Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Dissertations (2009 -) Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Projects The orW d Became Flesh: An Exploratory Essay on Jesus’s Particularity and Nonhuman Animals Andy Alexis-Baker Marquette University Recommended Citation Alexis-Baker, Andy, "The orW d Became Flesh: An Exploratory Essay on Jesus’s Particularity and Nonhuman Animals" (2015). Dissertations (2009 -). Paper 596. http://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu/596 THE WORD BECAME FLESH: AN EXPLORATORY ESSAY ON JESUS’S PARTICULARITY AND NONHUMAN ANIMALS by Andy Alexis-Baker A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Milwaukee, Wisconsin December 2015 ABSTRACT THE WORD BECAME FLESH: AN EXPLORATORY ESSAY ON JESUS’S PARTICULARITY AND NONHUMAN ANIMALS Andy Alexis-Baker Marquette University, 2015 In this exploratory work I argue that Jesus’s particularity as a Jewish, male human is essential for developing Christian theology about nonhuman animals. The Gospel of John says that the Word became “flesh” not that the Word became “human.” By using flesh, John’s Gospel connects the Incarnation to the Jewish notion of all animals. The Gospel almost always uses flesh in a wider sense than meaning human. The Bread of Life discourse makes this explicit when Jesus compares his flesh to “meat,” offending his hearers because they see themselves as above other animals. Other animals are killable and consumable; humans are not. The notion that the Word became flesh has gained prominence in ecotheology, particularly in theologians identifying with deep Incarnation. Unless this notion is connected to Jesus’s particularity, however, there is danger in sacrificing the individual for the whole. We can see this danger in two early theologians, Athanasius and St. John of Damascus. Both of these theologians spoke of the Word becoming “matter.” Yet they ignored Jesus’s Jewishness and rarely focused on his animality, preferring instead to focus on cosmic elements. Consequently they often devalued animal life. Jesus’s Jewishness is essential to the Incarnation. His Jewishness entailed a vision of creation’s purpose in which creatures do not consume one another, but live peaceably by eating plants. This Jewish milieu also entails a grand vision for transformation where predators act peaceably with their former prey. Jesus’s maleness is also connected to his Jewishness. In the Greco-Roman context in which he lived, his circumcision marked him as less male and more animal-like. Moreover, Jesus’s Jewish heritage rejected the idea of a masculine hunter. His theological body was far more transgendered and connected to animality than the Roman ideal. Finally, Jesus’s humanity entails a kenosis of what it means to be human. By becoming-animal he stops the anthropological machine that divides humans from animals. We see this becoming animal most clearly in his identity as a lamb, but also in Revelation’s idea that he is both a lion and a lamb. His eschatological body fulfills the Jewish vision for creation-wide peace. i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Andy Alexis-Baker I would not have been able to complete this dissertation without the help and guidance of my dissertation supervisor, D. Stephen Long. He not only read numerous drafts—commenting in detail on each new submission—but generously allowed me to stay with him while I commuted to Marquette from out of state. He and Ricka Long, whom I also owe a debt of gratitude, were generous hosts to me for part of my time at Marquette and good companions through some hard times. It was while staying with the Longs that I learned what it means to be a compassionate, caring teacher and not just a talking head. I would also like to thank Therese Lysaught of Loyola University Chicago who not only persuaded me to apply to Marquette when she began teaching here, but also encouraged me to continue my work long after her time at Marquette had ended. Without her I may not have attended graduate school, nor would I now be teaching at Arrupe College of Loyola University Chicago. She has been a tireless advocate. I am grateful to be her colleague at Loyola now. Charlie Camosy of Fordham University graciously consented to be an outside reader for my work. I am grateful for his input and willingness to sit on my committee. Daniel Nussberger also provided comments on early chapter drafts, which helped me shift my focus. Finally, during the initial dissertation outline approval meeting, Julian Hills provided some sage advice to me when he told me to do my own creative work ii rather than simply report on what others are doing as I had originally planned. That remark caused me to do something more constructive than I otherwise would have done. I am glad I had the freedom to write this at Marquette University. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................... i INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 The Incarnation and Ecotheology: A Review ..........................................................3 Joseph Sittler ................................................................................................3 Jürgen Moltmann .........................................................................................5 Matthew Fox ..............................................................................................11 Sallie McFague ..........................................................................................14 Catherine Keller .........................................................................................15 Deep Incarnation ........................................................................................22 Niels Gregersen ..............................................................................22 Neil Darragh, Denis Edwards, and Elizabeth Johnson ..................26 Celia Deane-Drummond ................................................................31 Nonhuman Animals and the Incarnation: Recent Literature .................................33 Overview of this Work ...........................................................................................42 CHAPTER 1: THE WORD BECAME FLESH ................................................................46 Hermeneutics .........................................................................................................50 The Gospel of John ................................................................................................54 The Prologue: The Word Became Flesh ....................................................54 The Λόγος Rooted in Hebrew Scriptures ......................................55 A Narrative Reading ..................................................................................61 “Flesh” Rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures ......................................65 Sinful Flesh ....................................................................................69 iv John 3: Flesh and Spirit .............................................................................74 John 6: Eating Jesus’s Flesh ......................................................................75 John 17: All flesh .......................................................................................79 1 John 4:2 ...............................................................................................................81 2 John 7 ..................................................................................................................87 1 Timothy 3:16 .......................................................................................................88 1 Peter 3:18 and 4:1 ...............................................................................................90 Excursus: 1 Corinthian 15:38–41 ...........................................................................94 Conclusion .............................................................................................................95 CHAPTER 2: THE WORD BECAME MATTER ............................................................97 The Word Became Flesh: Early Christian Uses ....................................................98 Gnostic Views of the Incarnation ............................................................102 The Word Made Flesh: Body, Matter, and Particularity .....................................107 Athanasius ................................................................................................107 Athanasius’s Theology of Creation .............................................108 The Matter of Christology ...........................................................116 Embodied Christology .................................................................121 Life of St. Antony and Following Christ .......................................127 The Word Becomes Matter: Christian Philosophy and an Anti-Judaism ............134 John of Damascus ....................................................................................134 First Treatise ................................................................................137 Second Treatise ............................................................................142 Third Treatise ...............................................................................145 v John’s Eschatological Vision .......................................................146