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Feb. 27th, 2005 12:28 pmI didn't have a chance to participate in the discussion which took place in my journal a few days ago about the presence or absense of divine femininity in Christianity, but I wanted to comment on a few of the things which came up.
First, regarding the issue of Adam and Eve in Paul, and which it was that Paul held to be responsible for "the Fall:" it may be true that Paul faults Adam for directly bringing sin into the world. However, Paul uses the Genesis story as an excuse to prevent women from preaching or teaching in church. If in Paul's view, men as a gender held the largest fault, then it does not make sense for him to have given men exclusive access to positions of education and power within the church.
Secondly, there was some discussion about whether the Holy Spirit is female. In some denominations apparently the Holy Spirit is revered as female, or even as divine Mother. This is in my opinion a positive development, but it can't really be described as common practice within any of the major denominations. There is some linguistic confusion, since the Hebrew word ruach is feminine, the Greek word pneuma is neuter, and the Latin word spiritus is masculine. The Catholic Church is pretty clear in its position that the Holy Spirit is male or perhaps neuter, but not feminine, following from the pronoun use in the Nicene Creed, and Latin scriptures which gender the Holy Spirit as male. I'm unsure about the Orthodox denominations, but I'm pretty sure that most Protestant groups deny the Holy Spirit as feminine (except for some of the liberal or mainline denominations).
Among ancient Christian writings, it is only among the Gnostic texts where the Holy Spirit is clearly described as female or Mother. Several Gnostic texts describe the Trinity as Father, Mother, and Son. In the Gospel of the Hebrews and the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus calls the Spirit his Mother. The Valentinians gave reverence to a goddess they described as the wife of the Root, which they named Silence or Grace.
The scriptural sources demonstrate a fierce debate in the early church over the politics of gender and the participation of women in the church. The evidence of 1 Timothy 2:11-15 is that within the orthodox/catholic church, the eventual outcome of this debate was the denial of access to positions of instruction and decision-making to women. Part of this outcome appears to be linked to the fact that women played key role in various un-orthodox sects, Gnostic and otherwise (the Montanists being a strong anti-Gnostic example).
First, regarding the issue of Adam and Eve in Paul, and which it was that Paul held to be responsible for "the Fall:" it may be true that Paul faults Adam for directly bringing sin into the world. However, Paul uses the Genesis story as an excuse to prevent women from preaching or teaching in church. If in Paul's view, men as a gender held the largest fault, then it does not make sense for him to have given men exclusive access to positions of education and power within the church.
Secondly, there was some discussion about whether the Holy Spirit is female. In some denominations apparently the Holy Spirit is revered as female, or even as divine Mother. This is in my opinion a positive development, but it can't really be described as common practice within any of the major denominations. There is some linguistic confusion, since the Hebrew word ruach is feminine, the Greek word pneuma is neuter, and the Latin word spiritus is masculine. The Catholic Church is pretty clear in its position that the Holy Spirit is male or perhaps neuter, but not feminine, following from the pronoun use in the Nicene Creed, and Latin scriptures which gender the Holy Spirit as male. I'm unsure about the Orthodox denominations, but I'm pretty sure that most Protestant groups deny the Holy Spirit as feminine (except for some of the liberal or mainline denominations).
Among ancient Christian writings, it is only among the Gnostic texts where the Holy Spirit is clearly described as female or Mother. Several Gnostic texts describe the Trinity as Father, Mother, and Son. In the Gospel of the Hebrews and the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus calls the Spirit his Mother. The Valentinians gave reverence to a goddess they described as the wife of the Root, which they named Silence or Grace.
The scriptural sources demonstrate a fierce debate in the early church over the politics of gender and the participation of women in the church. The evidence of 1 Timothy 2:11-15 is that within the orthodox/catholic church, the eventual outcome of this debate was the denial of access to positions of instruction and decision-making to women. Part of this outcome appears to be linked to the fact that women played key role in various un-orthodox sects, Gnostic and otherwise (the Montanists being a strong anti-Gnostic example).
