Thursday, March 28, 2013

The question: Was Jesus a woman?

The question: Was Jesus a woman? | World news | The Guardian:
The Right Revd Katharine Jefferts Schori has compounded the offence of being the highest-ranking woman in the Anglican church by saying, in her first sermon since her election as 26th presiding bishop of the US Episcopal Church, that "Mother Jesus gives birth to a new creation - and you and I are his children."
"Conservative anger was fuelled [by this] yesterday," reported the Telegraph gleefully, but in fact, notes Revd Dr Liz Carmichael, fellow and tutor in theology at St John's College, Oxford, they'd have really to be quite conservative to get so vexed: "There is a strong, accepted tradition of feminist thinking in the mainstream church."
The point, she says, is "that in orthodox Christianity you don't assign gender to God. 'Father' is simply a metaphor for a figure of authority" - which doesn't make God a man, but makes it more important that His feminine qualities - gentleness and nurturing - be emphasised. The same goes for Jesus: regardless of his actual sex, "son of God" is a metaphor for an all-encompassing filial relationship.



No comments: