The Emerging Public Intellectual Award, hosted by www.亚洲色 and sponsored by , , , the (CCCU), the and the , is intended to recognize and foster emerging talent, those working in the Christian academy who excel in both academic and public spheres and whose work impacts the common good.
Dr. Fellipe do Vale, the 2023 EPI winner, spends his time swimming in the deep waters of the intersection between theology and gender. In his work, he explores the sensitive yet critical questions around how to understand the relationship between our embodiment, our loves and the complex social and cultural realities of our day. Do Vale is assistant professor of biblical and systematic theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He holds a PhD in religious studies from Southern Methodist University, master鈥檚 degrees in both systematic theology and church history from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a bachelor of arts in philosophy and gender studies from Calvin University.
鈥淔ellipe do Vale’s work applying Augustine’s theology to questions of gender and identity provides a serious resource for young adults as they begin to explore these questions and creates a seed bed for discussion from a distinctly Christian perspective,鈥 says Emily Crouch, program director for Shared Justice at the Center for Public Justice and selection committee member. 鈥淒o Vale is really thoughtful and careful in the way that he writes鈥揳nd speaks鈥揳nd this thoughtfulness paired with work over such a live question in our culture is a large part of the reason he is receiving the Emerging Public Intellectual Award this year.鈥
We鈥檙e not called just to love, but to order our loves and to have loves that are rightly oriented around a chiefly and supreme love for God.
Do Vale looks to find a way beyond the deadlock that exists in gender debates. He believes it is a critical part of discipleship for Christians.
鈥淚 think that gender identity is all about the organization of social goods around a sexed body in the effort to manifest an identity, and in ideal circumstances, the identities shaped by these goods would be perfectly aligned with the sexed body. Yet, we see in Scripture (Rom. 8:23, Phil. 3:21) that this is hardly ever the case, and in some way or another, our bodies are experienced as wrong due to the effects of sin and the coming redemption of the body. Gender and the sexed body must go together, must be friends, and that is a long, painful and crucial aspect of discipleship.鈥
Taking cues from Augustinian theology, do Vale finds clues about human identity from a theology of love. 鈥淗ow do we understand human identity? What does it mean to be human, not just abstractly but in the sort of messy day in, day out things that we encounter every day? Augustine鈥檚 answer is: 鈥榃e are what we love.鈥欌 But love, for Augustine, isn鈥檛 just something that is spontaneously generated, it鈥檚 also something that has a grounding in God.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not called just to love, but to order our loves and to have loves that are rightly oriented around a supreme love for God above all,鈥 do Vale continues. He contends that if gender is part of our identity and our identities are formed by what we love, and if what we love is meant to be oriented around God, we suddenly have this deep and vital connection between gender and God. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a vital contribution to the life of our discipleship. It鈥檚 not just something that God has left us in the lurches about. It鈥檚 something that we are called to care deeply about insofar as it has everything to do with how we live to God.鈥
Digging deep into these concepts, do Vale has written a book due out November 21 called Gender as Love: A Theological Account of Human Identity, Embodied Desire, and Our Social Worlds. In it, he first maps out the landscape discussing what people are saying when they talk about gender and why those answers may not be completely satisfying. He has found that there are two tasks: 鈥淲e have a descriptive task. We have to say what gender is in all of its messiness, brokenness, goodness and clarity, what gender feels like when we step outside the theology class and it hits us in the face. When we go and watch the Barbie movie or when we go to the mall 鈥 And then we can ask the normative question: Is that how it should be? Is it right that things are this way? And that鈥檚 where that ordering of loves comes in.鈥
Do Vale feels it鈥檚 important to see gender in our particular context before we determine how to respond as Christians. 鈥淲hen we encounter this world of gendered goods that鈥檚 already out there, what is our Christian task? What does wisdom, discipleship, love of neighbour or responsibility to our bodies look like? We don鈥檛 have to make gender up from the ground up 鈥 Which is both, I hope, an alleviation鈥搘e don鈥檛 have to say here鈥檚 what gender is in all times and all places鈥揵ut it鈥檚 also a much harder task because it鈥檚 the task of discipleship, it鈥檚 the task of moral agency, it鈥檚 the task of wisdom and resembling Christ in all that we do.鈥