A junior research fellow who said that Jesus Christ had a “trans body” in his work has been backed by a dean at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. The Dean of Trinity College, Dr. Michael Banner, came out in support of junior research fellow Joshua Heath, who presented Renaissance and Medieval artworks of the crucifixion displaying a side wound that he equated to a vagina in front of the crowd.
The assembly was in a state of shock and crying following the sermon. The words clearly offended the worshippers, and some of them started crying as soon as they heard the ‘offensive’ statements.
During the talk, Joshua exhibited three works of art to support his points, including the well-known Pieta by Jean Malouel from the year 1400, in which he highlighted Jesus’s side wound and blood pouring into his groin. He also said that this side wound was isolated and takes on a decidedly vaginal appearance in Bonne of Luxembourg’s Prayer Book from the 14th century, which was read by worshipers.
The sermon ended with the following statements, according to The Telegraph, “In Christ’s simultaneously masculine and feminine body in these works, if the body of Christ as these works suggest the body of all bodies, then his body is also the trans body.”
The Dean received letters of protest from several worshipers who left the service in tears and were clearly upset with this claim. Worshippers found the sermon to be extremely distasteful, and the fact that it was delivered in front of youngsters just made them feel worse. However, the Dean disagreed, claiming that these representations of Jesus Christ in male and female bodies have made it easier to discuss trans concerns.
In a complaint letter to Dr Banner, a congregation member who preferred to remain anonymous wrote, “I left the service in tears. You offered to speak with me afterward, but I was too distressed. I am contemptuous of the idea that by cutting a hole in a man, through which he can be penetrated, he can become a woman.”
“I am especially contemptuous of such imagery when it is applied to our Lord, from the pulpit, at Evensong. I am contemptuous of the notion that we should be invited to contemplate the martyrdom of a ‘trans Christ.’ a new heresy for our age,” he stated.
