Putting Away Childish Things

A religious scholar argues that the Immaculate Conception, Hell, and other elements of Christianity are mere childish, sexist conventions hindering a true encounter with the Gospel. By the author of Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven. $30,000 ad/promo. Tour.

German theologian Ranke-Heinemann (Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven, 1990), who was barred from teaching by the Vatican because of her view that the Virgin Birth is a theological idea rather than a biological truth, discusses some of the traditional teachings of the Christian faith and the Catholic church in this pedantic and overly didactic volume. The author contends that the questing mind is vital to Christianity but that, instead of reason and intellectual honesty, the Church has too often given believers a set of fairy tales to which they must profess adherence or be branded as heretical. Her intent is to help doubters and skeptics along in their inquiries. Faith, she believes, must seek understanding. To this end, she argues that the Church's account of Jesus' birth and childhood is a fabrication. Similar treatment is given to the various miracle stories about Jesus. Almost nothing certain, she asserts, is known about Jesus except that he lived and was put to death. The rest is all veneer to advance theological and political points of view. Such is the case, for instance, in the story of Judas the traitor, an incident, argues the author, invented to advance an anti-Jewish agenda. In fact, Ranke-Heinemann argues that many of Catholicism's ``fairy tales'' reveal deeply rooted anti-Semitism and sexism. The author advances all of her assertions as if they are somehow startling, even though most have been made by Protestant scholars and others for years. She too easily confuses the Catholic Church that banned her with Christianity as a whole. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ranke-Heinemann must have figured that since she was already in trouble (dismissed from the Catholic University of Essen for denying the virgin birth), she might as well raise a few more hackles by shattering another round of myths. Although at times her logic is a bit self-serving--Bible verses that support her theses are accepted as proof, while those on the other side are dismissed--for the most part, she cuts through the mythology of Christianity like a knife through butter. The Christmas story? Forget it. History is silent about a disruptive census that forced people to register at their ancestral homes (Bethlehem, in Joseph and Mary's case). And even if there was such a census, Mary, as a woman, would not have been required to go. No, the journey to Bethlehem is only a plot device--necessary to fulfill Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. The miracles performed by Jesus, according to Ranke-Heinemann, are equally suspect. Jesus himself, we're told, rejected the whole concept of signs and miracles, and even Paul says nothing about miracles. Because there are so many inconsistencies in the Bible, Ranke-Heinemann has no trouble finding myths to explode--Good Friday, Easter, and the Ascension, among them. Though her writing has the feel of traditional American skepticism (despite the numerous citations to German works), her intent is not to be a faith-shatterer; her gripe is less with Jesus, whom she believes sought and found God, than with his church, which she sees as weighed down with inauthentic cultural baggage. This is radical religious history at its most contentious. Expect interest and controversy. Ilene Cooper

Ostensibly prompted by the urge to rediscover the Jesus of compassion buried "beneath a mountain of kitsch, tall tales, and church phraseology," this is actually a diatribe against Catholic doctrine and tradition and, by extension, most of orthodox Christianity. Ranke-Heinemann (Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven, LJ 12/90) makes some key points concerning anti-Jewish strains in the faith, as well as misogynist tendencies. Unfortunately, though, a spirit of anger runs rampant as she bulldozes her way through the events of Jesus' life, dismissing their historicity and surrounding theology almost off-hand. Skeptical readings of scripture can certainly stimulate new insights (e.g., John Dominic Crossan's Jesus, LJ 12/93), but in this case the bashing orgy leaves little energy for the deeper reading into Jesus' teachings the introduction implicitly promises.
Elise Chase, Forbes Lib., Northampton, Mass.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.