Comments on: Contemplating Feminine Incarnation

By: claire

claire — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 17:11:09 +0000

If the body of a woman savior was treasured as sacrament, then perhaps the bodies of women would not have been so degraded, abused, and despised over the years.

Thank you for this wonderful post. It says so much that means a lot to me!

By: Dan S.

Dan S. — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:06:24 +0000

Also, Scripture indicates that Joseph himself was not your stereotypical chauvinist womanizing male, so it's highly doubtful he would have had Mary stoned if her baby had not been a boy.

The pain of knowing he wasn't the father was already enough to bear. By all accounts, he deeply loved Mary and Jesus and sacrificed a great deal for their protection.

But despite his radical faith and obedience to God in the face of cultural pressure and stigma, Joseph is often overlooked as one of the Bible's more counter-cultural (dare we say feminist) characters.

By: Dan S.

Dan S. — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:52:47 +0000

Since gender discrimination is clearly unbiblical in light of Gal 3:28 and numerous other passages, I believe there is value in "shaking up" sexist paradigms by asking provocative questions.

But I also wonder if such a thing exists as baby-bathwater confusion between a male Jesus and historic/cultural sexism in Christendom. My inclination is that sexism is the bathwater but Christ's human maleness is not. He was (quite literally) the Baby.

Which only leads to more questions such as:

1) Was it sexist for God to become flesh as a man and not as a woman?

2) To what extent can historic/cultural sexism in Christendom be attributed to Christ's maleness?

3) Were the Jews sexist in expecting a male Messiah or was his gender one of the prophesied details they actually interpreted correctly?

4) Was God "caving in" to a patriarchal society by becoming a male Rabbi or did Jesus' non-traditional maleness actually threaten the powers of his day more than he could have otherwise as a woman?

5) Is the world today more sexist or less sexist because God chose to reveal himself in male form?

6) Who has greater cultural power to shift sexist paradigms: feminist women or feminist men?

By: Carol Castleberry

Carol Castleberry — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:27:29 +0000

I LOVE this image! Like you say, just asking the question is eye-eopening. Thanks.

By: Erica

Erica — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 20:21:25 +0000

Thanks for asking the question. I honestly have never wondered about how things would be different if God incarnated as a female. I look forward to musing about it…

I recently had my daughter ask why the Bible was all about men. "Didn't these guys have any sisters?" Maybe she and I can talk about this question together.

By: Patrick O

Patrick O — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:38:49 +0000

A very interesting approach. And I like your suggestions how this would affect our approach to women.

What's interesting to me is that there's even a place for this in Jewish tradition. The story of Esther immediately came to mind, followed by Deborah. There are certainly other women who helped save Israel. So, there's imagery to work with.

Though, I wonder a bit about Jesus as a man. Seems like that's in keeping with the Philippians 2 passage. It's precisely as the dominant member of society that Jesus modeled letting go his dominance and offering acceptance–a model far, far, far too many in the church have almost entirely ignored as they assert power to dominate others and force certain theological perspectives. The letting go of power/authority that society feels is one's right is a key part of the story.

Yet, I really am caught on the idea of thinking the what if? of Jesus born as a woman. It's going to give a new twist to my thinking on the season.

By: .elise.anne.

.elise.anne. — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 01:44:27 +0000

Julie,

fantastic wonderings. i like that church put those out there.

I blogged on the topic in a slightly different angle, ie, what if Jesus was born into a matriarchal society? Would Jesus have been born woman then?

It was interesting to see the responses…

http://eliseanne.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/open-discussion-gods-gender/

I'll link to yours too so my readers can see this perspective.

thanks!

By: Emerging Women » Blog Archive » Feminine Incarnation

Emerging Women » Blog Archive » Feminine Incarnation — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:00:44 +0000

[...] Crossposted from onehandclapping [...]

By: Caedmon

Caedmon — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:36:08 +0000

We discussed this question in a church history class just a week or two ago. Mostly, we men listened, unsure whether our voices would really be all that helpful. One of the women in the class pointed out something that stuck: If Jesus had been born a girl, would the words of Jesus have been so radical coming from the mouth of a woman?

By: Julie Clawson

Julie Clawson — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:28:57 +0000

Arthur – I am not assuming the oppression started just 2000 years ago. Jesus was radically inclusive of women which is something the church largely ignores. My point was that if we started following a female savior 2000 years ago perhaps from that point on the oppression of women wouldn't have continued like it did – we would have had a very different past 2000 years.