Gender as Love: A Theological Account of Human Identity, Embodied Desire, and Our Social Worlds - Paperback

by Fellipe Do Vale (Author), Beth Felker Jones (Foreword by)

In recent years, the issue of gender has become a topic of great importance and has generated discussion from the kitchen table to the academy. It is an issue that churches and Christian educational institutions are grappling with as well, since gender is a crucial aspect of identity, affecting how we engage socially and understand our embodiment. Upstream from all these conversations lies a more basic question: What is gender?

In Gender as Love, Fellipe do Vale takes a theological approach to understanding gender, employing both biblical exegesis and historical theology and emphasizing the role human love plays in shaping our identities. He engages with and explains current theories and debates, but his approach is unique in that it avoids the present impasse between social constructionist and biological essentialist paradigms. His emphasis is on love as identity forming.

This fresh, holistic approach makes an important contribution to the literature and will benefit scholars and students alike. Foreword by Beth Felker Jones.

Back Jacket

A Fresh, Holistic Approach to Understanding Gender

Breaking current deadlocks within gender theory and theology, this book articulates an answer to the question "What is gender?" by drawing on a theology of human love.

"A breath of fresh air that has the marks of a rush of the Spirit, do Vale's work clears the confusion, fear, and acrimony that has clouded around the concept of gender. Gender as Love provides erudite guidance through the theory and, even more, rich exegetical and theological resources for living justly in response to God's undeserved gifts, including the gift of gender. The joining of confidence in Christ with an epistemic humility that results in godly patience makes this author and this work a timely gift and a necessary read."
--Amy Peeler, Wheaton College

"Everyone knows what topics to avoid at the dinner table: religion, politics, and--wait for it--gender (the new taboo topic now that sex is 'safe'). Gender as Love is not dinner conversation; it does not shirk the difficult questions but confronts them head on, with clear-sighted reasoning and openhearted compassion. Here is biblically grounded wisdom for male and female Christian disciples intent on using their sexed bodies in ways that foster love of God and neighbor. Here is the best kind of theology: direction the church desperately needs for such a time as this."
--Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

"Answering John Webster's call to engage in 'theological theology, ' do Vale adroitly clarifies how, precisely, we ought to conceive of gender from within the divine economy. Do Vale proposes that gender is a form of love directed toward various social goods in a manner that shapes the self. The result is, in a word, remarkable. This book is everything theology should aspire to be: elegant in its argumentation, accessible in its prose, brilliant in its content, and unreservedly devoted to the God of the gospel. It will remind you of why you first started writing and reading theology in the first place."
--Daniel Lee Hill, George W. Truett Theological Seminary

Author Biography

Fellipe do Vale (PhD, Southern Methodist University) is assistant professor of biblical and systematic theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He specializes in the juncture where theological anthropology and moral theology meet and has published widely on gender, ethics, and systematic theology. He lives in the Chicago area with his family.