Books Are Better Than Music and Movies
Is God Good for Women?
This is the opener to a book I recently purchased. I want to talk about this pivotal text, but first...the build up!
Society of Biblical Literature (SBL)
This past weekend I attended a regional SBL conference. For those who don't feel like checking out the website, SBL is an academic conference for theologians of all stripes to present papers around different topics. UGST Prof. Jeff Brickle did an excellent presentation on Orality Sunday afternoon. Monday morning the papers were around "Gender Studies." Knowing the diversity of theological discussion on this topic (priests sit beside lesbians in this venue), I was intrigued.
Image of Adam or Image of God?
The first paper was presented by a slightly angry (my perception) woman who had a skewed hermeneutic with which she ran rampant over the text of Genesis. There were many inconsistencies with what she said, but it really left the hearer wondering if women truly were created in the image of God because it sounded an awful lot like she thought women were created in the image of Adam. Some of the good follow up questions were: is the image of God complete if there is just one gender present? If Adam is meant to be the progenitor of all creation, why did God design women for pregnancy and child birth? And (my own question) if Eve wasn't present when Adam was busy doing all the naming of animals etc., how can we know those are gendered tasks rather than human tasks?
Junia and the "Happy Hermeneutic"
The final paper was presented on Junia referenced in Acts as "prominent among the apostles." There is little doubt that Junia was a woman, but recent scholarship has also begun to speculate that she was an apostle. This paper asked what that would mean for passages like 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2. An intriguing question to be sure! However, in the interest of leaving women affirmed everywhere, the author of this paper took a lot of rather convoluted steps and did some biblical gymnastics to leave herself with the nice conclusion that neither of these texts is truly Pauline and therefore should not be taken seriously. Hence the "happy hereneutic": when I don't like what the Bible says, I can dismiss it!
Where These Papers Drove Me
So both papers were contaminated by an overbearing influence of the author's world view. Neither treated the text fairly in their attempt to justify a position they wanted to take. Still they raised questions I don't have easy answers to. What do I, as a woman, do with a thoroughly masculine God? What do I do as a woman who feels both gifted and called into areas of ministry where it is not always friendly for a woman to be? How can I accept both Junia and the teachings of Paul as truth? What's a girl to do? This girl went and found a book.
Why a Book?
First of all, I felt incredibly drawn to this book, almost inexplicably. I knew I had to have it. It's called "The Gospel of Ruth: Loving God Enough to Break the Rules" by Carolyn Custis James. This book really doesn't address either of the specific topics referenced above and yet it is written by a woman for women around the central question of "Is God good for women?" I suppose I could have listened to a little Pat Benatar or re-watched Whale Rider, but when I want answers I don't go to music or movies. I expect books to make me examine who I am and where I am. Music and movies have almost no commitment from the recipient. Books make you spend time with them. Books are almost never used as background distraction while you try to accomplish other things (both music and movies do this quite well). Books are demanding.
Book Review
The aforementioned book is powerful. It is my current goal to buy it for every woman I know. The author is very real and almost painfully honest without needing to prove or be anything other than what she is. In truth, I have not finished the book, so I guess there could be some craziness in the end, but...I don't think there will be. So far she's delivered on all she's promised. Furthermore, I don't know what questions you struggle with or what answers you are looking for, but I suggest you find a multiplicity of writers on the subject and then listen to the one whose voice seems most authentic.
This is the opener to a book I recently purchased. I want to talk about this pivotal text, but first...the build up!
Society of Biblical Literature (SBL)
This past weekend I attended a regional SBL conference. For those who don't feel like checking out the website, SBL is an academic conference for theologians of all stripes to present papers around different topics. UGST Prof. Jeff Brickle did an excellent presentation on Orality Sunday afternoon. Monday morning the papers were around "Gender Studies." Knowing the diversity of theological discussion on this topic (priests sit beside lesbians in this venue), I was intrigued.
Image of Adam or Image of God?
The first paper was presented by a slightly angry (my perception) woman who had a skewed hermeneutic with which she ran rampant over the text of Genesis. There were many inconsistencies with what she said, but it really left the hearer wondering if women truly were created in the image of God because it sounded an awful lot like she thought women were created in the image of Adam. Some of the good follow up questions were: is the image of God complete if there is just one gender present? If Adam is meant to be the progenitor of all creation, why did God design women for pregnancy and child birth? And (my own question) if Eve wasn't present when Adam was busy doing all the naming of animals etc., how can we know those are gendered tasks rather than human tasks?
Junia and the "Happy Hermeneutic"
The final paper was presented on Junia referenced in Acts as "prominent among the apostles." There is little doubt that Junia was a woman, but recent scholarship has also begun to speculate that she was an apostle. This paper asked what that would mean for passages like 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2. An intriguing question to be sure! However, in the interest of leaving women affirmed everywhere, the author of this paper took a lot of rather convoluted steps and did some biblical gymnastics to leave herself with the nice conclusion that neither of these texts is truly Pauline and therefore should not be taken seriously. Hence the "happy hereneutic": when I don't like what the Bible says, I can dismiss it!
Where These Papers Drove Me
So both papers were contaminated by an overbearing influence of the author's world view. Neither treated the text fairly in their attempt to justify a position they wanted to take. Still they raised questions I don't have easy answers to. What do I, as a woman, do with a thoroughly masculine God? What do I do as a woman who feels both gifted and called into areas of ministry where it is not always friendly for a woman to be? How can I accept both Junia and the teachings of Paul as truth? What's a girl to do? This girl went and found a book.
Why a Book?
First of all, I felt incredibly drawn to this book, almost inexplicably. I knew I had to have it. It's called "The Gospel of Ruth: Loving God Enough to Break the Rules" by Carolyn Custis James. This book really doesn't address either of the specific topics referenced above and yet it is written by a woman for women around the central question of "Is God good for women?" I suppose I could have listened to a little Pat Benatar or re-watched Whale Rider, but when I want answers I don't go to music or movies. I expect books to make me examine who I am and where I am. Music and movies have almost no commitment from the recipient. Books make you spend time with them. Books are almost never used as background distraction while you try to accomplish other things (both music and movies do this quite well). Books are demanding.
Book Review
The aforementioned book is powerful. It is my current goal to buy it for every woman I know. The author is very real and almost painfully honest without needing to prove or be anything other than what she is. In truth, I have not finished the book, so I guess there could be some craziness in the end, but...I don't think there will be. So far she's delivered on all she's promised. Furthermore, I don't know what questions you struggle with or what answers you are looking for, but I suggest you find a multiplicity of writers on the subject and then listen to the one whose voice seems most authentic.
posted by Marjorie at
4/04/2008 12:08:00 AM
2 Comments
