Feminism | Posted by Katherine C on 04/6/2010
Being A Christian Feminist
"Christa Crucifix"
I was raised by feminists- my mother, father, and both grandparents made sure I knew that being a girl was something to be cherished. When I was very small, we worshipped at home, led by my grandfather, a pastor, so as a young child I was never exposed to mainstream Protestant ideology. I remember my mother and grandmother going through our collections of children’s Bible stories, crossing out all the masculine pronouns and replacing them with gender-neutral or feminine ones. I never imagined God as male: as a little girl, I envisioned Her as a regal, beautiful princess; as I grew up, She matured into a wise old matriarch.
When I was seven, we moved away from my grandparents and joined a “real” church, and I quickly became disillusioned as to the mainstream gender recognition of God. He didn’t seem like a God I even wanted to worship; He was violent and messed around with innocent people’s lives, love, and faith. Nevertheless, He seemed to be everywhere in Christian theology, and by the time I was 15 and it was time for me to be confirmed (to affirm my baptism now that I was old enough to make my own decisions). I was seriously considering another, more Goddess-friendly religion, like Wicca, or maybe the worship of Asherah, the female (and therefore “pagan”) aspect of the Hebrew God. I sat back to consider my options.
The truth of Christianity, as the name would imply, is in the fellowship of Jesus Christ, a wonderful and exquisitely human person who taught universal love and high moral standards. In terms of His gender, it’s important to remember that Jesus died for humankind, not mankind. A few years ago, Edwina Sandys made a Crucifix sculpture with Christ as a woman. To me, that simple, yet mind-blowing image epitomizes Jesus’ message of love, and reminds Christian women of their history in their religious institution, of how they’ve been intellectually and emotionally crucified, further tying them to Jesus Christ.
I worried that Christianity would take me away from the community of feminists, so I did research into “the feminine” in Christianity, and discovered the worship of Sophia, or Wisdom, as the female aspect of the Judeo-Christian aspect of God by some Roman Catholics and Gnostics. I also found a multitude of Virgin Mary-centric traditions that extoll Her emotional perseverance and ultimate feminine strength rather than the passive and “obedient” image promoted by the patriarchal Church. I realized that being confirmed would actually open to me my birthright as a Christian feminist.
So I was confirmed, and as my pastor, mentor, and the parents and grandparents who had taught me the value of my femininity placed their hands on my head and welcomed me into the Christian faith, I had never felt more a part of the Goddess’s creation.
(14 votes, average: 3.71 out of 5)
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Read other posts about: "the feminine" in Christianity, confirmation, Edwina Sandys, feminism and christianity, feminism and religion, Jesus Chris and feminism, Sophia
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Helen H. @ at 12:11 pm, April 6th, 2010
This is awesome, thanks for sharing!
Maren H @ at 12:17 pm, April 6th, 2010
Yeah, this is awesome!
This is very eloquently written, and a perspective on religion I’ve never heard before.
Thank you for writing!
james @ at 12:32 pm, April 6th, 2010
the old christian trick of picking parts of the bible you like and already agree with. Then changing other bits to conform with the world and religion you want
nice to know gods eternal all knowingness isn’t quite as good as yours
Suzie @ at 12:44 pm, April 6th, 2010
Hi,
I too identify as a christian feminist. However, this only occurred after I went through a period of evangelicalism and disillusionment.
While I am glad you found what you need, I am hesitant to assign a gender to God at all – God is neither male nor female, because God is not one of us. Both man and woman are made in God’s image, and that should say something.
When I pray – and admittedly, it is less and less now – sometimes I pray to the Father, because I realize how bold it was for Jesus to be able to proclaim something so radical – that the God that led the Hebrews out of the desert could be FAMILY – and sometimes I pray to the Mother. Because they are one and the same.
All that said, I get a little weirded out when people try to make something fluffy and nurturing out of God – because I believe the violence must be acknowledged. No where is God so angry than when God’s people disappoint, and if you read the OT, this is usually when they fail to seek justice, support the poor, or put their needs before those of the oppressed.
I think it’s complicated, but I’m glad you found something that works for you.
A.Y. Siu @ at 12:46 pm, April 6th, 2010
Always great to hear from other Christian feminists. If you want to read more about the Bible and gender equity, check out Good News for Women: A Biblical Picture of Gender Equality by Rebecca Groothuis.
Laura H @ at 1:58 pm, April 6th, 2010
Very thought-provoking. Thank you.
Toongrrl @ at 1:59 pm, April 6th, 2010
You provide hope for the rest of us
Dorothy @ at 3:22 pm, April 6th, 2010
What a wonderfully refreshing post. I attended seminary and was pleasantly pleased how women were acknowledged as part of Christian history. I think Christian women make it clear that we were not an after thought in God’s plan. I am an author who wants to empower and increase self esteem of Christian women, black women, and women as a whole. Please check out my blog at dirt2diamonds.blogspot.com as I will keep up with you.
Keep up the good work.
Katherine C. @ at 11:35 am, April 7th, 2010
My computer won’t let me reply to comments, so I’ll do it this way
Suzie- Very good points- I would agree with a hesitance to assign gender to God- actually, I feel like God is so huge in scope that none of us will ever understand! I really appreciated your comment; it made me think. One thing, though: I definitely don’t think of God as “fluffy” or comfy- just positive.
james- I have been accused of “shopping-cart” religion before, but my personal perspective is that religion is a growing, changing thing. Thank you for sharing.
Dorothy- I’ll definitely check out your blog!
A.Y. Siu- Thanks for the reccomendation!
And thanks everybody for your comment- this was my first time writing for Fbomb and the encouragement/discussion was much appreciated.
Emily @ at 9:13 pm, April 10th, 2010
What a nice article. I’m agnostic, and I’ll admit that there are very few atheist/ agnostic role models for us to choose from.
Having been raised in a Roman Catholic Church though, I do wish that women would be given more credibility for what they do.
Jamie Scaringi @ at 6:46 am, April 21st, 2010
great post here as always wroth checking like usual when i come here
Jackie @ at 1:41 pm, April 21st, 2010
I really enjoyed this article. I think that many often don’t realize it is possible to be a feminist and a christian at the same time. I consider myself to be both and I know it’s hard for my family who are strict catholics to understand my more liberal and feminist views on christianity. I feel that you don’t have to chose between one or the other if you don’t want to.
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Bronwyn @ at 2:51 am, October 16th, 2010
Thank you! I am a Christian and a feminist, and though I do not agree with everything in your article, I am so glad you brought this topic up. Sadly, Christianity is so often represented by the closed-minded far right. I personally believe God is too big for a gender box, and because both men and women were made in God’s image, clearly, He/She is parts of both. Jesus’s
human form was male, but He to, I believe, as God, cannot be given a specific gender.
I also agree with those who commented saying God is indeed violent. God, being all-powerful, is, of course, immensely dangerous, but also even more loving. I love C.S. Lewis’s representation of this side of God in Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia
I have never really understood Mary-worshiping divisions of the Church, but I admire your persistence to keep looking for God
Talia bat Pessi @ at 12:30 pm, January 21st, 2011
Speaking as an Orthodox Jew…
Just for the record, Asherah has nothing to do with Judaism – it’s just that in biblical times, the Jews would often sin and worship Asherah rather than God; i.e., the Asherah is considered idol worship. Nothing to do with the religion of Judaism. The Jewish God has no gender. I wrote an article on my blog about it here http://starofdavida.blogspot.com/2010/09/women-in-prayer-part-3-shemoneh-esrei.html
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