Sex and Gender in Christ and in the Eschaton, according to Paul
Gal 3:27-28
As many of you as were baptized into
Christ have clothed yourselves with
Christ. 28 There is no longer Jew or
Greek, there is no longer slave or free,
there is no longer male and female; for
all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
Gen 1:27
27 So God created humankind in his
image, in the image of God he created
them; male and female he created
them.
Gen 2:7
7 then the LORD God formed the man
of dust from the ground and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life, and
the man became a living being (LXX
psychen zosan).
Gen 2:21-23
21 So the LORD God caused a deep
sleep to fall upon the man, and he
slept; then he took one of his ribs and
closed up its place with flesh. 22 And
the rib that the LORD God had taken
from the man he made into a woman
and brought her to the man. 23 Then
the man said, "This at last is bone of
my bones and flesh of my flesh; this
one shall be called Woman, for out of
Man this one was taken."
1 Cor 11:3-16
3 But I want you to understand that
Christ is the head of every man, and
the husband is the head of his wife,
and God is the head of Christ. 4 Any
man who prays or prophesies with
something on his head disgraces his
head, 5 but any woman who prays or
prophesies with her head unveiled
disgraces her head-- it is one and the
same thing as having her head
shaved. 6 For if a woman will not veil
herself, then she should cut off her
hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman
to have her hair cut off or to be shaved,
she should wear a veil. 7 For a man
ought not to have his head veiled,
since he is the image and reflection of
God; but woman is the reflection of
man. 8 Indeed, man was not made
from woman, but woman from man. 9
Neither was man created for the sake
of woman, but woman for the sake of
man. 10 For this reason a woman ought
to have a symbol of authority on her
head, because of the angels. 11
Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not
independent of man or man
independent of woman. 12 For just as
woman came from man, so man
comes through woman; but all things
come from God. 13 Judge for
yourselves: is it proper for a woman to
pray to God with her head unveiled? 14
Does not nature itself teach you that if
a man wears long hair, it is degrading
to him, 15 but if a woman has long hair,
it is her glory? For her hair is given to
her for a covering. 16 But if anyone is
disposed to be contentious-- we have
no such custom, nor do the churches
of God.
1 Cor 15:35-53
35 But someone will ask, "How are the
dead raised? With what kind of body
do they come?" 36 Fool! What you sow
does not come to life unless it dies. 37
And as for what you sow, you do not
sow the body that is to be, but a bare
seed, perhaps of wheat or of some
other grain. 38 But God gives it a body
as he has chosen, and to each kind of
seed its own body. 39 Not all flesh is
alike, but there is one flesh for human
beings, another for animals, another
for birds, and another for fish. 40 There
are both heavenly bodies and earthly
bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is
one thing, and that of the earthly is
another. 41 There is one glory of the
sun, and another glory of the moon,
and another glory of the stars; indeed,
star differs from star in glory.
42 So it is with the resurrection of the
dead. What is sown is perishable, what
is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown
in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is
sown in weakness, it is raised in
power. 44 It is sown a natural body
(soma psychikon), it is raised a
spiritual body (soma pneumatikon). If
there is a natural body, there is also a
spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, "The
first man, Adam, became a living being
(psychen zosan)"; the last Adam
became a life-giving spirit (pneuma). 46
But it is not the spiritual that is first, but
the natural, and then the spiritual. 47
The first man was from the earth, a
man of dust; the second man is from
heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so
are those who are of the dust; and as
is the man of heaven, so are those who
are of heaven. 49 Just as we have
borne the image of the man of dust, we
will also bear the image of the man of
heaven.
50 What I am saying, brothers and
sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot
inherit the kingdom of God, nor does
the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51 Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We
will not all die, but we will all be
changed, 52 in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound, and the
dead will be raised imperishable, and
we will be changed. 53 For this
perishable body must put on
imperishability, and this mortal body
must put on immortality. NRSV
modified