Editing Epistle to the Galatians (section)

=== Sexuality and gender ===
[[Galatians 3:28]] says, "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus."<ref>Gal. 3:28 NRSV</ref> According to Norbert Baumert, Galatians 3:28 is Paul's declaration that one can be in relationship with Jesus no matter their gender. Judith Gundry-Volf argues for a more general approach, stating that one's gender does not provide any benefit or burden. Pamela Eisenbaum argues that Paul was exhorting his readers to be mindful in changing conduct in relationships that involved people of different status. Ben Witherington argues that Paul is combatting the position espoused by opponents who were attempting to influence Paul's community to return to the patriarchal standards held by the majority culture.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tolmie|first=D. F.|date=2014-07-02|title=Tendencies in the interpretation of Galatians 3:28 since 1990|journal= Acta Theologica|volume=33|issue=2|pages=108–09|doi= 10.4314/actat.v33i2s.6 |issn=1015-8758|doi-access=free}}</ref>

There are two different interpretations within the modern scholarship regarding the meaning and function of Paul's statement that "there is no longer male and female". The first interpretation states that Paul's words eliminate the biological differences between males and females and thus calls gender roles into question. Nancy Bedford says that this does not mean that there is no distinction between males and females; instead, it means that there is no room for gender hierarchy in the gospel.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|last=Bedford | first = Nancy Elizabeth|title=Galatians |year=2016|isbn=978-0-664-23271-9 |pages=101–2| publisher = Presbyterian Publishing Corporation|oclc=937059676}}</ref> The second interpretation, outlined by Jeremy Punt, argues that "there is no longer [...] male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" refers only to the universality of salvation through Christ—which does not discriminate ethnicity, social status or gender—but is not intended to communicate any ideology of gender equality.<ref name="PostColonial">{{Cite journal|last=Punt|first=Jeremy|date= 2010 |title=Power and Liminality, Sex and Gender, and Gal 3:28: A Postcolonial, Queer Reading of an Influential Text |journal= Neotestamentica |volume=44|issue=1|pages= 161–62}}</ref> Punt contends that here, Paul's intention was to fix social conflicts rather than to alter gender norms; by stating the importance of becoming one in Christ, Paul tries to give his society a new identity (i.e., the identity "in Christ"), thereby putatively encouraging concord between believers—without thence advocating any substantive changes to the role or rights of women.<ref name="PostColonial" />