Jayme R. Reaves, David Tombs and Rocío Figueroa (eds), When Did We See You Naked? Jesus as a Victim of Sexual Abuse (London: SCM Press, 2021).
Was the stripping and exposure of Jesus a form of sexual abuse? If so, why does such a reading of Jesus' suffering matter? Timely and provocative "When did we see you naked?" presents the arguments for reading Christ as an abuse victim, as well as exploring how the position might be critiqued, and what implications and applications it might offer to the Church. The collection includes an impressively diverse international field of contributors drawn from a range of disciplines.
Content warning
This book includes attention to sexual violence and many of the chapters are written by survivors.
What people are saying
‘This remarkable collection of essays reveals how profoundly the authors have been affected by the idea of Jesus as a victim of sexual abuse… It is a tribute to an idea whose time has come.’
— Prof. Linda Woodhead, University of Lancaster, UK
———————————
‘This volume takes forward a new conversation on the crucified Jesus—a political prisoner sentenced to death by the powers that be and subjected to sexual abuse during the process of captivity and execution.’
— Prof. Fernando F. Segovia, Vanderbilt Divinity School, USA
———————————
‘The book focuses unflinchingly on a distressing detail present in the biblical text of the New Testament gospels—namely the aggressive public stripping of Jesus during his prolonged torture. It calls this what it is: sexual abuse… This book is a brave book. It is brave, because it shines a light not only on sexual abuse itself, but on the abuse that derives from denial of sexual abuse and from the stigma wrongly and damagingly attached to sexual abuse. ’ (Read more)
— Prof. Johanna Stiebert, University of Leeds, UK
———————————
‘This book brings together an important group of scholars who have noticed something that we should all pay attention to.’
— Prof. John Swinton, University of Aberdeen, UK
———————————
‘This startling book provides an array of voices, theological disciplines, themes and insights into the significance of human bodies and how they are treated…This book is simply a must read!’
— Prof. Anthony Reddie, University of Oxford, UK
———————————
‘The volume will certainly inspire courageous and challenging conversations which are likely to unravel normative assumptions about the sacred and the sexual.’
— Prof. Sarojini Nadar, University of Western Cape, South Africa
———————————
‘This volume represents an unparalleled collection of essays on Jesus’s sexual abuse and its significance to communities of Christians both ancient and modern’
— Prof. Susannah Larry, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, USA
———————————
‘Twenty-one authors from different corners of life invite readers to pause, and again think through details of scriptures and traditions along with the effects of, and potentials in, how we read and understand these details.’
— Dr Jione Havea, Trinity Theological College, Aotearoa New Zealand
———————————
‘reading this book isn’t easy—but it is well worth engaging for that very reason.’
— Prof. Natalie Wigg-Stevenson, Emmanuel College, Victoria University, Canada
———————————
‘The sensitivity with which this book spoke about real survivor issues was just so touching.’ (Read more)
— Rebecca, Deconstructing Church, UK
———————————
‘This book asks why we have traditionally covered the nakedness of Christ, ignoring the sexual humiliation, valorizing the manly suffering of Jesus. Does our inability to recognize his naked, sexually abused body add to our inability to recognize the sexual abuse within our churches and to support those who are its victims?’
— Dr. Emma Percy, University of Aberdeen, UK
———————————
‘The book is in many ways an attempt to locate any discussion of the crucifixion in the recent move to have trauma informed theology.’
— Hugh Foy, Open House Scotland, UK
———————————
‘When Did We See You Naked? powerfully reminds us that our response to Jesus is inextricably linked with our response to contemporary survivors of sexual violence. Wherever two or three are gathered together in the name of Jesus, there is a survivor of sexual abuse in the midst of them. This volume thoughtfully and carefully examines the ramifications of that truth.’ (Read more)
— Carolyn Mackie, Toronto School of Theology, Canada
———————————