Tucson, Arizona Saturday, 3 March 2001
Presbyterian meeting looks at feminists' view of Jesus
By Stephanie Innes
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Jesus Christ's gender was on the hot seat in Tucson yesterday as a national group of Presbyterians pondered the relevance of a male savior to women.
The fact that Jesus was male was not in question. Rather, debate centered on the way he has been interpreted by what some feminists view as a patriarchal church.
"Christ's maleness has been used through centuries in ways that are not liberative, that push down and oppress,'' said the Rev. Sue Westfall, co-pastor at St. Mark's Presbyterian Church, 3809 E. Third St.
The discussion was part of a four-day gathering at St. Mark's of a groundbreaking and growing national Presbyterian (U.S.A.) group called Voices of Sophia.
About 160 Presbyterian leaders, Biblical scholars and theologians from across the country attended.
The Voices of Sophia group was formed in 1994 in reaction to what members saw as efforts to hinder the full equality of women in the church. Participants say it counteracts traditional absolutist and male images of God.
"I think feminists have some issues with Jesus Christ,'' said Sylvia Thorson-Smith, a lecturer in sociology and religious studies at Grinnell College. Thorson-Smith is also a Voices of Sophia founder.
"This is very serious in the church right now.''
The Rev. Mike Smith, pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Grinnell, Iowa, and also a Voices of Sophia founder, said feminism is only one lens through which Jesus must be viewed.
"Can a straight savior save a transgendered person?'' he asked the group, adding that class, sexual orientation, race, nationality and abilities should also be considered when viewing Christ.
Thorson-Smith quoted from Sojourner Truth, an illiterate ex-slave who preached human rights, to stress her opinion that it is the church's use of Jesus that's the problem, not Jesus himself.
In one of the passages, Truth says that Christ came from God and a woman and that "man had nothing to do with him.''
In another passage Truth defied a church leader for saying that women don't have as many rights as men because Christ was male.
Participants in the conference said some church figures have incorrectly used a patriarchal view of Christ to impose their views. In reality, Christ embodies men and women, the Voices of Sophia members said.
"The maleness of Jesus has no ultimate significance,'' Smith said.
"Christ died no less for women than for men,'' Thorson-Smith said. "The ability for men and women to be in Christ's image is identical.''
Westfall concurred.
"Jesus' significance was the embodiment, the practice of justice-making love. That was what his community is called upon to do,'' she said.
The gathering came at a time when member presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are considering ratifying an amendment to the church's constitution that would prohibit same-sex union ceremonies. Voices of Sophia is on record as actively seeking openness and inclusion for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people in the church.
The de Christo Presbytery, which includes Tucson, has gone on record opposing the amendment.
The local chapter of Voices of Sophia, of which Westfall is a member, organized the conference, which concludes tomorrow.
The name of the group comes from an ancient tradition in the Biblical material of Wisdom literature that speaks of a female presence, or motif, in Greek - Sophia. Some feminist scholars have reclaimed the Sophia tradition to claim their own experience in reading and interpreting the Bible.
© Arizona Daily Star
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