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Take Back the Word: a queer reading of the bible
Perhaps the most revolutionary contribution of Take Back the Word is its presentation of resistant practices of reading the Bible that challenge oppressive applications of Scripture to clobber queer folx. If lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender, non-gender-conforming, and questioning people are to take back the word of Scripture for themselves, they must take it back in a new way. Essays examine queer strategies for reading, queer ethical models from the Hebrew Scriptures, and queer good news stories from the Christian Scriptures.
239 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2000
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November 7, 2023This is an old book. It was published in 2000 and many of the essays were previously published even before then. Many of the writers mention being alive during the 50's or 60's. It's important to keep that in mind when reading. Both because of the topics covered and also the language used. Words that are seen as offensive or out of date *now* weren't seen that way 20+ years ago.
"Reading the Bible from Low and Outside: Lesbitransgay People as God's Tricksters"
This essay was really interesting. It pointed out a number of ideas I hadn't considered before, such as the idea of "right and wrong" being a western idea that doesn't necessarily apply to all of the Bible (a middle eastern text). Or that the Bible celebrates "tricksters" as in the folklore term. It also discussed the ethics of lying and how often remaining "in the closet" is essential for survival. I really liked this one.
"Camping around the Canon: Humor as a Hermeneutical Tool in Queer Readings of Biblical Texts"
This essay had very little to do with what its title suggests. It was very long and spend the first half just talking about how the church has historically viewed laughter. And by historically I mean we go all the way back to ancient philosophers and medieval texts. I didn't really see the point of most of it, and the author never really got around to discussing "camp" like, at all.
"Love Your Mother: A Lesbian Womanist Reading of Scripture"
The intro is about how parenthood is important even to queer people, but the actual essay has little to do with scripture and a lot MORE to do with conversion therapy and how Christian churches seek to change gay people and how damaging that is for everyone involved. An important topic but it's not really about reading the Bible?
"Reading the Bible from Low and Outside: Lesbitransgay People as God's Tricksters"
This essay was really interesting. It pointed out a number of ideas I hadn't considered before, such as the idea of "right and wrong" being a western idea that doesn't necessarily apply to all of the Bible (a middle eastern text). Or that the Bible celebrates "tricksters" as in the folklore term. It also discussed the ethics of lying and how often remaining "in the closet" is essential for survival. I really liked this one.
"Camping around the Canon: Humor as a Hermeneutical Tool in Queer Readings of Biblical Texts"
This essay had very little to do with what its title suggests. It was very long and spend the first half just talking about how the church has historically viewed laughter. And by historically I mean we go all the way back to ancient philosophers and medieval texts. I didn't really see the point of most of it, and the author never really got around to discussing "camp" like, at all.
"Love Your Mother: A Lesbian Womanist Reading of Scripture"
The intro is about how parenthood is important even to queer people, but the actual essay has little to do with scripture and a lot MORE to do with conversion therapy and how Christian churches seek to change gay people and how damaging that is for everyone involved. An important topic but it's not really about reading the Bible?
December 11, 2025
This is a series of essays that look at scripture through a Pride-Rainbow lens.
Some passages covered include the Beloved Disciple (was it John, could it have been Lazarus?); Jesus and the Canaanite woman (Matt 15:21-28); The Hebrew Exodus; The Book of Ruth; Jezebel, the Phoenician princess; Nehemiah; The Song of Songs; Ezekiel; Jonah; Micah
A handful of scriptures (Gen. 19:1-3; Lev. 18:22; 20:13; Rom. 1:26-28; 1 Cor. 6:9; 1 Tim. 1:10) are often called the "clobber passages" by the queer community because they are used to promote homophobia and violence against us. They are also identified as our "texts of terror."
Many passages spoke to me:
We queers need to trust our inner knowing, held in tension with more conventional values, in order to find the balance suggested by Bonhoeffer's Ethics and his life: that lying is sometimes necessary, "that the real world is always more complex than our simple answers, and that the moral certainty that we can truly admire requires us to pay attention to everything that is there." During my Protestant fundamentalist childhood, I was taught that it was a Christian's responsibility to avoid even the appearance of evil (1 Thess. 5:22 KJV). It was years before it dawned on me that in Jesus' story of the good Samaritan, the two priests who refuse their help to a man fallen among thieves, were doing exactly that — abstaining from all appearance of evil. Have they had assisted the bleeding man, they would’ve gotten dirt in blood on their stainless garments — God forbid, someone might think that they themselves had been involved in the mugging!
The Calling of Advocacy
It seems that this woman was convinced that Jesus was capable of more than even he seemed to believe he was. She, in fact, places more faith in the abundance of God and in Jesus' abilities to heal than he apparently does.
She issues Christ an invitation to step over the barriers between them, and he in turn responds. In this encounter, both Jesus and the woman model for us the power and possibilities that are present when we face our limitations to step over and beyond them.
In reading this story, I am particularly struck by this woman's ability to take the slur that she heard and turn it into a metaphor that she uses to forward her cause. To be called a dog, and then argue that even dogs receive what they need from the Master's table, is remarkable. It takes a level head combined with a strong sense of self to pull this off. She kept herself so focused on the needs of her child that she did not waste time arguing with Jesus. She was not afraid to talk back to or challenge Jesus, but she is also a reminder that proving someone's prejudices to be wrong is more effective than arguing about them.
So it was with Nehemiah. He might have longed for a "gentler flame," but he made the conscious choice to lead his people. Notice what Nehemial said when his critics wanted him to come down from the wall and talk to them. Perhaps these words should burn within all of us because he said, "I am busy doing a great work and cannot come down" (Neh. 6:3).
Nehemiah would not be distracted. He could not be discouraged. He was fixated on a dream, a goal, a vision that was beyond him. It enlarged his life. It insured him from attacks. It gave strength and energy and courag that outsiders seldom suspect resides in the souls of queer folk of ever age. Unfortunately it is strength we sometimes fail to discover in ourselves We say, "I'm just a nurse." "I'm only a teacher." "Being a hairdresser is all I've ever done." The lesson Nehemiah offers is a summons to listen to our hearts. Listen to our God. You never know just when God might say, "Let's go rebuild a city. You look great in construction boots."
Some feminists have severed the connection between love and justice. In an effort to demonstrate the value of love, feminist philosophers like Carol Gilligan have posited that a female way of being is to focus more on intimate caring, whereas the masculine approach is to demand abstract justice. This dichotomized notion demands both love and justice, but it puts them in opposition, rather than as connected parts of a single obligation as stated in Micah's words. On the other hand, Carter Heyward, a white Christian lesbian theologian, argues that justice is love. In doing justice, one is creating a loving world. From the perspective of Micah's precepts, these values are not one in the same. We make distinctions between loving well and doing justice as separate but connected values. We pay attention to ahavat hesed among Jewish lesbians and between Jewish lesbians and the rest of the Jewish community. These are related but do not equal the efforts to bring about a just society.
For some lesbian Jews, particularly those who fit conventional gender roles and whose lifestyles are family oriented, fashioning our appeal for justice and inclusion on the basis of our similarities to other Jews has been rather successful.
Certainly, the most controversial same-sex couple in the Christian tradition comprised Jesus and... the beloved disciple. The relationship between them was often depicted in subsequent art and literature as intimate, if not erotic."For centuries, the beloved disciple has remained a powerful metaphor for homoerotic friendship and love, and even today gay men intuit an identifiable love relationship between Jesus and the beloved disciple.
The beloved disciple is never identified by name. Tradition has recognized the beloved disciple as John. For me, however, Lazarus has been the most likely candidate for the beloved disciple, who makes his debut in the Gospel as the unnamed disciple (John 1:35). Biblical commentators have frequently posed the question whether the anonymous disciple with Andrew is identifiable as the beloved disciple. From the perspective of a reader familiar with the Fourth Gospel, the anonymous disciple could easily be understood as the beloved disciple.
Some passages covered include the Beloved Disciple (was it John, could it have been Lazarus?); Jesus and the Canaanite woman (Matt 15:21-28); The Hebrew Exodus; The Book of Ruth; Jezebel, the Phoenician princess; Nehemiah; The Song of Songs; Ezekiel; Jonah; Micah
A handful of scriptures (Gen. 19:1-3; Lev. 18:22; 20:13; Rom. 1:26-28; 1 Cor. 6:9; 1 Tim. 1:10) are often called the "clobber passages" by the queer community because they are used to promote homophobia and violence against us. They are also identified as our "texts of terror."
Many passages spoke to me:
We queers need to trust our inner knowing, held in tension with more conventional values, in order to find the balance suggested by Bonhoeffer's Ethics and his life: that lying is sometimes necessary, "that the real world is always more complex than our simple answers, and that the moral certainty that we can truly admire requires us to pay attention to everything that is there." During my Protestant fundamentalist childhood, I was taught that it was a Christian's responsibility to avoid even the appearance of evil (1 Thess. 5:22 KJV). It was years before it dawned on me that in Jesus' story of the good Samaritan, the two priests who refuse their help to a man fallen among thieves, were doing exactly that — abstaining from all appearance of evil. Have they had assisted the bleeding man, they would’ve gotten dirt in blood on their stainless garments — God forbid, someone might think that they themselves had been involved in the mugging!
The Calling of Advocacy
It seems that this woman was convinced that Jesus was capable of more than even he seemed to believe he was. She, in fact, places more faith in the abundance of God and in Jesus' abilities to heal than he apparently does.
She issues Christ an invitation to step over the barriers between them, and he in turn responds. In this encounter, both Jesus and the woman model for us the power and possibilities that are present when we face our limitations to step over and beyond them.
In reading this story, I am particularly struck by this woman's ability to take the slur that she heard and turn it into a metaphor that she uses to forward her cause. To be called a dog, and then argue that even dogs receive what they need from the Master's table, is remarkable. It takes a level head combined with a strong sense of self to pull this off. She kept herself so focused on the needs of her child that she did not waste time arguing with Jesus. She was not afraid to talk back to or challenge Jesus, but she is also a reminder that proving someone's prejudices to be wrong is more effective than arguing about them.
So it was with Nehemiah. He might have longed for a "gentler flame," but he made the conscious choice to lead his people. Notice what Nehemial said when his critics wanted him to come down from the wall and talk to them. Perhaps these words should burn within all of us because he said, "I am busy doing a great work and cannot come down" (Neh. 6:3).
Nehemiah would not be distracted. He could not be discouraged. He was fixated on a dream, a goal, a vision that was beyond him. It enlarged his life. It insured him from attacks. It gave strength and energy and courag that outsiders seldom suspect resides in the souls of queer folk of ever age. Unfortunately it is strength we sometimes fail to discover in ourselves We say, "I'm just a nurse." "I'm only a teacher." "Being a hairdresser is all I've ever done." The lesson Nehemiah offers is a summons to listen to our hearts. Listen to our God. You never know just when God might say, "Let's go rebuild a city. You look great in construction boots."
Some feminists have severed the connection between love and justice. In an effort to demonstrate the value of love, feminist philosophers like Carol Gilligan have posited that a female way of being is to focus more on intimate caring, whereas the masculine approach is to demand abstract justice. This dichotomized notion demands both love and justice, but it puts them in opposition, rather than as connected parts of a single obligation as stated in Micah's words. On the other hand, Carter Heyward, a white Christian lesbian theologian, argues that justice is love. In doing justice, one is creating a loving world. From the perspective of Micah's precepts, these values are not one in the same. We make distinctions between loving well and doing justice as separate but connected values. We pay attention to ahavat hesed among Jewish lesbians and between Jewish lesbians and the rest of the Jewish community. These are related but do not equal the efforts to bring about a just society.
For some lesbian Jews, particularly those who fit conventional gender roles and whose lifestyles are family oriented, fashioning our appeal for justice and inclusion on the basis of our similarities to other Jews has been rather successful.
Certainly, the most controversial same-sex couple in the Christian tradition comprised Jesus and... the beloved disciple. The relationship between them was often depicted in subsequent art and literature as intimate, if not erotic."For centuries, the beloved disciple has remained a powerful metaphor for homoerotic friendship and love, and even today gay men intuit an identifiable love relationship between Jesus and the beloved disciple.
The beloved disciple is never identified by name. Tradition has recognized the beloved disciple as John. For me, however, Lazarus has been the most likely candidate for the beloved disciple, who makes his debut in the Gospel as the unnamed disciple (John 1:35). Biblical commentators have frequently posed the question whether the anonymous disciple with Andrew is identifiable as the beloved disciple. From the perspective of a reader familiar with the Fourth Gospel, the anonymous disciple could easily be understood as the beloved disciple.
March 5, 2023
I was interested in the idea of this book, but I'm just not familiar enough with the bible to fully appreciate it. This is definitely for someone who knows the bible, someone who grew up religious, or someone who is at least interested enough in queer readings to go back into the original text to understand what is being said. I am not one of those people. My rating reflects my own enjoyment of the book, not the quality of the book itself.
partially-read
November 6, 2023Read chapter 13 "Insider Out: Unmasking the Abusing God" by Rose for Intro to the Old Testament.
September 29, 2014
A good intro to the Bible from a queer viewpoint, but I thought it could have gone even farther.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews