Those Who Revise and Those Who Revolt Jo Ann Davidson Andrews University, [email protected]
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Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University Faculty Publications Theology & Christian Philosophy April 2005 Those Who Revise and Those Who Revolt Jo Ann Davidson Andrews University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/theology-christian- philosophy-pubs Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, and the Practical Theology Commons Recommended Citation Davidson, Jo Ann, "Those Who Revise and Those Who Revolt" (2005). Faculty Publications. Paper 50. http://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/theology-christian-philosophy-pubs/50 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Theology & Christian Philosophy at Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BY JO ANN DAVIDSON* tions in government, in medicine, in evidence for ancient goddess wor- law, in business, in the arts and, ship, arguing that such hints in the finally, in religion, we will be the end Old Testament occur in the denunci- of Him. We will change the world so ations of Canaanite worship. much that He won’t fit in anymore.’”2 They also cite examples from Feminist writing is often forceful, ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, bitter, and uncompromising. These Greece, and Rome, along with more THOSE WHO women, however, are not issuing minor kingdoms where the Primal impulsive, ungrounded complaints. Matrix supposedly ruled supreme. A They regularly couple their argu- major evidence for them is the thou- ments with accounts of offensive sands of female goddess figurines REVISE AND THOSE personal experiences. They call at- and carvings discovered by archaeol- tention to the pain women regularly ogists, coupled with the paucity of experience. Though they often dis- male idols. agree in their solutions, they are cor- One corollary of this alleged pri- rect: Serious problems exist that mal Old Testament shift to “male WHO REVOLT need to be addressed. god-ism” and patriarchy, feminists Feminists claim that Scripture maintain, is the conspicuous male has caused this degradation of bias in all subsequent historical doc- Modern feminism, religious pluralism, women. They quote the early uments. This occurs, they say, not and Scripture Church Fathers’ graphic descrip- only in Christian history—where tions of the “inferior sex”: “You are they point out the rarity of female very woman,” writes femi- “Everything I knew about the devil’s gateway; you are the saints as compared to the vast repre- nist Naomi Goldenberg, Judaism and Christianity involved unsealer of that [forbidden] tree; sentation of men—but also in “working to improve her accepting God as the ultimate in you are the first deserter of the national historical records, where own position in society or male authority figures. A society that divine law; you are she who per- women rarely have been included. that of women in general is accepted large numbers of women as suaded him who the devil was not Such male bias, they insist, has also “bringingE about the end of God.All religious leaders would be too differ- valiant enough to attack. You affected literary expression. feminists are making the world less ent from the biblical world to find destroyed so easily God’s image, In response, feminists seek to re- and less like the one described in the the book relevant, let alone look to it man [writing to Christian women write history—calling it HERstory. Bible and are thus helping to lessen for inspiration. concerning their dress]” (Tertullian, Feminist writer Merlin Stone refers the influence of Christ and Yahweh “‘God is going to change,’ I A.D. 160-225). to an ancient Sumerian myth in on humanity .... thought. ‘We women are going to However, the prime origin of all which the female, like Eve, makes “Contemporary feminist critics bring an end to God. As we take posi- these accumulated abuses, they wrong choices, but is instead deified. of religion can be placed on a spec- argue, occurred even before the for- By contrast, Stone notes, the Eve of trum ranging from those who revise *Jo Ann Davidson teaches systematic mation of the canon with an alleged biblical patriarchy has been to those who revolt.”1 theology at the Seventh-day Adventist pivot away from an ancient matriar- “damned by all subsequent genera- Goldenberg’s own words place Theological Seminary in Berrien chal society and its worship of the tions for her deed.”3 her in the “revolt” category: Springs, Michigan. Mother Goddess. They cite seeming From the biblical narrative of 34 35 Hosea, they now celebrate Gomer’s the tree of life, the tree of knowledge Some feminists now endorse witchcraft, which they argue is desertion of her husband and bla- was also a symbol associated with one of the many lost “arts” of ancient goddess religion, a treasured tant prostitution. Queen Jezebel, the Goddess in earlier mythology. feminists suggest, represents flour- Moreover, under the old mythical remnant that received its “bad reputation” only through ishing female pagan worship in and social reality ...a woman as persistent male suppression. They claim that witchcraft was forced Israel. priestess was the vehicle for divine Along with this, feminists adjust wisdom and revelation.”4 into hiding because of male determination to destroy any the spelling of words. For example, Modern feminists often insist remnants of female power. But now, they maintain, Wicca is finally theology becomes “thealogy”to avoid that the Christian patriarchy-stained the masculine gender of theos. Scripture forces all women into sub- being liberated from male destruction. Some feminists now endorse mission to all men, reminding us witchcraft, which they argue is one how even the Church Fathers inter- of the many lost “arts” of ancient preted the canon. Interestingly, radi- prophetic religions (Judaism, Chris- confidently describe the ancient goddess religion, a treasured rem- cal feminists don’t seem to question tianity, Islam) met the Middle East- matriarchal society as a now-lost nant that received its “bad reputa- this early church exegesis. With their ern goddess practices, powerful utopia, or “Paradise.” tion” only through persistent male acceptance of the Church Fathers’ interests came into conflict. Mascu- Critics of feminist re-interpreta- suppression. They claim that witch- position on women (by which they line self-control, social authority, tion of history decry this selectivity. craft was forced into hiding because unwittingly reflect early Church and theological construction (a Joan Townsend, anthropologist and of male determination to destroy Fathers’ male interpretation read masculine God) were all bound to archaeologist, insists that the God- any remnants of female power. But into Scripture long ago), feminist see the Goddess temple worship as dess movement is flawed by its “arm now, they maintain, Wicca is finally authors snarl that Scripture as a extremely threatening. Since the chair” archaeology and survey of being liberated from male destruc- whole degrades women and that patriarchal religions won the battle, ancient history: “The existence of a tion. centuries of male dominance have their scriptural and cultural author- ‘universal’ or Mediterranean/Euro- Connected closely with this, fem- clouded modern minds from realiz- ities became ‘orthodoxy,’ and the pean-wide Goddess religion, which inists sometimes affirm the symbol ing this. female-oriented fertility religion is claimed to have existed from the of witchcraft—the snake or serpent: became foul deviance.”5 Upper Paleolithic through the neo- “It is only from the historical per- Questioning Feminist In support of what feminists por- lithic and beyond, cannot be validat- spective that the story of Eve taking Reconstruction tray as primeval Mother Goddess ed. The supposition that there ex- counsel from a serpent makes any Historical Selectivity. Although worship, many seek to authenticate isted a peaceful matrilineal/ma- sense. The fact that the serpent, an their historical analysis is extensive, an ancient matriarchal culture of trilocal kinship organization and/or ancient prophetic or oracular sym- too often feminist writers exhibit supposed peace and tranquility. In so matriarchy as a political organiza- bol of the Goddess, advises Eve, the great selectivity in their research. doing, they somehow ignore exten- tion in these areas during that peri- prototypical woman, to disobey a Major theories are propounded sive evidence of weapons found in od is also unfounded....Sadly,it is male god’s commands is surely not without substantiation. It is argued, tombs of even the earliest archaeo- this kind of pseudo-history that just an accident. Nor is it an accident for example, that the whole basis for logical sites. They exclude the many many women listen to, partly be- that Eve in fact follows the advice of biblical “male god-ism” is to prop up ancient inscriptions also discovered cause it is so readily available, and the serpent; that, in disregard of the male ego, citing Mother Goddess by archaeologists that describe gro- because it appeals to them by giving Jehovah’s commands, she eats from history as support for their argu- tesque wars and butchery carried out the illusion of an effective means of the sacred tree of knowledge. Like ment: “When the patriarchal, by female gods. Instead, feminists acquiring social and political power 36 37 Increasing recognition has been expressed that throughout the symbol for woman could not be tive to previous error. overstressed. ‘The image of the Increasing recognition has been Old and New Testaments women are affirmed not only in Goddess inspires women to see our- expressed that throughout the Old home/family administration, but also in public and religious spheres. selves as divine, our bodies as sacred, and New Testaments women are The roles of women in Scripture are varied and vigorous. the changing phases of our lives as affirmed not only in home/family holy ...God is in all,and God exists administration, but also in public At first glance, males may appear to predominate by sheer numbers.