Christian Feminists: Suggested Readings

The following are suggestions for short readings by self-identified
Christian feminists suitable for use in an Introduction to Women's Studies
course.  They were offered on WMST-L in December 2001.  For additional
WMST-L files available on the Web, see the WMST-L File Collection.

Greetings Colleagues,

I've decided that I'd like to include a short, fairly accessible essay by a
self-identified Christian feminist in my Intro to Women's Studies syllabus
next semester and would appreciate recommendations about possible essays to
include.  I also plan to include an essay by a womanist theologian and
would appreciate suggestions on this topic as well.

Please respond to me privately: zami  @  mindspring.com

Many thanks,
AnaLouise


**********************
AnaLouise Keating, Ph.D.
Women's Studies
Texas Woman's University
P.O. Box 425557
Denton, TX  76204-5557
Phone (W) 940/898-2129; (H) 940/323-8695
Fax: 940/898-2101
Email: zami  @  mindspring.com

"You must act as if it is impossible to fail."--Ashanti Proverb

In response to the request for brief course readings on Christian feminism
and womanist theology, here are a few ideas off the top of my head:

-Sara Maitland is a British Christian feminist who writes both non-fiction
and short stories focussed on re-imagination
-there is a personal essay by a third-wave African-American Christian
feminist in the collection <Listen Up>
-the periodical <Daughters of Sarah> is devoted to Christian feminism
(though I'm not sure its still in print)
-something from Katie Cannon's collection of essays, <Katie's Canon>, or
from Emilie Townes' (sp?) edited collection <A Troubling in My Soul> might
work as a short intro. to womanist theology.  The latter focuses on
theological responses to evil and suffering, as I recall.  These are both
several years old now and much new stuff has come out since.

Hope this helps!

Sheila

Although it's quite old at this point, _Womanspirit Rising_ is still a good
source for short, accessible essays on religious feminism (mostly
Christian and Jewish). It's edited by Carol Christ and Judith Plaskow,
and I think it's published by Harper SF.

Judith Poxon
California State University, Sacramento
Department of Humanities and Religious Studies
poxon  @  saclink.csus.edu

Re: Christian feminists: In addition to _Womanspirit Rising_, you might try
the more recent (but still old) anthology by Plaskow and Christ: _Weaving
the Visions_. I'd also suggest anything by Rosemary Radford Radford
Ruether, especially from her 1985 book_Woman-Church_. Yes, also old.  But
it seems much of the innovative work in this area was done 10 or more years
ago. There is a more recent book, _The Dance of the Dissident Daughter_
(1996) by Sue Monk Kidd, subtitled "A Woman's Journey from the Christian
Tradition to the Sacred Feminine," but not sure if this is what you want
since this is more of a personal journey than an academic statement. And of
course there are the books by Mary Daly.

Judith Laura
Ashira  @  aol.com
http://members.aol.com/Ashira

A text that I've heard some good things about but have only read a bit
of myself is *At the Root of This Longing* with a subtitle about
reconciling feminism and religious faith.  I've taught Elaine Pagels's
"What Became of God the Mother?: Conflicting Images of God in Early
Christianity" (which you can find in Wendy Kolmar and Frances
Bartkowki's *Feminist Theory:  A Reader*).  bell hooks has a chapter
on sprituality in *Feminism is for Everybody* (very short; I wouldn't
do it on its own). You could  even teach a novel.  I'm currently
reading *The Red Tent* and was thinking of teaching that in my intro
course. FInally,you could go all teh way back to Elizabeth Cady
Stanton's *The Woman's Bible* (a portion of which is also  reprinted
in *Feminist Theory.*)

Oh--one more idea.  There's a book edited by Barbara MacHattie called
*Readings in the Story:  Women in Christian Tradition* (1992) that you
might find useful.  She includes some very interesting info on women
in the early Christian church, including some gnostic texts in which
God/Grace is figured as a woman.

 Anya Silver

*******************************************
Dr. Anya Krugovoy Silver
Assistant Professor of English and Interdisciplinary Studies
Director of Women's and Gender Studies
Mercer University
1400 Coleman Ave.               "Tell me, what is it you plan to do
Macon, GA 31207-0001            with your one wild and precious life?"
(912) 752-5641                                         --Mary Oliver
silver_ak  @  mercer.edu

there is also Karen Baker Fletcher's book -- Sisters of Dust, Sisters of
Spirit : Womanist Wordings on God and Creation -- she is also a wonderful
speaker and i would highly recommend her -- she just recently spoke at our
divinity school at our feminist theology conference.

Sisters in the Wilderness : The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk
by Delores S. Williams

Just a Sister Away : A Womanist Vision of Women's Relationships in the Bible
by Renita J. Weems, et al

In a Blaze of Glory : Womanist Spirituality As Social Witness
by Emilie M. Townes

Women Encounter God : Theology Across the Boundaries of Difference
by Linda A. Moody

Hagar's Daughters : Womanist Ways of Being in the World (Madeleva Lecture in
Spirituality : 1995)
by Diana L. Hayes

The Dance of the Dissident Daughter : A Woman's Journey from Christian
Tradition to the Sacred Feminine
by Sue Monk Kidd

At the Root of This Longing : Reconciling a Spiritual Hunger and a Feminist
Thirst
by Carol Lee Flinders

Enduring Grace : Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics
by Carol Lee Flinders

  Six New Gospels : New Testament Women Tell Their Stories
by Margaret Hebblethwaite

The Feminine Face of God : The Unfolding of the Sacred in Women
by Patricia Hopkins (Contributor), Sherry Ruth Anderson

********************************************************
Honesty is more than just not being dishonest.  It is an
active choice to be responsible for the choices we make
before we act upon them so that we can stand up for them
and not be tempted to be dishonest.
********************************************************
Sharon Jacobson, Ed. D.
SUNY Brockport
Women's Studies Program
Brockport, NY 14420
sjacobso  @  brockport.edu
(716) 395-2058(campus voice mail)
(716) 395-5700(department/office)
*************************************************************

> Although it's quite old at this point, _Womanspirit Rising_ is still a good
> source for short, accessible essays on religious feminism (mostly
> Christian and Jewish). It's edited by Carol Christ and Judith Plaskow,
> and I think it's published by Harper SF.

I like that one too.  Is it the first or second of the two books that
Plaskow and Christ edited?  Is the other "Reweaving the Web"?  Which one is
more recent? Does anyone know if these two women are planning a third book
or if anyone else (possibly on the list) is working on one?

If you are interested in the above two books, you might like _The Fabric of
the Future_, which is visionary and at least in part spiritual.  And nearly
new.  (I don't have the book here, so I may not have the name exactly
right.)

Marilyn Grotzky
mgrotzky  @  carbon.cudenver.edu

The second anthology edited by Judith Plaskow and Carol
Christ is entitled _Weaving the Visions:  new patterns
in feminist spirituality_ (HarperSanFrancisco, 1989).
Since then there have been a dozen or more similar
anthologies on Jewish/Christian feminist theology as
well as other more multi-denominational ones which
include Goddess/Neo-Pagan, Buddhist, Islamic traditions
as well.  For a basic examination of women's issues in
Christianity there are many possible choices from
Rosemary Reuther's books or *early writings by Mary Daly
(_The Church and the Second Sex_ or _Beyond God the
Father_).

Anne Carson
Cornell University Library
Ithaca, NY 14850
arc3  @  cornell.edu

Here are a few other suggestions:

Transforming Grace: Christian Tradition and Women's Experience, by Anne
Carr, Harper Collins 1988

Rattling Those Dry Bones (I don't have the complete citation available)

Daughters of Sarah is no longer in publication, but it has been subsumed by
The Other Side, a progressive Christian magazine (which also has a web site)

Equal to Serve, by Gretchen Gaebelein Hull, Baker Books

After the Fall (again, I don't have my copy handy for the rest of the info)


Carol Blessing, Ph.D.
Associate Professor Of Literature
Point Loma Nazarene University
CarolBlessing  @  ptloma.edu

Nancy Mairs wrote a fascinating book on her personal endeavor to
reconcile feminism and Catholicism as equally deeply meaningful to her
in _Ordinary Time: Cycles in Marriage, Faith, and Renewal_, published in

1994 by Beacon Press.

Lisa Johnson
------------
Visiting Assistant Professor
Dept. of English
State University of West Georgia
Carrollton, GA 30118
--------------------
ljohnson  @  westga.edu
http://www.westga.edu/~ljohnson
-----------------------------

Greetings Colleagues,

A few weeks ago I emailed the listserv to request suggestions for "a short
fairly accessible essay by a self-identified Christian feminist [to use] in
my Intro to Women's Studies syllabus next semester" and "essay[s]
by...womanist theologian[s]."   Below is a summary of the recommendations I
received.  Thanks to everyone!

FEMINIST-CHRISTIAN TEXTS
There's an essay in Barbara Findlen's _Listen Up_ that would definitely
work, and it's one that I find students really enjoy reading.  It's called
"Weaving an Identity Tapestry," by Sonja D. Curry-Johnson.  A
quote from Curry-Johnson, "As an educated, married, monogamous, feminist,
Christian, African American mother, I suffer from an acute case of
multiplicity."

Mary Todd. "Where is the Church in the War on Women?" _The Cresset
Reformation_ (1996): 8-13.

In my intro I use Elizabeth Johnson's "Mary of Nazareth Friend of God and
Prophet" (in America vol 182 #21 [June 17-24, 2000]). Great piece for
reclaiming Mary as an inspirational but real woman.

For a young woman's voice I use a piece from Adios, Barbie, "Appraising
God's Property" by Keesa
Schreene (discussion of her view of her body through a Christian lens; why
she is choosing chastity--yet not nauseatingly preachy or
simplistic;provokes good discussion).

Among feminist theologians (but not womanist), I would include Rosemary
Radford Reuther, Judith Plaskow, Carol P. Christ, and the early Mary Daly
(*Beyond God the Father*, *The Church and the Second Sex*).

You might look at any of the work by Rosemary Ruether, esp. Sexism and
God-Talk. She has an article in Carol Adams Ecofeminism and the Sacred, so
you might find other sources there. I don't know if Terry Tempest Williams
considers herself a feminist or is still a Christian, but if she does then
perhaps you could use some of her work.
I'd also suggest anything by Rosemary Radford Radford Ruether, especially
from her 1985 book_Woman-Church_. Yes, also old. But it seems much of the
innovative work in this area was done 10 or more years ago.

An accessible, non-scholarly book that several students like (one
recommended it to me) is *Dance of the Dissident Daughter: A Woman's
Journey from the Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine* (1996) by Sue
Monk Kidd.

Flora Keshgegian (an Episcopalian priest; _Redeeming Memories: A Theology
of Healing and Transformation_...both cultural and personal healing)

Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza has done historical work on women in the early
Christian church
Fiorenza's "In Search of Women's Heritage" from Weaving the Visions. Harper
1989

Ann Loades has a reader in feminist theology.
I use Chittister in my Intro to WS.

Ada Maria Isasi Diaz, Solidarity and Love of Neighbor from Mujerista
Theology Orbis 1996

In addition to _Womanspirit Rising_, you might try the more recent (but
still old) anthology by Plaskow and Christ_Weaving the Visions_.

Nancy Mairs wrote a fascinating book on her personal endeavor to reconcile
feminism and Catholicism as equally deeply meaningful to her in _Ordinary
Time: Cycles in Marriage, Faith, and Renewal_, published in 1994 by Beacon
Press.
I don't really know any US ones. Ursula King in Theology at Kings College
London is a Christian feminist who writes most accessibly. The Department
there would be a good place to lookwww.kcl.ac.uk is the College's Home Page.

I've taught Elaine Pagels's "What Became of God the Mother?Conflicting
Images of God in Early
Christianity" (which you can find in Wendy Kolmar and Frances Bartkowki's
*Feminist TheoryA Reader*).
bell hooks has a chapter on spirituality in *Feminism is for Everybody*
(very short; I wouldn't do it on its own).
You could even teach a novel. I'm currently reading *The Red Tent* and was
thinking of teaching that in my intro course.
You could go all the way back to Elizabeth Cady Stanton's *The Woman's
Bible* (a portion of which is also reprinted in *Feminist Theory.*)
There's a book edited by Barbara MacHattie called *Readings in the Story:
Women in Christian Tradition* (1992) that you might find useful. She
includes some very interesting info on women
in the early Christian church, including some gnostic texts in which
God/Grace is figured as a woman.

The Dance of the Dissident Daughter A Woman's Journey from Christian
Tradition to the Sacred Feminine by Sue Monk Kidd

At the Root of This Longing Reconciling a Spiritual Hunger and a Feminist
Thirst by Carol Lee Flinders
Enduring Grace Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics by Carol Lee Flinders

Six New Gospels New Testament Women Tell Their Stories by Margaret
Hebblethwaite

The Feminine Face of God The Unfolding of the Sacred in Women by Patricia
Hopkins (Contributor), Sherry Ruth Anderson

-Sara Maitland is a British Christian feminist who writes both non-fiction
and short stories focused on re-imagination

Although it's quite old at this point, _Womanspirit Rising_ is still a good
source for short, accessible essays on religious feminism (mostly Christian
and Jewish). It's edited by Carol Christ and Judith Plaskow, and I think
it's published by Harper SF.

Weaving the Visions: new patterns in feminist spirituality_
(HarperSanFrancisco, 1989).
Transforming GraceChristian Tradition and Women's Experience, by Anne Carr,
Harper Collins 1988

Rattling Those Dry Bones (I don't have the complete citation available)

Daughters of Sarah is no longer in publication, but it has been subsumed by
The Other Side, a progressive Christian magazine (which also has a web site)
Equal to Serve, by Gretchen Gaebelein Hull, Baker Books


WOMANIST TEXTS
Anything by Emilie Townes, esp. *Womanist Justice, Womanist  Hope"*
Emilie Townes, "Washed in the Grace of God" from Adams and Fortune,
Violence against Women and ChildrenA Christian Theological Sourcebook,
Continuum 1995.
Townes' _In a Blaze of Glory Womanist Spirituality As Social Witness_
Something from Emilie Townes' edited collection <A Troubling in My Soul>
might work as a short intro. to womanist theology. It focuses on
theological responses to evil and suffering, as I recall.

Marcia Y. Riggs, e.g. *Awake, Arise, & Act* and *Can I Get A Witness?*

Katie Cannon's *Katie's Cannon.* There are several very accessible essays
in it.

Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, "Some Mother's Son and Some Father's Daughter"
(Issues of Gender, Biblical Language and Worship) from If it Wasn't for the
Women. Orbis 2001

Karen Baker Fletcher's book -- Sisters of Dust, Sisters of Spirit Womanist
Wordings on God and Creation -- she is also a wonderful speaker and i would
highly recommend her -- she just recently spoke at our divinity school at
our feminist theology conference.

Sisters in the Wilderness The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk by Delores S.
Williams

Just a Sister Away A Womanist Vision of Women's Relationships in the Bible
by Renita J. Weems, et al

Women Encounter God Theology Across the Boundaries of Difference by Linda
A. Moody

Hagar's Daughters Womanist Ways of Being in the World (Madeleva Lecture in
Spirituality 1995)
by Diana L. Hayes


**********************
AnaLouise Keating, Ph.D.
Women's Studies
Texas Woman's University
P.O. Box 425557
Denton, TX  76204-5557
Phone (W) 940/898-2129; (H) 940/323-8695
Fax940/898-2101
Email: zami  @  mindspring.com

"You must act as if it is impossible to fail."--Ashanti Proverb