Abstract
Christian theology has historically constructed a “normative” human body: white and male. Theological conclusions, then, are filtered through this systematic way of viewing the world, invariably excluding bodies that do not conform. Pentecostal theology, I argue, has the resources to transgress these myopic confines imposed on the body, freeing the body through sound and movement rather than adhering to static categorization. Thus, I begin by exploring U.S. history around the body, demonstrating how specific bodies have been strategically opposed and denigrated for the sake of maintaining “white” supremacy. Next, I use Paul Tillich as a case study for the theology’s “normative” body, enabling me to enter my central argument: Pentecostal theology is able to reconsider, reconstitute, and reform the “normative” body, removing arbitrary parameters and categories. The body, I contend, is movement and sound that refuses the oppressive forces that try to contain through classification and subjugation.
