Andrew Lloyd Webber, often with his lyricist partner Sir Tim Rice, has written some of the most beautiful and compelling musicals of our time, including Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Evita and, the most controversial, Jesus Christ Superstar.
There were many concerns greeting its release in 1971. It emphasized, almost exclusively, the humanity of Jesus at the expense of His divinity. There was no resurrection following His death on the cross. As Rice noted at the time, “It happens that we don’t see Christ as God but simply the right man at the right time at the right place.”
The latest production by the Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group makes such concerns seem almost tame. In a new production of the musical, a non-binary actor will assume the role of Jesus while Judas Iscariot will be played by a woman. The 12 apostles will be played by female or non-binary performers. The goal is to present the world’s first gender-neutral production of the famed rock opera.
The goal, says creative producer Lew Forman, is to reinvent the story of Jesus’ final days for a modern audience. “Jesus is remembered as being a man, but who are we to decide? None of us were around 2,000 years ago.”
It’s hard to know where to begin, but let’s give it a try.
First, let’s dismiss the historically ridiculous statement that the historical figure Jesus is only “remembered” as being a man and that we don’t know for certain since we were not there to see for our ourselves.
Such historical nihilism is simple ignorance. Jesus is one of the most documented figures in all of human history. You find Him listed in the writings of Thallus, who was a first-century Greek writer; Pliny the Younger; the Roman historians Tacitus and Suetonius; as well as the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. Of course, the most detailed record is found in the Bible, which gives not one, but four independent, eyewitness biographical accounts, written by the men Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
So, we not only know that Jesus existed, but we also know that He existed as a first century Jewish man.
Second, the idea of stripping Jesus of His divinity is as much of an affront to the Jesus of the Christian faith now as it was when the musical first debuted.
But the non-binary nature of the musical is less offensive than it is telling. We live in a day where ultimate moral authority is self-generated. As the French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once wrote, “Man is the being whose project is to be God.” In reviewing the past 500 years of Western cultural life, Jacques Barzun concluded that one of the great themes is “emancipation,” the desire for independence from all authority. Barzun concludes that for the modern era, it is perhaps the most characteristic cultural theme of all.
In my upcoming book, Hybrid Church, I refer to this as the value of “autonomous individualism” which maintains that each person is independent in terms of destiny and accountability. Ultimate moral authority is self-generated. In the end, we answer to no one but ourselves, for we are truly on our own. Our choices are ours alone, determined by our personal pleasure and not by any higher moral authority. Intriguingly, Thomas Oden noted that this is the force behind the idea of heresy. The “key to hairesis (root word for ‘heresy’) is the notion of choice—choosing for oneself, over against the apostolic tradition.”
So, of course Jesus is being cast as non-binary. People will feel free to cast Him as anything they want, for in our day, He is theirs to cast. After all, they are their own god, and they will make anything and everything in their own image.
Including God Himself.
James Emery White
Sources
Marc Horne, “Non-Binary Jesus Christ Is a New Sort of Superstar,” The Times UK, January 23, 2023, read online.
“Jesus Christ Superstar,” Wikipedia, read online.
James Emery White, Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age (Zondervan), pre-order on Amazon.
Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism and Human Emotions
Jacques Barzun, From Dawn to Decadence: 1500 to the Present: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life.
Thomas Oden, After Modernity... What?
About the Author
James Emery White is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, NC, and a former professor of theology and culture at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he also served as their fourth president. His forthcoming book, Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age, is now available for pre-order on Amazon. To enjoy a free subscription to the Church & Culture blog, visit churchandculture.org, where you can view past blogs in our archive, read the latest church and culture news from around the world, and listen to the Church & Culture Podcast. Follow Dr. White on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @JamesEmeryWhite.
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.
James Emery White is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, NC, and a former professor of theology and culture at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he also served as their fourth president. His latest book, Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age, is now available on Amazon or from your favorite bookseller. To enjoy a free subscription to the Church & Culture blog, visit churchandculture.org where you can view past blogs in our archive, read the latest church and culture news from around the world, and listen to the Church & Culture Podcast. Follow Dr. White on X, Facebook and Instagram at @JamesEmeryWhite.
