The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown So how’d we get here? Remember the class I initially mentioned? Well, coupled with it was another one of similar intent, but focused on the New Testament. It was one of the readings of that class which caused me to have a small but fascinated revelation about the…
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown I’ve always considered it a crying shame most versions of Christianity are unable to tolerate any challenge to their theoretically monotheistic, hierarchical, all-male trinity. Consequently it does not surprise me in the least to find Mariolatry (or worship of Mary, the “virgin mother” of Christianity) was and still…
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown Originally posted May 2004 Thanks to Don, who was right when he told me I really should read this book! ;-) There is detailed plot information in this review. Please do not read if you don’t like spoilers! If the subject matter of The DaVinci Code interests you,…
The Oxford Study Bible: Revised English Bible with Apocrypha However, one must keep in mind what one is studying. The situation for women may have been either better or worse than is actually shown by the included books of the accepted New Testament. It is a sure bet these books have been either edited or…
The Oxford Study Bible: Revised English Bible with Apocrypha A quick review of how women’s treatment in the early Christian church changed, as the fledgling church moved from ‘cult’ status to being part of the societal ‘status quo.’ The evolution of a cultural phenomenon can often be tracked by its response to independent thought, minorities,…
I was enthralled by my correspondent’s enlightening statement to me, and I spent some time trying to figure out where my spirituality was. Eventually I concluded it was not a particular location or animal in which I found the sacred — it was more the concept of the wilderness, of Nature itself as iconic of…
I was already working hard on mental independence, unconsciously using Gross’s “hermeneutics of suspicion” (121); looking back, I think my fierce desire for physical independence, and my complete disinterest in certain sexual positions I considered demeaning, stemmed from that understanding. Since then I’ve also had recommended (but not yet read) Peggy Reeves Sanday’s Femininity &…
It was no surprise, therefore, to discover the other two Religions of the Book (Judaism and Islam) seemed equally reprehensible in their treatment of women. I was boggled to discover Judaism seemed to consider women not only “unclean” whenever they performed the absolute miracle of birth — but that a girl child was somehow filthier…
Childhood Spirituality & Implications Durkheim’s definition of religion was a huge relief to discover in my early college years; it was a clear explanation for vague and inchoate beliefs I’d held since childhood. At that time, of course, I was not consciously aware of the iconic, near-reified nature of the various flavors of christianity my…
Paper written Fall 2008 for the Women’s Spirituality Master’s Program class Women, Religion, & Social Change; with professors D. Grenn & M. Rigoglioso. Bibliography (with amazon.com links included) at paper’s end. Introduction My final paper for the “Women, Religion, and Social Change” class is based on the question: “What are the social, ecological, spiritual, political,…