Early Church Understandings of Jesus as the Female Divine

Early Church Understandings of Jesus as the Female Divine
Author: Sally Douglas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2016-05-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567668339

Central to debates about Jesus is the issue of whether he uniquely embodies the divine. While this discussion continues unabated, both those who affirm and those who dismiss, Jesus' divinity regularly eclipse the reality that in many of the earliest strands of the Christian tradition when Jesus' divinity is proclaimed, Jesus is imaged as the female divine. Sally Douglas investigates these early texts, excavates the motivations for imaging Jesus as Woman Wisdom and the complex reasons that this began to be suppressed in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The work concludes with an exploration of the powerful implications of engaging with the ancient proclamation of Jesus-Woman Wisdom in contemporary context.

Jesus Sophia

Jesus Sophia
Author: Sally Douglas
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2023-03-09
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1666735795

In this groundbreaking book, Sally Douglas excavates biblical and early Christian understandings of Jesus as the female divine. Drawing from her expertise as a New Testament scholar and theologian, Douglas accessibly sets out the evidence for Jesus Sophia and then explores its practical implications, both for the church—often suffocated by God-as-male imagery—and for our day-to-day lives. Questions about discipleship, biblical interpretation, and theology are investigated in relation to Jesus Sophia’s hospitality, friendship, anger, non-retaliation, and care for all things. In this process understandings of the cross are revisited, female imagery for God is reclaimed and celebrated, fresh and ancient practices of faith are offered, and inclusive, exquisite liturgies are shared. With dynamism, humor, faithfulness, and creativity, Douglas encourages, unsettles, and supports readers, as they discover Jesus Sophia for themselves.

Wisdom Commentary: John 1-10

Wisdom Commentary: John 1-10
Author: Mary L Coloe, PBVM
Publisher: Liturgical Press
Total Pages: 392
Release: 2021-07-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0814681689

Teaching and researching the Gospel of John for thirty years has led author Mary L. Coloe to an awareness of the importance of the wisdom literature to make sense of Johannine theology, language, and symbolism: in the prologue, with Nicodemus, in the Bread of Life discourse, with Mary and Lazarus, and in the culminating “Hour.” She also shows how the late Second Temple theology expressed in the books of Sirach and Wisdom, considered deuterocanonical and omitted from some Bible editions, are essential intertexts. Only the book of Wisdom speaks of “the reign of God” (Wis 10:10), “eternity life” (Wis 5:15), and the ambrosia maintaining angelic life (Wis 19:21)—all concepts found in John’s Gospel. While the Gospel explicitly states the Logos was enfleshed in Jesus, this is also true of Sophia. Coloe makes the case that Jesus’s words and deeds embody Sophia throughout the narrative. At the beginning of each chapter Coloe provides text from the later wisdom books that resonate with the Gospel passage, drawing Sophia out of the shadows.

John 1–10

John 1–10
Author: Mary L. Coloe
Publisher: Liturgical Press
Total Pages: 392
Release: 2021-07-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 081468193X

2022 Catholic Media Association honorable mention in scripture: academic studies Teaching and researching the Gospel of John for thirty years has led author Mary L. Coloe to an awareness of the importance of the wisdom literature to make sense of Johannine theology, language, and symbolism: in the prologue, with Nicodemus, in the Bread of Life discourse, with Mary and Lazarus, and in the culminating “Hour.” She also shows how the late Second Temple theology expressed in the books of Sirach and Wisdom, considered deuterocanonical and omitted from some Bible editions, are essential intertexts. Only the book of Wisdom speaks of “the reign of God” (Wis 10:10), “eternity life” (Wis 5:15), and the ambrosia maintaining angelic life (Wis 19:21)—all concepts found in John’s Gospel. While the Gospel explicitly states the Logos was enfleshed in Jesus, this is also true of Sophia. Coloe makes the case that Jesus’s words and deeds embody Sophia throughoutthe narrative. At the beginning of each chapter Coloe provides text from the later wisdom books that resonate with the Gospel passage, drawing Sophia out of the shadows.

Contemporary Feminist Theologies

Contemporary Feminist Theologies
Author: Kerrie Handasyde
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2021-03-11
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 100033998X

This book explores the issues of power, authority and love with current concerns in the Christian theological exploration of feminism and feminist theology. It addresses its key themes in three parts: (1) power deals with feminist critiques, (2) authority unpacks feminist methodologies, and (3) love explores feminist ethics. Covering issues such as embodiment, intersectionality, liberation theologies, historiography, queer approaches to hermeneutics, philosophy and more, it provides a multi-layered and nuanced appreciation of this important area of theological thought and practice. This volume will be vital reading for scholars of feminist theology, queer theology, process theology, practical theology, religion and gender.

T&T Clark Handbook of the Early Church

T&T Clark Handbook of the Early Church
Author: Ilaria L.E. Ramelli
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 744
Release: 2021-12-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567680401

Exploring the key documents, authors and themes of Early Christian traditions, this volume traces the vital trajectories of emerging distinctive Christian identity in the Graeco-Roman world. Special attention is given to the coherent growth of Christian faith in connection with worship, alongside the crucial transformation of Christian life and doctrine under the Christian Emperors. As well as offering a chronological development of the Early Church, the book examines the interaction between Christian worship and faith. In addition, readers interested in systematic theology can refer to chapters on the roots of some significant theological notions in Christian Antiquity, also with reference to ancient philosophy. Issues addressed include: · Distinctiveness of the Christian identity during the first centuries · Diversity of communities and their theologies · Connection between faith and worship · Transition from the persecuted minority to triumphant Church with Creeds · History of early Christian thought and modern systematic theology

From Jesus to Christ

From Jesus to Christ
Author: Paula Fredriksen
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2008-10-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0300164106

"Magisterial. . . . A learned, brilliant and enjoyable study."—Géza Vermès, Times Literary Supplement In this exciting book, Paula Fredriksen explains the variety of New Testament images of Jesus by exploring the ways that the new Christian communities interpreted his mission and message in light of the delay of the Kingdom he had preached. This edition includes an introduction reviews the most recent scholarship on Jesus and its implications for both history and theology. "Brilliant and lucidly written, full of original and fascinating insights."—Reginald H. Fuller, Journal of the American Academy of Religion "This is a first-rate work of a first-rate historian."—James D. Tabor, Journal of Religion "Fredriksen confronts her documents—principally the writings of the New Testament—as an archaeologist would an especially rich complex site. With great care she distinguishes the literary images from historical fact. As she does so, she explains the images of Jesus in terms of the strategies and purposes of the writers Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John."—Thomas D’Evelyn, Christian Science Monitor

Otherwise Than the Binary

Otherwise Than the Binary
Author: Jessica Elbert Decker
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 441
Release: 2022-07-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1438488815

Otherwise Than the Binary approaches canonical texts and concepts in Ancient Greek philosophy and culture that have traditionally been understood as examples of binary thinking, particularly concerning sexual difference. In contrast to such patriarchal logic, the essays within this volume explore how many of these seemingly strict binaries in ancient culture and thought were far more permeable and philosophically nuanced. Each contribution asks if there are ways of thinking of antiquity differently—namely, to examine canonical works through a lens that expounds and even celebrates philosophies of difference so as to discover instances where authors of antiquity valorize and uphold the necessity of what has been seen as feminine, foreign, and/or irrational. As contemporary thinkers turn toward new ways of reading antiquity, these selected studies will inspire other readings of ancient texts through new feminist methodologies and critical vantage points. When examining the philosophers and notable figures of antiquity alongside their overt patriarchal and masculinist agendas, readers are invited to rethink their current biases while also questioning how particular ideas and texts are received and read.

Jesus, Paul, and the Early Church

Jesus, Paul, and the Early Church
Author: Eckhard J. Schnabel
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
Total Pages: 625
Release: 2018-07-24
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3161560612

This volume contains seventeen essays written by Eckhard J. Schnabel, written over the past 25 years. The essays focus on the realities of the work of Jesus, Paul, John, and the early church, exploring aspects of the history, missionary expansion, and theology of the early church including lexical, ethical, and ecclesiological questions. Specific subjects discussed include Jesus' silence at his trial, the introduction of foreign deities to Athens, the understanding of Rom 12:1, Paul's ethics, the meaning of baptizein, the realities of persecution, Christian identity and mission in Revelation, and singing and instrumental music in the early church.

Jesus in History, Thought, and Culture [2 volumes]

Jesus in History, Thought, and Culture [2 volumes]
Author: Leslie Houlden
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 1023
Release: 2003-12-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1576078574

This unique multidisciplinary study views Jesus as one of the most central figures in history with a wide-ranging impact on society, literature, art, and philosophy. Jesus in History, Thought, and Culture distills 2,000 years of thinking about Jesus into two intriguing volumes. In more than 200 A–Z entries, internationally recognized scholars summarize views of Jesus from the Gospel writers to contemporary theologians. Not only does the book explore Christian liturgy and worship—including the long-lasting 4th- and 5th-century schisms over whether Jesus is human or divine—but it examines the position of Jesus in the traditions of other world religions, such as Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism. Even outside religion, little has been untouched by Jesus's influence. Jesus affected social and political theory in his time and continues to do so today. The encyclopedia also explores his changing image in art, sculpture, music, and literature, pulling disparate fields of study into one powerful resource. Scholars, students of theology and world religions, and other interested readers will all welcome this unique resource.