"Perhaps what I appreciate most about Megan is the way she thoughtfully and gracefully engages those with whom she disagrees. She has a special gift for making a killer argument without sacrificing civility."
- Rachel Held Evans | New York Times, Best-Selling Author
Megan holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from Marquette University with a concentration in sex, gender, and sexuality; an M.A. in Theology and an M.A. in Biblical Languages from Gordon-Conwell Seminary, and a B.A. in Philosophy and Religion from Toccoa Falls College. She served as a Research Associate with the Center for Mind and Culture, Boston, MA and a Visiting Researcher at Boston University’s School of Theology.
BOOKS
SEX DIFFERENCE IN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY: Male, female, and intersex in the image of God
How different are men and women? When does it matter to us -- or to God? Are male and female the only two options? What about those caught in the middle? In Sex Difference in Christian Theology, Megan DeFranza explores such questions in light of the Bible, theology, and science.
Many Christians, entrenched in culture wars over sexual ethics, either ignore the existence of intersex persons or avoid the inherent challenges they bring to the assumption that everybody is born after the pattern of either Adam or Eve. DeFranza argues that all people are made in the image of God -- male, female, and intersex -- and that we must listen to and learn from the voices of intersex people among us.
Understanding Transgender Identities: Four Views
BY Megan K. DeFranza, Justin Sabia-Tanis, Owen Strachan, Mark A. Yarhouse and Julia Sadusky
Edited by Paul Rhodes Eddy and James K. Beilby
“One of the most pressing issues facing the evangelical church today … This book offers a full-scale dialogue on transgender identities from across the Christian theological spectrum. It brings together contributors with expertise and platforms in the study of transgender identities to articulate and defend differing perspectives on this contested topic. The authors respond to one another's views in a respectful manner, modeling thoughtful dialogue around a controversial theological issue. The book helps readers understand the spectrum of views among Christians and enables Christian communities to establish a context where conversations can safely be held.”
two views on homosexuality, the bible and the church
by Megan DeFranza, WEsley Hill, Stephen HOlmes and William Loader. Edited by Preston Sprinkle
Unique among most debates on homosexuality, this book presents a constructive dialogue... Even as these scholars articulate pointed arguments for their position with academic rigor and depth, they do so cordially, clearly, and compassionately, without demeaning the other.
The main essays are followed by insightful responses and rejoinders... Holding to a high view of Scripture, a commitment to the gospel and the church, and a love for people—especially those most affected by this topic—the contributors wrestle deeply with the Bible and theology, especially the prohibition texts, the role of procreation, gender complementarity, and pastoral accommodation.
Scot McKnight calls it an "irreplacable volume."
INTERSEX, THEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE | CHAPTER WRITTEN BY MEGAN DEFRANZA
Intersex bodies have been figured as troubling by doctors, parents, religious institutions and society at large. In this book, scholars draw on constructive and pastoral theologies, biblical studies, and sociology suggesting intersex's capacity to 'trouble' is positive, challenging unquestioned norms and assumptions in religion and beyond.
Megan's chapter, "Virtuous Eunuchs: Troubling Conservative and Queer Readings of Intersex and the Bible," locates intersex people in the Bible and early Christian history. Jews and early Christians were familiar with differences of sex development and found ways to make space in their communities for those who do not fit the pattern of Adam or Eve. At the same time, that they upheld traditional concerns for sexual ethics.
EVANGELICAL POSTCOLONIAL CONVERSATIONS | CHAPTER WRITTEN BY MEGAN DEFRANZA
Colonialism involves more than just territorial domination. It also creates cultural space that silences and disenfranchises those who do not hold power. Postcolonialism challenges imbalances of power in the ways we speak, think, and act (praxis), disrupting forms of domination and empowering the marginalized to be agents of transformation.
"The conversation begins, in part one, with an interrogation of evangelical missions and the grand narratives that articulate/d and legitimate/d the missionary enterprise. Part two then exposes the racial and national ideologies that configured the grand narratives. As steps toward rectifying these and other colonial/missional metanarratives, the authors in part three revision evangelical theology in a postcolonial key, and those in part four revision evangelical practices and praxis." (p. 27).
Megan and her co-author John R. Franke contributed "Recovering the Spirit of Pentecost: Canon and Catholicity in Postcolonial Perspective."
PODCASTS
Podcast interview with kara Haug, Reframing Our Stories
FORTHCOMING
2024 or 2025 “Intersex Interpretation” in A Handbook of Post-Conservative Theological Interpretation
JOURNALS
2020 K. J. Stockly, S. Arel, M. K. DeFranza, D. Ruck, L. Matthews, and W. Wildman, “Women-Centered Rituals and Levels of Domestic Violence: A Cross-Cultural Examination of Ritual as a Signaling and Solidarity-Building Strategy”, Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 95–123, (Aug. 2020).
2018 with Stephanie N. Arel, and Kate Stockly, edited a special issue of the academic journal Theology & Sexuality (online May 7, 2018). Co-authored “Sex on the margins: centering intersex, transgender, and sexually fluid voices in religious and scientific discourse,” Theology & Sexuality (online May 7, 2018). DOI: 10.1080/13558358.2018.1463636
2016 “Gender is Not a Virtue,” Perspectives: A Journal of Reformed Thought (Sept./Oct., 2016).
2013 “Addressing Intersex in Conservative Christian Contexts: The Use and Limitation of Eunuchs,” Intersex, Theology and the Bible Conference, Lincoln Theological Institute, University of Manchester, UK, March, 11-12.
2012 “John A. Knight’s Theology of Imago Dei: Anthropological and Eschatological Considerations,” The John A. Knight Bible and Theology Conference: Thy Kingdom Come (Mount Vernon Nazarene University, 2012): 146-158.
2011 “Sexuality and the Image of God: Dangers in Evangelical and Roman Catholic Theologies of the Body,” Africanus Journal 3, no. 1 (April 2011): 16-25.
2011 “The Proverbs 31 ‘Woman of Strength’: An Argument for a Primary Sense Translation,” Priscilla Papers 25, no. 1 (Spring 2011): 21-25.
2009 “The Transformation of Deception: Understanding the Portrait of Eve in the Apocalypse of Abraham, Chapter 23,” Priscilla Papers 23, no. 2 (Spring 2009): 21-28.
SPEAKING
2020 Panelist with Elizabeth Reis and Kimberly Zieselman on the medical management of intersex history and present. American Society for the study of Bioethics and the Humanities. Pittsburgh, PA, Oct. 26, 2020.
2018 Main Stage Panelist and workshop presenter, Q Christian Fellowship, annual conference, Denver, CO, Jan. 20-21.
2018 Key Note Speaker and Panelist, Los Angeles Theology Conference, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA, Jan. 18-19.
2017 Presenter with Lianne Simon, “Intersex and Faith” at the annual support group meeting of the Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome Differences of Sex Development group (AISDSD.org) in Phoenix, AZ, July 13-16.
2017 Organizer and co-host of “Sex on the Margins: Navigating Religious, Social, and Natural Scientific Models of Sex Differences,” conference at Boston University, Feb. 24-26.
2015 Panelist on Intersex, Theology, and the Bible, LGBTI/Queer Hermeneutics Section, Society of Biblical Literature, Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA, Nov. 22.
2013 One of nine (English-speaking) scholars of intersex and religion from around the globe invited to participate in the Intersex, Theology and the Bible Conference, Lincoln Theological Institute, University of Manchester, UK, March, 11-12.
2011 “Reconsidering the Medical Management of Intersex,” The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity, Annual Conference, Deerfield, IL, July 14-16.
GRANTS
2018-2019 Awarded Cairn Project Grant by the Bangor Theological Seminary Center to create a video curriculum: Scripture and the New Science of Gender: Understanding Complexity, Navigating Conflict, Equipping the Church. A 6-week video curriculum.
2014-2015 Invited Participant, “Practical Theodicy: Analytic Theology and the Problem of Existential Suffering,” an Analytic Theology Cluster Group funded by a grant from The Center for Philosophy of Religion at Notre Dame, Fall-Spring.