Jesus the Model Man? A Comparison of Ancient Masculinities and the Jesus of the Johannine Passion Narrative

Abstract

The study of the masculinity of Jesus as presented in the New Testament is a fairly recent phenomenon, following the more established feminist analysis of the Biblical texts. The consideration of gender and the androcentric nature of the texts have only been a recent realisation within the field of Biblical studies, which is now creating the space for the additional study of masculinity to occur. As a key figure of ideal masculinity impacting modern faith contexts regarding what ideal masculinity is, the depiction of Jesus and his perceived masculinity is essential to include when considering gender and masculinity studies within Biblical Studies. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the perceived masculinity of Jesus as depicted in the Johannine Passion Narrative when compared with other ancient standards of manliness. This process has already begun with scholars such as Conway using Greco-Roman sources to compare with Jesus. However, due to the limited range of ancient contexts compared resulting from the infancy of this field of study, I expand the contextual range of masculine ideals to create a wider understanding of how differing masculinities interact within the Gospel text and each other. The first of these models of ancient manliness was the Greco-Roman ideal of virtus as seen in the work of Cicero that highly valued traits such as dominant control and violence. The second was taken from observations made from the depiction of YHWH in the Hebrew Bible and his dominant relationship to other human males. The third model was taken from 4 Maccabees and the masculinity seen in suffering for the sake of God and religion. When compared with these models, the Jesus of the Passion Narrative of John both embodies certain aspects of ancient perceived masculinity and subverts them simultaneously. This is seen in the Johannine Jesus challenges certain masculinities by through other models, the illumination of internal complexities within single models and so on. Consequently, the findings of this study could be considered as queer in nature, as the boundaries of certain standards of gender are crossed and challenged in the authors depiction of Jesus.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Holly Morse (Supervisor) & Peter Oakes (Supervisor)