Date of Award

6-19-2024

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Theology

First Advisor

Colby Dickinson

Abstract

This dissertation asserts the following claim: Christ is a dildo. This project brings Paul B. Preciado into conversations with contemporary philosophies of religion and interrogates a hegemonic Christian theological political matrix. This project articulates a hermeneutic of christotechtonics, which studies appearance, formation, and utilization of Christ. This project is twofold. It begins with a transdisciplinary exploration that entangles queer and trans theories, religious studies, secular studies, and philosophy of religion to position reading queer and trans theories as forms of counter political theologies. The work then transitions into dildonic prostheticity in theological formulation. The 2019 Vatican document “Male and Female He Created Them” forms the textual case study of this project. A hermeneutic of christotechtonics uncovers the white cisgender heteropatriarchal foundations of this document. “Male and Female” hinges upon a lone reference to Christ which reverberates through the document. In this way, Christ is used to modify the sexual subject. This project ends with a performance analysis of “Personal Jesus” performed by drag artist Louisianna Purchase. This transgressive performance highlights a heuristic edge of christotechtonics. This enacts an inelegant, but potent, short-circuiting of theology; this challenges not only our understanding of how Christ has functioned in relation to intentionally exploited peoples, but also indicts theology for its complicity in such violence.

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