Barbara Newman discusses the feminine Holy Spirit, the Wisdom tradition as
revealing the feminine face of God, Minne as Goddess, and female Messiahs in
*From Virile Woman to WomanChrist* (1995). She also touches upon the
worship of Mary as Goddess. Joan Gibson discusses scholastic arguments
about whether or not Christ could have come in female form in "Could Christ
Have Been Born A Woman? A Medieval Debate," *Journal of Feminist Studies in
Religion* 8 (1992): 65-82. You might also want to look at Mechthild of
Magdeburg's identification of both Mary and the soul as Goddess, or her
treatment of God as Minne--for which also see Hadewijch and Marguerite
Porete. Though she's not a medievalist, Mary Daly contends that in the
Middle Ages "No matter how lengthily the theologians protested, it is
obvious that [Mary] outranked male images of divinity" (Pure Lust, 92).
Going beyond the medieval period, there are the Shakers, Christian
Scientists, the work of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and several others. Barbara
Taylor's *Eve and the New Jerusalem: Socialism and Feminism in the
Nineteenth Century* (1983) has some useful references (see esp pp 129, 182).
For both pre- and post-medieval occurrences, see the work of Rosemary
Radford Ruether (eg, *Women and Redemption*--1998, *WomanGuides*--1985).
For late Antiquity, see Ross Kraemer's *Maenads, Martyrs, Matrons,
Monastics* (1988). The *Nag Hammadi Library* is also useful (esp Apocryphon
of John, Hypostasis of the Archons, and Thunder: Perfect Mind), as is Elaine
Pagels' *Gnostic Gospels* (1989). Although Hilda Graef deplores worship as
opposed to veneration of Mary, she recognizes that Marian devotion often
blurs that line and provides several startling examples of exceptionally
high Mariology [including one of my personal favorites, the theory that she
was "the co-creatress (symplástes) with God even before she came into the
world" (Isidore Glabas (d. c1397), quoted in Graef, 345] in her *Mary: A
History of Doctrine and Devotion* Vol I: From the Beginnings to the Eve of
the Reformation (1963). Incidentally, I haven't been able to find out much
about this Isidore Glabas and would be grateful for any further information
on him.
Hope this helps,
Maeve
At 11:30 AM 11/4/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Dear list members,
> I'm wondering if any of you can suggest articles on
>"god as woman" or feminine aspects of god from the medieval
>(or any other) period that do not simply re-hash Caroline
>Bynum and/or Julian of Norwich? Has there been any recent
>new work in this field? Thanks
>
>Margaret Cormack [log in to unmask]
>Dept. of Philosophy and Religion fax: 843-953-6388
>College of Charleston tel: 843-953-8033
>Charleston, SC 29424-0001
>
>
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