Beyond the Book: Exploring the Cultural Histories of Biblical Masculinity

Dear Colleagues, 

Now that scholarship on “biblical masculinity” has found its voice and its place in the discipline of biblical studies and related fields, what more can scholars say? What more should they say? Most explorations have focused on situating biblical constructions of masculinity and male characters within the cultural contexts of the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern worlds—and with good reason. 

Using the historical and linguistic tools familiar to the field, cross-cultural comparative studies have made impressive contributions to understanding “masculinity” as a point of connection and contestation between ancient Israelites/early Jews/early Christians and the dominant imperial orders in which they lived and wrote. Likewise, literary and rhetorical approaches have illuminated the centrality of “masculinity,” as a gender ideal and set of social relations, to the representations of Israelite/Jewish/and Christian identity within the diverse texts that make up ancient canonical collections. 

How biblical constructions of “masculinity” have reproduced or challenged the power of some men over other men, and men as a group over women as a group, is, perhaps, the key question addressed by this subfield. To date, little has been done to ask the related question of how “biblical masculinities” have been appropriated and put to work for various religious, cultural, personal, and political projects throughout the longer reception history of “The Bible.” 

Thus, we are pleased to invite you to submit essays to a Special Issue of Religions dedicated to exploring the cultural histories of “biblical masculinity.” This issue aims to bring interdisciplinary perspectives to bear on the reception history of “biblical masculinity” as a globally construed ideological construct at work in various sites of modern and postmodern culture. 

The turn to reception theory and cultural history enables scholars to explore the appropriation of biblical characters and the “masculine” ideologies of biblical texts in religious, political, and popular discourses and institutions that inform and shape the culture and politics of “the present.” Perhaps more urgently, the turn to cultural history allows scholars to ask what cultural or political conditions help create the desire for, and definition of, “biblical masculinity” in the first place. How and why, in a given cultural moment, are canonical texts and contemporary ideologies assembled to create models of “masculinity” that are imbued with the privileged status and unquestionable authority that sticks to the signifier “biblical”? 

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. We especially invite explorations in the cultural history of “biblical masculinity” that make use of the theoretical tool-kits provided by feminist and queer theory, trans and decolonial studies, and affect and anti-racist theories. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Protestant and Roman Catholic articulations of “traditional” gender roles in discourses opposing abortion, same-sex relationships, and transgender lives.
• Emergence of Christian Nationalism/MAGA conservativism/tradCath movements .
• Racialized constructions of biblical men in popular culture.
• “Transing” biblical characters and texts in scholarship or popular culture.
• War and biblical men and masculine ideals, including constructions by antiwar activists and anarchists.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200-300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor, Dr. Eric Thurman ([email protected]), and CC the Assistant Editor, Margaret Liu ([email protected]), of Religions. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Eric Thurman
Prof. Dr. Susan Haddox
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• masculinity
• bible
• reception theory
• cultural history