Here are 100 books that Sex and Uncertainty in the Body of Christ fans have personally recommended if you like
Sex and Uncertainty in the Body of Christ.
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As a young Christian woman passionate about understanding how to serve God and others, I received mixed messages about what I could do in the world because I am female. One of my college professors encouraged me to get my PhD and return as the first female faculty member in their Department of Bible and Theology. Another professor said if I taught theology at the college level, I would be sinning, violating I Timothy 2:12, where the Apostle Paul commands women not to teach men but to learn in silence. Continuing my study in seminary, I was dissatisfied by both liberal and conservative theologians writing on sex and gender differences.
This book is a great place to begin as it invites readers into the lives of a conservative Christian intersex person (Danny) and their conservative Christian friend (Cynthia), who worked with Danny to bring his story into the world.
Both of them share the difficulties of navigating challenges to their own belief systems and the painful struggles for acceptance in their conservative Christian families and churches.
Even though I’ve met many intersex people over the years and heard their stories, I couldn’t put the book down because I resonated with the challenge of living a life of integrity while also trying not to lose relationships with beloved family members and Christian friends.
" . . . the most compelling and informative account of the intersex experience that I have ever seen. This book is a triumph." —David Gushee, Professor of Christian Ethics, author of Changing Our Mind: The Landmark Call for Inclusion of LGBTQ Christians
Cynthia, an adjunct professor with a trunk full of ungraded papers and snack wrappers, has been an LGBTQIA+ ally for years—in convenient ways. She enjoys the company of her queer friends—but her support isn’t risky; it hasn’t cost her anything. Until she meets Danny. The youngest child in a conservative religious family, Danny played the role of…
As a young Christian woman passionate about understanding how to serve God and others, I received mixed messages about what I could do in the world because I am female. One of my college professors encouraged me to get my PhD and return as the first female faculty member in their Department of Bible and Theology. Another professor said if I taught theology at the college level, I would be sinning, violating I Timothy 2:12, where the Apostle Paul commands women not to teach men but to learn in silence. Continuing my study in seminary, I was dissatisfied by both liberal and conservative theologians writing on sex and gender differences.
I met Lianne while writing my dissertation on intersex people and Christian theology. Knowing her, her story, and her faith changed my life forever. We went on to collaborate in educating others about people born outside the male/female binary and eventually created a documentary to share her story and the stories of other intersex people of faith.
Sadly, Lianne passed away in 2021 during Covid. In Confessions of a Teenage Hermaphrodite, Lianne offers her semi-autobiographical story of growing up intersex and Christian. Since her life story changed my life, I think it will change yours, too!
From the heart of an intersex teen, one who must ultimately choose male or female--family or true love--comes the story of a deeply emotional and perilous journey home. This is a young adult novel unlike any other--an authentic portrayal of the issues faced by a child growing up with a sexually ambiguous body.
Jameson can be like other boys after minor surgery and a few years on testosterone Well, at least that's what his parents always say. But Jamie sees an elfin princess in the mirror, and male hormones would only ruin her pretty face. For him to become the…
As a young Christian woman passionate about understanding how to serve God and others, I received mixed messages about what I could do in the world because I am female. One of my college professors encouraged me to get my PhD and return as the first female faculty member in their Department of Bible and Theology. Another professor said if I taught theology at the college level, I would be sinning, violating I Timothy 2:12, where the Apostle Paul commands women not to teach men but to learn in silence. Continuing my study in seminary, I was dissatisfied by both liberal and conservative theologians writing on sex and gender differences.
My first three book recommendations are by intersex people themselves because their voices have been silenced and unheard for too long. Allies like myself have a place in the conversation, but our platforms should always center the voices of intersex people themselves.
While this book is not written for a specifically Christian audience, the author did grow up Christian and is a strong contemporary advocate for protecting intersex infants and children from non-consensual surgeries on their genitals to make them “appear” more typically male or female.
By sharing her own experience, Pidgeon documents just how wrong these “well-intentioned” interventions can go and why doctor’s attempts to “fix” intersex traits should be outlawed.
From intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis comes a candid and life-affirming true story of identity, lies, family secrets, and the healing power of truth.
Pidgeon Pagonis always felt like their life was a constant attempt to fit in with other girls-a feeling that was only exacerbated when puberty failed to hit. They never understood why...until they uncovered the secret that had haunted their childhood.
Bouncing between their Chicago home and the city's children's hospital, Pidgeon weathered a series of traumatic surgeries, fabrications, and misdirections. It wasn't until college that Pidgeon pieced together the puzzle of their identity: they'd been born intersex…
I’ve always been a thinker, asking big questions and playing around with crazy ideas. That’s why I’ve been fascinated by the Bible since I was fourteen, reading it cover-to-cover multiple times and studying it academically for—approaching four decades now. It’s a classic for a reason! At first, I read it because I became a Christian, and it’s part of the package, but within a short time, I was hooked. I was especially interested in the tough parts, the bits I didn’t like or couldn’t make sense of. They were invitations to explore, think, and learn. It never ceases to surprise me with new ideas and inspirational insights.
It turns out that the “God hates fags” folk are wrong (and not simply unkind). So often, modern debates in churches on homosexuality assume that one either (I) believes the Bible and rejects same-sex relationships as sinful or (II) rejects the Bible to embrace the rainbow.
What I love about this carefully argued book from a NT scholar is that he throws a spanner in the works and makes us think again. (And, dude, a wee bit of thought could go a long way in these poisonous waters.) Brownson argues that the teachings of the Bible do not, contrary to popular opinion, exclude same-sex relationships.
I found his clear and careful examination of all the “troublesome texts” and how we’ve misunderstood them to be enlightening and helpful.
Grapples conscientiously with biblical texts at the heart of the church's debate over same-sex relationships
This thought-provoking book by James Brownson develops a broad, cross-cultural sexual ethic from Scripture, locates current debates over homosexuality in that wider context, and explores why the Bible speaks the way it does about same-sex relationships.
Fairly presenting both sides in this polarized debate — "traditional" and "revisionist" — Brownson conscientiously analyzes all of the pertinent biblical texts and helpfully identifies "stuck points" in the ongoing debate. In the process, he explores key concepts that inform our understanding of the biblical texts, including patriarchy, complementarity,…
I have been exploring the relationship between the brain and religious/spiritual phenomena (a field known as neurotheology) for the past 30 years. My neuroimaging research has helped uncover the brain processes involved with practices like meditation and prayer and a broad array of experiences. The origin of this work derives from evolutionary theories about religion and the brain that tie directly into sexuality. The books on this list greatly helped to provide the foundation for the connection between spirituality and sexuality, opening up all kinds of avenues for exploration, including where human morals, societies, political systems, and religions come from with respect to the human mind.
Although more academic, I loved this book because it provided a crucial connection between religion and sexuality. How and why do religions treat sexuality in their own unique ways? This book explores such questions and helped me to see how religion shapes our views about sexuality and vice versa.
This much-needed volume draws on a wide range of resources and some of the freshest talent in the field to examine debates about theology and sexuality. Material is drawn from a variety of ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary texts to provide readers with a broad perspective on the issues discussed.
I was the little girl who always wanted to be at church, who felt compelled to tell people about the goodness of God, but because my religious communities did not allow women to be church leaders, I never imagined this was a path I could pursue. As an undergraduate, I was captured by the academic study of the Bible and could not imagine doing anything else with my life. Now, for the past 20+ years, I have been teaching the Bible in academic and ecclesial settings and have become one of many good scholars who are making a case that the Christian God fully values men and women.
This magisterial book opened my eyes to the connections between desire and God. It also showed me that experience matters for Christian theology; it is, after all, a faith that values human reality.
From the first time I read it until now, Coakley remains one of my theological heroes.
God, Sexuality and the Self is a new venture in systematic theology. Sarah Coakley invites the reader to re-conceive the relation of sexual desire and the desire for God and - through the lens of prayer practice - to chart the intrinsic connection of this relation to a theology of the Trinity. The goal is to integrate the demanding ascetical undertaking of prayer with the recovery of lost and neglected materials from the tradition and thus to reanimate doctrinal reflection both imaginatively and spiritually. What emerges is a vision of human longing for the triune God which is both edgy…
I have been exploring the relationship between the brain and religious/spiritual phenomena (a field known as neurotheology) for the past 30 years. My neuroimaging research has helped uncover the brain processes involved with practices like meditation and prayer and a broad array of experiences. The origin of this work derives from evolutionary theories about religion and the brain that tie directly into sexuality. The books on this list greatly helped to provide the foundation for the connection between spirituality and sexuality, opening up all kinds of avenues for exploration, including where human morals, societies, political systems, and religions come from with respect to the human mind.
I loved this book because it helped me find the connection between sexual ecstasy and spiritual ecstasy. By showing how the orgasm evolved and is related to brain function, it can help us understand how other profound human experiences are connected to this most basic sexual experience.
Orgasm is one of society's most compelling, shaping forces -- and most of us probably think that we are living in its golden age. But are we? The history of the orgasm is as elusive as orgasm itself can be, for sex rarely makes the historical record. Now acclaimed British journalist Jonathan Margolis delivers the definitive history of the human orgasm, of sex for pleasure as well as conception -- from prehistory to Viagra. Most people manage just twelve minutes of orgasmic bliss per year. Some never experience it at all. Yet the urge for orgasm rules much of human…
I inherited an offbeat sense of humor from my mother, who encouraged me to create stories about outrageous subjects, like cats doing “people things.” I’m grateful to have made a living writing about such things, as well as observations about my own humorous experiences in essays, calendars, and books. I’ve always looked to other funny creatives for inspiration, and the books on my list reflect some of my favorites.
Chelsea is the cool girl I want to be best friends with, even though she intimidates the bejeezus out of me. I’ve always been a people pleaser, so I get a kick out of living vicariously through her foul mouth and “screw it” attitude toward most things.
She’s whip-smart, witty, and unafraid—a combination that sends me into fits of laughter and wonder. These essays evoke everything from childhood nostalgia to complete discomfort. Plus, I like vodka, too.
When Chelsea Handler needs to get a few things off her chest, she appeals to a higher power,vodka. This mini edition abridgement of her bestselling book, Chelsea mines her past for stories that are outrageous and one of a kind. Whether she is convincing her third-grade class that she's play Goldie Hawn's daughter in an upcoming film or pretending to honeymoon with her father to get an upgrade to first class, Chelsea has a knack for getting herself into outrageous situations.
I’m a professor of modern European history. But before that, my first loves were Star Wars, heavy metal, and comic books. When I started my degree, it only made sense to combine my love of popular culture with my academic interest in the Soviet Bloc states. Cultural history and the history of everyday life, examining the world through cars, comics, film, food, music, or whatever, provide us with a lens through which to see how people understood themselves and came to terms with the society around them, and for my work, to understand how those living under dictatorship resisted and carved out their own niche within a police state.
This is another book that drew me in with the title. I appreciated how McLellan fought the stereotype, advanced by some of her academic peers, of sexual repressiveness in East Germany. Though public discussions of sexuality were tightly controlled by the state, McLellan deftly shows that East Germany experienced a sexual revolution of its own.
Maybe not a revolution as loud and proud as in the West, challenging gender norms and sexual identities, but divorce rates soared as did birth rates outside marriage, nudism became a state-sanctioned activity, and erotica became increasingly available to the public and found in private collections.
McLellan’s narrative is fascinating, illuminating, and at times humorous, drawing on interviews, magazine publications, heterosexual and queer photography collections, films, and state-sponsored information guides and handbooks.
In the aftermath of the reunification of Germany one former dissident recalled nostalgically that under the East German regime 'we had more sex and we had more to laugh about'. Love in the Time of Communism is a fascinating history of the GDR's forgotten sexual revolution and its limits. Josie McLellan shows that under communism divorce rates soared, abortion become commonplace and the rate of births outside marriage was amongst the highest in Europe. Nudism went from ban to state-sponsored boom, and erotica became common currency in both the official economy and the black market. Public discussion of sexuality was,…
The question “Who are you?” has been central to my practice over the last 30 years. This inquiry led me to live in a silent monastery for eight years. If we aren’t who we have been conditioned to see ourselves to be, then who are we? Who are we truly? This inquiry has led to happiness in my own life, it’s led to happiness in the lives of thousands of teens who have been served through the nonprofit I founded–Peace in Schools, and it’s led to happiness with the adults who have come to my workshops and retreats.
I was deeply moved by this book because it beautifully integrates Zen Buddhism with a powerful focus on compassion and social justice. I am struck by how Manuel combines teachings on mindfulness with insights into racial and gender justice, making the book a profound guide for both personal growth and activism.
The way Manuel encourages cultivating tenderness towards ourselves and others really resonated with me, offering a deeply spiritual yet practical approach to addressing social inequalities. This book has enriched my understanding of both spiritual practice and social awareness, making it a vital read for anyone committed to a compassionate and informed approach to activism.
“What does liberation mean when I have incarnated in a particular body, with a particular shape, color, and sex?”
In The Way of Tenderness, Zen priest Zenju Earthlyn Manuel brings Buddhist philosophies of emptiness and appearance to bear on race, sexuality, and gender, using wisdom forged through personal experience and practice to rethink problems of identity and privilege. Manuel brings her own experiences as a lesbian black woman into conversation with Buddhism to square our ultimately empty nature with superficial perspectives of everyday life. Her hard-won insights reveal that dry wisdom alone is not sufficient to heal the wounds of…
