Under the Tree of Life: The Religion of a Feminist Christian - Softcover

Ramshaw, Gail

Softcover

ISBN 10: 082641110X ISBN 13: 9780826411105

Publisher: Continuum Intl Pub Group, 1998

Synopsis

With feminism grafted on to Christianity, how will the Church continue its growth? Asking this question in a series of personal essays that reflect on the phenomenon of religion, Gail Ramshaw proposes a way of Christian belief, worship and ethics that grows out of the Bible, Christian tradition, and feminist consciousness. The author presents feminist Christianity as she hopes it will be: intellectually respectable, communally shared, ritually profound and ethically inspiring.

About this title

From Booklist:

For Ramshaw, good theology is theology applicable to her own life. As a woman of faith, a teacher of religion, and an expert in liturgy, she presents her personal apologetics as to why and how she maintains her faith during what seems to be an uphill battle against patriarchy, traditionalism, and closed-mindedness. She discourses on such topics honestly and concisely, describing her own theology and how she manages to work her beliefs into praxis and, having grown up in a Bible-based church, justifying faithfulness to her tradition and denomination. There are some clear problems with her book. By "Protestant" she often means only Lutheran; she describes many rituals as "resurfacing" when they have existed in Catholic traditions all along; and there are some surprising omissions (no Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, only one Rosemary Radford Ruether) and some unfortunate inclusions (Starhawk) in the bibliography. Her reading and understanding of theology is solid, however, and her critical regard of feminist theology provides some enlightening caveats about feminist interpretation. Michael Spinella

From Library Journal:

Many people have written about feminism and the church; liturgical scholar Ramshaw (God Beyond Gender, Augsburg Fortress, 1995) continues the discussion with the thesis that the two are not incompatible. The essays collected here include personal experiences, historical background, and commentary on Christian writers. Ramshaw looks at the differences between different churches and argues that infrequent attendance does not necessarily mean a lack of involvement. This is a chronicle of one involved person finding a balance between feminism and church biases. Ramshaw's views are informative and straightforward but never confrontational; she is a prominent voice for inclusive language in church texts and advocates personal responsibility and participation in a community that suits her needs. Recommended for academic libraries.?Naomi Hafter, Broward Cty. P.L., Lauderdale, Florida.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Continuum Intl Pub Group
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 082641110X
• ISBN 13: 9780826411105
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 149