Jesus: Miriam's Child, Sophia's Prophet : Critical Issues in Feminist Christology

by Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza

Hardcover, 1994

Status

Available

Call number

232.082

Genres

Religion & Spirituality

All Topics

Nonfiction

History

Publication

Continuum Intl Pub Group (1994), Edition: First Edition, 262 pages

Description

In Jesus: Miriam's Child, Sophia's Prophet Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza makes a unique contribution to two quite different discussions of Jesus the Christ. On the one hand, she looks at biblical christology from a critical feminist perspective in the tradition of liberation theology. On the other, she examines the feasibility of a feminine christology by considering such problems as Christian anti-Judaism, ideological justification of domination, religious exclusivism and the formation of patriarchal identity. Re-imagining the Jesus movement in a feminist key transcends the boundaries set by history, gender and doctrine. By assessing various Jesus traditions and interpretations in terms of whether they can engender liberating visions for today, Schüssler Fiorenza seeks to challenge and transform a Christianity dominated by masculinity and exclusivist theological frameworks so that it offers a vision of justice and well-being for all, the central image in which is the reign, the coming world, of God. This Cornerstones edition features a new extended introduction which takes into account the developments in the field since the work was originally published in 1994.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member stevenschroeder

Fiorenza critically engages biblical and feminist discourses about Jesus as the child of Miriam of Nazareth—pregnant, frightened, herself barely more than a child, one of the company of women “ravished by soldiers in war and occupation,” a young woman who did not remain alone with her fear

but ventured into the hill country to seek the support of Elizabeth—and as a prophet of Sophia, the Divine Wisdom of Jewish tradition. This book is not a “revolutionary biography” or a “postpatriarchal christology” but a “roundtable discussion” that includes feminist discourses as well as other strands of biblical research. Fiorenza's quest for Jesus is more “rhetorical” than “historical,” but “historical” quests are also rhetorical and political exercises undertaken in social and political contexts. To the extent that the book is “about” Jesus, it focuses on his liberating practice rather than his manhood. But it is as much about Miriam and Sophia, locating discourses about Jesus in the proclamation of women, in the encounter of Miriam and Elisabeth, and in the encounter with the powerful tradition of the female Wisdom-Sophia. The book is an important contribution to critical Christology, and it is a critical contribution to the quest for “rhetorics” of scholarly and popular Jesus traditions. It is also important for its serious confrontation with Christian anti-Judaism, and, in its location of the Jesus movement in the context of the basileia tou theou movement of Judaism, it lays a solid foundation for conversation among all the children of Rebecca—and their cousins.

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