Additional information
| Author Name | Jean-Claude Larchet |
|---|---|
| Translator | Archibald Andrew Torrance |
| Publisher | |
| Imprint | |
| Language | English |
| Pages | 256 |
| Book Dimensions | 9 x 6 ins |
| Paperback ISBN | 9781942699576 |
| eBook ISBN | 9781942699613 |
Description
The explosion of transgender ideology in the last decade has left many Christians bewildered and at a loss as to how to respond. As the tenets of this movement become entrenched in Western society, an acute need arises for a pastoral response that is rooted in an Orthodox understanding of the human person to provide priests, parents, and other counselors with tools to address this phenomenon.
Orthodox Christian scholar Dr Jean-Claude Larchet seeks to answer the claims of gender theory with a scriptural and patristic vision of man as God created him, for communion with Him. The author shows that Christianity proposes a transfiguration of gender that goes beyond the limits of both fallen human nature and vacillating social norms.
Examining the history of gender theory and its mass promotion, Dr Larchet untangles the complex web of this ideology. He shows that Christianity has always upheld the equality of the sexes and promoted their harmonious union. It does so by advocating a mutual struggle against the passions, the true source of all conflicts between men and women, and the practice of virtues common to both. Such a life allows for a spiritual transcendence that nevertheless preserves difference, a source of mutual enrichment.
A translation from the French original, Renewing Gender represents the first major work systematically addressing gender theory from an Orthodox perspective for an English-speaking audience.
Contents
Introduction
Part I: Gender Theory And Associated Ideas In The Modern World —A Critical Analysis.
Chapter 1— The Definition And Roots Of Gender Theory
Definition
Origins and Development of Gender Theory
Chapter 2—The Promotion Of Gender Theory In The Modern World: Its Supports, Its Rationale, Its Forms.
Chapter 3—Criticisms Of Gender Theory
The First Reason for Criticism: Gender Theory’s Desire to Dominate
An Intellectual Construct Divorced from Reality
The Basic Error: Uniquely Cultural with Nature Excluded
The Denial of the Body as a Concrete Fact so as to Change or Deny It
The Refusal to See That Natural Factors Are at the Root of the Reality of Sexes and Their Difference
Cultural Factors and Individual Choice Do Not Destroy Sexuation Though They May Modulate in Some Cases Unchanging Facts
The Physiological and Psychological Dangers of Gender Confusion: Another Kind of “Gender Troubles” Extrapolating from Pathological or Deviant Cases to Generalize and Normalize Them
Ambiguous Cases Confirm the Reality of Two Different Sexes The Schizophrenic Character of Gender Theory
Rejection of the Difference and Narcissism
Hatred of the Male in the Radical Feminism Which Promotes Gender Theory
The Consequences for Feminine Sexuality and Procreation of Rejecting Heterosexuality, Seen as a Means of Masculine Domination
Confusing Difference with Inequality and Discrimination, and Equality with Sameness and Lack of Difference
A False Idea of Freedom
Part II: Gender And Its Transfiguration In Christian Anthropology And Spirituality
Chapter 4—Christianity And Gender Theory
Faced with Chaos, Preserve the Basic Values of Christianity The Misconceptions of Christian Teachings
The Legitimate Aims of Gender Theory
Points of Contact between Christianity and Gender Theory and Their Limits
Chapter 5—The Creation Of Man And Woman In The Image Of God.
Chapter 6—The Divine Plan For The Harmonious Synergy Of Man And Woman
Chapter 7—Sin And The Fall
The Respective Roles of Man and Woman in the Process and Act of Sin
The Effects of Sin on Sexuality
The Consequences of Sin on the Relations between Man and Woman
Original Nature and Fallen Nature
Chapter 8—The Recapitulation And Reunification Of Genders In Christ
Chapter 9—The Transfiguration Of Gender In The World To Come.
Chapter 10—The Transfiguration Of Gender In Christian Spirituality
The Work of Reunification
Continence, Chastity and the Love of Neighbor (Agape):
Three Paths to the Ordering of Relations between Persons of Different Genders
Chapter 11—The Transfiguration Of Gender In Married Life
The Foundations of Christian Marriage
The Status of Husband and Wife in Marriage Transfiguring Gender through Common Ascesis
Chapter 12 — The Status Of Woman In Christianity
The Asymmetry of Man and Woman in the Epistles of St Paul and of St Peter, and in the Writings of the Church Fathers
The Relativization of This Asymmetric Concept
The Christian Revolution
Chapter 13—The Transfiguration Of Gender In Monasticism
Chapter 14 — A Kind Of Gender Fluidity As The Fruit Of Christian Spirituality
Manliness as an Ideal for Woman
The Feminization of the Christian Male
The Transfiguration of Gender in the Practice of Shared Virtues
Notes
Bibliography
Index
