions, practices, scri ...

and

queer theology Queer theology is a theological method that has developed out of the philosophical approach of queer theory, built upon scholars such as Marcella Althaus-Reid, Michel Foucault, Gayle Rubin, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, and Judith Butler. Queer theolog ...

Life

Althaus-Reid was born in Rosario, Argentina. She grew up in Buenos Aires, where she graduated with a BA in Theology from the ''Instituto Superior Evangelico de Estudios Teologicos'' (ISEDET) ecumenical theological institution in Buenos Aires, oriented toward liberation theology. She studied with liberation theologians including Jose Miguez Bonino and Jose Severino Croatto. She was a member of the Evangelical Methodist Church of Argentina. She followed the methods of

Paulo Freire Paulo Reglus Neves Freire (19 September 1921 – 2 May 1997) was a Brazilian educator and philosopher whose work revolutionized global thought on education. He is best known for ''Pedagogy of the Oppressed'', in which he reimagines teaching ...

, undertaking community and social projects supported by the church in impoverished neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. Due to her experience and accomplishments in this regard, Althaus-Reid was invited to Scotland, where she worked in poor neighborhoods of Dundee and Perth, coordinating projects inspired by the liberationist pedagogy of Freire. She completed her doctorate in 1994 at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

, Scotland, writing her doctoral thesis on the influence of

Paul Ricoeur Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

in the methodology of liberation theology. Her academic interests included liberation theology,

and

. Subsequently, she was appointed Professor of

at New College, University of Edinburgh. Althaus-Reid died on 20 February 2009, in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she had lived since 1986. 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 The Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), also known as the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), is an international LGBT-affirming Christian denominations, LGBT-affirming mainline Protestant Christian denomination. The ...

. In the last years of her life, she worked with the Argentine theologian Ivan Petrella to publicize liberation theology in the English-speaking world. She was also associate editor of the journal ''

Studies in World Christianity ''Studies in World Christianity'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal which examines the development of Christianity worldwide – known broadly as World Christianity. Its primary interests are in the rich diversity of Christianity in Africa, Asi ...

'' and a member of the editorial board of the journal '' Concilium''.

Thought

Althaus-Reid is perhaps most well known for her 2002 work in ''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 Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

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. She explains that "

esus Esus is a Celtic god known from iconographic, epigraphic, and literary sources. The 1st-century CE Roman poet Lucan's epic ''Pharsalia'' mentions Esus, Taranis, and Teutates as gods to whom the Gauls sacrificed humans. This rare mention of Cel ...

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 Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It is the Conception (biology), conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic form of a god. It is used t ...

. 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 Latin American liberation theology (, ) is a synthesis of Christian theology and Marxian socio-economic analyses, that emphasizes "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". Beginning in the 1960s after the Sec ...

, which she understood as failing to address questions of gender and sexuality alongside the question of conquest and colonization of the Americas.

Works

* * * * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Althaus-Reid, Marcella 1952 births 2009 deaths Academics of the University of Edinburgh Argentine emigrants to Scotland Argentine feminists Argentine Methodists Argentine people of Swiss-German descent Argentine theologians Christian feminist theologians Argentine LGBTQ rights activists LGBTQ Methodists Liberation theologians Methodist theologians People from Rosario, Santa Fe Queer theologians Women Christian theologians World Christianity scholars

Life

Thought

Works

See also

References

Further reading

External links