In 2018, a new movement was born out of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) called Revoice, founded by Nate Collins, which sought to integrate queer theory into mainstream Evangelicalism. The movement began with a dissertation by Collins that is as absurd as it is unbiblical. This so-called “academic work,” titled “Virgin as Secondary Gender Identity in 1 Corinthians 7 and Its Jewish and Greco-Roman Background,” is a drastic departure from biblical interpretation and reveals the clownmanship of the seminary staff who approved it.
Nate Collins’ dissertation attempts to posit that the term “virgin” (παρθένος) in 1 Corinthians 7 functions as a secondary gender identity, drawing from contemporary gender theory and feminist studies. In other words, Collins tries to mix the clear, authoritative Word of God with feminist gender theory. The absurdity reaches its peak as Collins argues that “virgin” represents a distinct social identity, separate from the male-female binary, within the Jewish and Greco-Roman cultural context.
The dissertation, laden with pseudo-intellectual jargon and convoluted reasoning, aims to provide a new interpretive framework that supposedly resolves the tensions in traditional understandings of 1 Corinthians 7. Collins engages in an exhaustive yet pointless survey of historical texts, desperately attempting to lend credence to his thesis. The result is an incoherent mishmash of biblical eisegesis and social theory that leaves any serious student of Scripture scratching their head in disbelief.
But the true comedy here is not just in Collins’ dissertation—it’s in the fact that this piece of academic farce was approved by two “well-respected” academics—Jarvis Williams and Thomas Schreiner. These men, faculty at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, rubber-stamped this nonsense, showing just how far they’re willing to compromise when it comes to upholding sound, biblical standards.
In a recent podcast, Rosaria Butterfield explains how she was asked to be one of the readers of the dissertation by Williams and Schreiner, and how she thought it was horrific, and ultimately asked to be removed from the distribution list because of it.
”I remember reading it and saying this is one of the most godforsaken things I’ve read…as a Christian, ever,” Butterfield said. “What are you all thinking? He mishandles both the Bible and Critical Theory and Queer Theory all at the same time, which is really kind of…it’s it’s an amazing achievement. And I remember writing a letter to that professor at Southern that was the equivalent of ‘Please take me off your distribution list.’”
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