Will Moore

Below, you will find details of Will’s first book, published in 2022 with SCM Press, which was written to introduce academic studies of the Bible and masculinities to a popular Christian audience. Challenging the toxicity of particular masculinities, in the biblical and contemporary worlds, this book opens up a raw, authentic, and queerer way to understand biblical men for Christian discipleship today. All details are correct for the time of publication, with added reviews below.

Boys Will Be Boys, and Other Myths: Unravelling Biblical Masculinities

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Throughout history, we have exalted and theologised about men like Adam or David to the point where we have become oblivious to the fact that they are far from perfect role models for Christian manhood. Failing to read scripture properly, we have used it to shape a distorted understanding of masculinity. Stretching from issues of violence, emotional and sexual abuse, the desire for power, homophobia, and the suppression of emotions, Will Moore draws from scholarship, personal stories, and popular culture to offer an honest and accessible insight into the toxic myths which frame how we read scripture. Only when we expose these myths, he argues, can we start to see the authentic men staring straight back at us from the pages of our bibles, and be able to reshape the way in which we produce Christian men today, tackling the violence that is being done by men to themselves and others.

Will Moore is currently training for priesthood in the Church of England at Westcott House in Cambridge, undertaking study and research within the Cambridge Theological Federation. Prior to this, he studied for degrees in theology and biblical studies at Cardiff University.

Endorsements:

“The cult of masculinity in certain parts of the global church has resulted in much personal, familial and structural harm. Will Moore is one of the important voices in the emerging generation of British pastor theologians. For both of these reasons, the argument he presents in this his first book, Boys Will Be Boys, deserves careful attention and a wide audience.”

— Helen Paynter, Director of the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence, Bristol.

“In this open, accessible book, Will Moore aims to shed light on the ways in which portrayals of men in the Bible have fed into accounts of masculinity in present-day church and society. Rich with examples from contemporary media and recent events, the book does not assume familiarity with scholarly literature in either biblical studies or critical masculinity studies, and will thus be of service to readers newer to these areas. Moore’s self-reflexive openness to change and challenge invites the same of those who read his work.”

— Susannah Cornwall, Professor of Constructive Theologies, University of Exeter.

“This is a deeply personal and honest piece of theological work engaging with voices from the Hebrew Prophets to Womanist Scholars, to Christian Rappers such as Guvna B! What Will Moore has done with success is draw our attention to masculinity, and it is this attention that is the beginning of what will set men, and all people free. Calling us to be attentive to our own complicity in violence and power, our reluctance to intimacy, gentleness and openness as men, Will Moore enables us to plumb the depths of masculinity, and to do so with an attentiveness both to ourselves and to our God. A much needed piece of writing!”

— Jarel Robinson-Brown, Author of Black, Gay, British, Christian, Queer: The Church and the Famine of Grace

Reviews since publication:

“‘[Will Moore’s] debunking of the myth of ‘biblical masculinity’ and uncovering of a wealth of masculinities in the biblical library is such a helpful resource, for students, for Christians – among the many things I admire in this book is how [Will] managed to break down quite theoretic discussions to make them fruitful for a broader audience.” – from Hanna Reichel, Associate Professor of Reformed Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary.

“The book has a double focus, as it were, since on the one hand the author explores ‘Christian manhood’ through readings of eight characters in the Western Christian Bible, five of them from Hebrew Scripture, through Christian/male/‘scriptural’ eyes. This will be illuminating for those who find it inconceivable that anyone should or could find resources in the way the author so expertly critiques, with apt indications of the result – ‘Men are built better’, ‘Men on top’, ‘Violence is manly’, ‘Men know best’ – on Adam, Moses, David and Job respectively, and with ‘unmasculine’ Jeremiah. On the other hand, a significant question arises about what understanding of God is at stake in each case. This question comes to the fore especially in ‘Men are unbeatable: Jesus’ (pp. 131–59), which is not only a fast-track introduction to each of the ‘masculinities’ of the four canonical Gospels (a refreshing take on the texts, leading to ‘Jesus in drag’ and ‘Jesus and #MeToo’), but also edges the reader to have the confidence that ‘gender should not matter to us, because the way we act out our performative gender does not matter to God’ (p. 155).” – from a review by Professor Ann Loades in Theology 126.2 (2023).

“I recommend this book as a helpful resource in exploring a more biblical masculinity and a timely reminder that – in Will’s own words – ‘we cannot use the Bible as an instruction manual on gender.’ I enter the caveat that you will not agree with him on everything – you may even be offended at times! But it’s well worth a read.” – from a review by Steve Moses, from All Saints Loughborough Book Club.

“In our opinion, this is a fundamental book on the path of deconstruction of hegemonic masculinity in which many men are committed, especially and with greater value for the public of the RIBLA, in the field of religion, biblical studies and theological reflection, where there is still more good will than significant progress. The bravery and honesty with which Moore approaches the burning issues of our time, with fidelity to the tradition of faith in which he has been forged as a person, makes more sense to interpret the conclusion as one of the best parts of the book thanks to its pastoral, personal and close tone. Moore asserts that the Bible is not a manual on gender issues. Closing the open windows of what he had problematized before, he affirms that “God does not have a gender identity” (p. 197), thereby giving us the hope of a divinity that can continue to be inspiration, breath, a horizon that cannot be defined or trapped by Western rationality, by the machismo of our days or by the finite theological ideas of a theology that is still very masculinized and installed in the contemporary patriarchal system.” – from a review by the Programme of Masculinities for Revista de Interpretación Bíblica Latinoamericana (RIBLA), 91 (2023). Translated from original Spanish.