Dr. Keith Lloyd Kent State University Stark [email protected] Mythos consists of the stories, Of all the cultural mythos that words, and surround us, the gendered ones images we seem the most prevalent, powerful, use to fit the facts of and “natural.” the world to experience. The Christian faith emerged within a gendered mythos and its theology We often aren’t and philosophy adapted to and aware of shaped them. our own mythos … Then, and now, believers struggle with how gender and theology can  I grew up in a home with pretty strict gender boundaries… work positively together.  Dad worked long hours and was the enforcer.  Mom taught piano, cooked, and All of this is embodied the figures of cleaned. and Shekinah.  My older sister lorded over me and worried about boys and hair.  And me, I didn’t seem to fit…  Philo “drew on the figure of from Judaism’s own intermediary theology…  In some biblical and extra-biblical writings, Wisdom, a personified aspect of , was an agent of creation and salvation, pre-existent with God in heaven.  Philo occasionally makes her mother to the .  But such language seems to be symbolic only. Certainly, Philo envisioned no incarnation of this “Son” to earth.”

Earl Doherty The Puzzle Supplementary Article No. 5 TRACING THE CHRISTIAN LINEAGE IN ALEXANDRIA  The divine Logos is son of God and Wisdom

 God for father, who is as well Father of all things, and for mother Wisdom, through whom all things came into genesis; De Prof., § 20; M. i. 562, P. 466 (Ri. iii. 133).

Earl Doherty The Jesus Puzzle Supplementary Article No. 5 TRACING THE CHRISTIAN LINEAGE IN ALEXANDRIA  Proverbs 8:1-36

“By the gate, Wisdom calls aloud: ‘Men, it is to  In the Hebrew Bible, you I call . . . I am wisdom was Wisdom, I bestow personified as shrewdness, and show the “coming to earth, way to knowledge and although there was prudence. never any thought of The Lord created me the her being physically beginning of his works . . . when he set the heavens incarnated.” in their place I was there . . . I was at the Lord’s side Proverbs 3:19: By wisdom each day . . . Happy is the the LORD laid the earth's man who keeps to my foundations, by ways.” understanding he set the

Supplementary Article No. 5 heavens in place; EarlEarl Doherty Doherty The The Jesus Jesus Puzzle Puzzle Supplementary Article No. 5 TRACINGTRACING THE THE CHRISTIAN CHRISTIAN LINEAGE LINEAGEININ ALEXANDRIA ALEXANDRIA  The , the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible used by the early Christians, included Baruch, which in 3:37 “gives us a line which, even though originally intended as a reference to the Torah (the “Law” contained in the five biblical books of Moses which mainstream rabbinic thought identified with Wisdom), may have had a profound influence on the future:”

“Thereupon wisdom appeared on earth and lived among men.”

Earl Doherty The Jesus Puzzle Supplementary Article No. 5 TRACING THE CHRISTIAN LINEAGE IN ALEXANDRIA  “The Epistle to the Hebrews, in a profusion of Platonic imagery (1:2-3), declares the Son to be "the heir to the whole universe, and through whom he [God] created all orders of existence: the Son who is the effulgence of God’s splendor and the stamp of God’s very being, and sustains the universe by his word of power" (NEB).  This quotation “is very close to a passage from the most important non-Philonic document to survive from Hellenistic Judaism, one which was almost certainly written in Alexandria during Philo’s lifetime, though it is not by him.  This is the Wisdom of , included in the Apocrypha section of most Old Testaments. The unknown writer of this work came at the end of a long line of Jewish thinking about the figure of divine Wisdom.”

Earl Doherty The Jesus Puzzle Supplementary Article No. 5 TRACING THE CHRISTIAN LINEAGE IN ALEXANDRIA  Judaism had its own intermediary figure going back centuries, certainly as old as Plato. For the Jews, God never became quite so inaccessible, but among the scribes of the period following the Exile, God was presented as making himself known and working in the world through a part of himself they called “Wisdom.”  This was no “Son” of God, however, for the figure of Wisdom was a female. (The grammatical gender of [hokma] “wisdom” in Hebrew is feminine.)

Earl Doherty The Jesus Puzzle Supplementary Article No. 5 TRACING THE CHRISTIAN LINEAGE IN ALEXANDRIA  Wisdom (Hebrew hokma, a feminine noun) is personified in Proverbs not only as a woman but as a preexistent entity with Yahweh.

"The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way," says Lady Wisdom, "before his works of old,... and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him“ (Prov. 8:22,30).

 It was through Wisdom that Yahweh "founded the earth" (Proverbs 3:19), she is "a tree of life" to those who lay hold of her (3:18), and she offers to reward all who seek her: "I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me" (8:17). by Ronald L. Eckerfrom the book ’And Adam Knew Eve’ from Hodge&Braddoc Website  In the Apocrypha, Lady Wisdom is identified with the Torah or biblical law ( 24:23; Baruch 4:1).  In the , the preexistent Word (Greek Logos) at the beginning of the is reminiscent of Wisdom.

In I Cor. 1:24 Paul calls Christ "the wisdom of God" (Greek Theou Sophia). • There is archeological evidence that at least some  It is possible that one of her pre-Exilic ancient Hebrews antecedents was as female consort to perceived of Yahweh, under the influence of Yahweh as surrounding Semitic religions. having a consort  Wisdom took on a status and personality or female of her own. Some scholars claim that she companion. • This could be the was never anything more than a poetic origin of the personification of certain activities of God, mysterious Lady but the language used of her speaks more Wisdom found in than this. Proverbs and the  Helmer Ringgren, whose seminal book Apocrypha. (She is Word and Wisdom (1947) is widely cited in in some of the this field, says (p.104) that Wisdom was Gnostic texts as not an abstraction but “a concrete being, well.) self-existent beside God.”

Earl Doherty The Jesus Puzzle Supplementary Article No. 5 TRACING THE CHRISTIAN LINEAGE IN ALEXANDRIA Graffiti “from the eighth century B.C.E., found on walls and storage jars at two sites,  The goddess Asherah was the consort of El ("god"), the supreme god of Canaan and father Khirbet el-Kom of the popular Baal. and Kuntillet Ajrud, in Israel.  In the Bible her name often appears as ha (See Dever’s Recent asherah, meaning "the" asherah. In such Archaeological instances the reference is not to the goddess but Discoveries and Biblical to a symbol of her, an object (in the plural Research). asherim) that was apparently a sacred pole, tree, The graffiti or group of trees (hence the translation includes blessings "groves") at Israelite sanctuaries or "high places" such as, as well as by altars of Baal. "I bless you by Yahweh of  The erecting of asherim was among the "evil" deeds of kings like Ahab and Manasseh, and Samaria and by his asherah," and

cutting the things down was a regular chore of … en.wikipedia.org100 × 276Search by image "right" kings like Hezekiah and Josiah. "I bless you by Asherah Yahweh of Teiman  The presence of Asherah or her symbol at places where Yahweh, the biblical God of the Hebrews, and by his was worshipped raises the question of whether asherah." the Canaanite goddess was considered also to be the consort of Yahweh. by Ronald L. Eckerfrom the book ’And Adam Knew Eve’ from Hodge&Braddoc Website An apocryphal book written in Alexandria about the middle of the first century B.C.  But by the time we get to the Wisdom of Solomon we can see a clear and exotic blending of Wisdom with the Logos.  Wisdom of Solomon 7:22-30: “. . . she rises from the power  Wisdom is now the divine power active in the world, the of God, a pure effluence of the spirit that pervades and glory of the Almighty . . . She governs all things. is the brightness that streams from everlasting light, the  She is the Logos, but flawless mirror of the active without the name. She is power of God and the image God’s “throne-partner,” a step of his goodness . . . She spans away from Christ sitting at the the world in power from end right hand of God. to end, and orders all things  She, too, is pre-existent, an benignly.” agent of creation.

Earl Doherty The Jesus Puzzle Supplementary Article No. 5 TRACING THE CHRISTIAN LINEAGE IN ALEXANDRIA  8: 2 Her I loved and sought after from my youth; I sought to take her for my bride and was enamored of her beauty.

8:17 b That immortality lies in 8: 16 Entering my kinship with Wisdom, house, I shall take my 18 great delight in love of her, repose beside her; and unfailing riches in the For association with her works of her hands; involves no bitterness And that in associating with her and living with her no there is prudence,and fair grief, renown in sharing her but rather joy and discourses,I went about seeking gladness… to take her for my own.  Personified Wisdom also represents part of a widespread tendency in Near Eastern religions to strip off certain aspects of a deity and turn them into separate divine figures.  They began life simply as qualities of a higher god, but gradually, as more was said and thought about them, they took on a life of their own.  … These separated aspects are called “hypostases” and the process “hypostatization.”

Earl Doherty The Jesus Puzzle Supplementary Article No. 5 TRACING THE CHRISTIAN LINEAGE IN ALEXANDRIA • “the worship of [Ishtar] was very popular in Judah and in the city of Jerusalem before its  “Wisdom may also have been pushed destruction in 586 B.C. into the spotlight by a scribal • It was practiced by the establishment which wanted to kings, the princes, and the counter a fascination for the people in general (Jer. Phoenician goddess Ishtar. 44:17).  The latter’s sexual persona and • it appears that she was licentious cult had long exerted an worshiped in private influence in Israel. family shrines. The texts  [Like “Sophia” Isthtar had also stood indicate that fathers, by the gate of her temple, though her mothers, and children seductive call had been to something a were involved in her cult little more provocative.] (Jer. 7:18).  One way to undercut the intruder’s • Her worship was well appeal was to borrow her features and accepted by the people.” turn them into something that could be approved of and controlled. Angel Manuel Rodriguez. “Jeremiah 7:18” Biblical Research Institute.  The figure of Wisdom probably owes https://www.adventistbiblicalresearch.org something to an expurgated Ishtar.” /materials/bible-ot-texts/jeremiah-718

Earl Doherty The Jesus Puzzle Supplementary Article No. 5 TRACING THE CHRISTIAN LINEAGE IN ALEXANDRIA Jeremiah 44: 15 Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other , along with all the women who were present—a large assembly—and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah, 16 “We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD! 17 We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. 18 But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine.” 19 The women added, “When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did Queen of Heaven in the Harvest Moon | Gray not our husbands know that we were making cakes Crawfordgraycrawford.net impressed with her image and pouring out drink offerings to her?”

The metaphor of Yahweh and the Hebrew people as husband and wife is found first in the book of Hosea, and continues in the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. It is a troubled marriage, for despite Yahweh’s "love toward the children of Israel," they "look to other gods" (Hos. 3:1). Galatians 4:  The Wisdom of Solomon also shows us 4 But when the that the time was ripe for the Logos and fullness of time Wisdom to make a journey into the had come, God world. sent forth his Son, born of  The earlier Lady Wisdom of Proverbs woman, born who “stood by the gate and called” is under the law, undoubtedly speaking metaphorically, in 5 to redeem a spiritual sense, for the period those who immediately after the Exile would have were under the been too early to envision even the law, so that we concept of incarnation. might receive adoption as  But by the turn of the era, among both sons…. Jews and Greeks, the need for a transcendent God to send his representative, his revealer, was being

acutely felt. Earl Doherty The Jesus Puzzle Supplementary Article No. 5 TRACING THE CHRISTIAN LINEAGE IN ALEXANDRIA In the New Testament, the preexistent Word  So much of the world was (Greek Logos) at the unfathomable. Wars, strife and beginning of the evil spirits seemed to be winning. Gospel of John is reminiscent of  Humanity desperately looked for Wisdom, and in 1 aid, direction and outright Cor. 1:24 Paul calls Christ "the wisdom salvation. of God" (Greek  The need is reflected in lines like Theou Sophia). these, although this writer’s

hallmark is one of optimism by Ronald L. Eckerfrom the book ’And Adam Knew Eve’ from (Wisdom of Solomon, 9:10): Hodge&Braddoc Website “Send her [wisdom] forth from the holy heavens, and from thy glorious throne bid her come down, so that she may labor at my side and I may learn Earl Doherty The Jesus Puzzle Supplementary Article No. 5 what pleases thee.” TRACING THE CHRISTIAN LINEAGE IN ALEXANDRIA  Paul himself tells us that Christ “is the very image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4), and in 1 Corinthians 8:6 he has this to say:

“For us there is one God, the Father, from whom all being comes . . . and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came to be and we through him.”

 Paul and other early writers are speaking of Christ in exactly the same language as we find in the broader philosophical world, both Greek and Jewish.  Their idea of the spiritual Son has absorbed both the features and roles of the Logos and personified Wisdom. … Paul is drawing on the prominent ideas of his day and the deeper heritage which lay behind them.”

Earl Doherty The Jesus Puzzle Supplementary Article No. 5 TRACING THE CHRISTIAN LINEAGE IN ALEXANDRIA  In all known religions of the ancient world, there were both male and female gods who often married.  The power of creation was seen as both masculine and feminine.  Despite the Jewish Patriarchal God, in Hebrew thought, the idea of the feminine took at least four forms:  Asherah, consort of El (Jeremiah)  Wisdom personified (Proverbs)  Wisdom hypostatized (Wisdom of Solomon)  Blended with the Logos (Wisdom of Solomon, Philo).

 The new testament adapted the latter point of view, and used it to explain Jesus as the divine Logos, the “wisdom of God”-- Theou Sophia).  The blending of Sophia and the Logos in the figure of Christ, however, kept even the patriarchal, though some believed the to be a feminine force.

 Christians and Jews alike both Most religions in the Middle sought the feminine in the East had a father, mother and figures of Mary, Sophia, and son trinity.

“Shekinah.” Horus, Osiris and Isis plaquewww.ancientsculpture.net  In Jewish mysticism,  In Christian later to become mysticism, the figure known as the of co- kabbalah, the existed with more feminine was traditional views. identified as Shekinah, the “glory  Sophia’s role of of God” intercessor was absorbed by Mary.  The majestic presence or manifestation of God which has descended to "dwell" among men.  Like Memra (= "word"; "logos") and "Ye ara" (i.e., "Kabod" = "glory"), the term was used by the Rabbis in place of "God" where the ḳ anthropomorphic expressions of the Bible were no longer regarded as proper.

SHEKINAH (lit. "the dwelling"): By: Kaufmann Kohler, Ludwig Blau Jewish Encyclopedia.  The word itself is taken from such passages as speak of God dwelling either in the Tabernacle or among the people of Israel  (see Ex. xxv. 8, xxix. 45-46; Num. v. 3, xxxv. 34; I Kings vi. 13; Ezek. xliii. 9; Zech. ii. 14 [A. V. 10]).  Occasionally the name of God is spoken of as descending (Deut. xii. 11; xiv. 23; xvi. 6, 11; xxvi. 2; Neh. i. 9).  It is especially said that God dwells in Jerusalem (Zech. viii. 3; Ps. cxxxv. 21; I Chron. xxiii. 25), on Mount Zion (Isa. viii. 18; Joel iv. [A. V. iii.] 17, 21; Ps. xv. 1, lxxiv. 2), and in the Temple itself (Ezek. xliii. 7).  Allusion is made also to "him that dwelt in the bush" (Deut. xxxiii. 16, ); and it is said that "the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai" (Ex. xxiv. 16).  Since the Shekinah is light, those passages of the Apocrypha and New Testament which mention radiance, and in which the Greek text reads δόξα, refer to the Shekinah, there being no other Greek equivalent for the word.  Thus, according to Luke ii. 9, "the glory of the Lord [δόζα υρίου] shone round about them" (comp. II Peter i. 17; Eph. i. 6; II Cor. iv. 6);  Ḳand it is supposed that in John i. 14 and Rev. xxi. 3 the words σκηνοῦν and σκηνή were expressly selected as implying the Shekinah.  The idea that God dwells in man and that man is His temple (e.g., Col. ii. 9; II Cor. vi. 16; John xiv. 23) is merely a more realistic conception of the resting of the Shekinah on man. SHEKINAH (lit. "the dwelling"): By: Kaufmann Kohler, Ludwig Blau Jewish Encyclopedia.  “before the beginning was the En Sof, the Source of all things. En Sof is everything and nothing...It is all potential yet nothing manifested” Shekinah  There is no place that the En Sof is not found, for it is reflects the infinite. Thus, in order to begin the process of Greek creation, for the potential to become actual, the En Sof had to first withdraw from Itself to create a tiny concept of vacuum. Sophia found in  This withdrawal or contraction is called Tsimtsum in Kabbalah. Proverbs, the Wisdom  Through this, a singular point, a primordial vessel of Solomon, was created, and into this vessel the essence of En Sof could flow and be concentrated to such a degree that and Philo. creation burst forth in a Big Bang.  It is this vessel, into which the concentration of the God essence flows, that is the Shekinah, the Feminine Womb or Birth Canal of Creation.

Universal Kabbalah Network http://www.universalkabbalah.net/Shekinah  “On this Tree of Life there are three pillars, the Pillar of Force (usually depicted on the Right), the Pillar of Form (usually depicted on the Left), and the Pillar of Balance (the middle pillar). The Pillar of Force is traditionally seen as the Masculine energy, with Chokmah, the Divine Father, Sol, at its top.”  … “The Pillar of Form, on the other hand, is usually ascribed to the Feminine energy, with Binah, the Divine Mother, Luna, at its top.”  … “it is the Shekinah that is ascribed by Kabbalists to be the Middle Pillar of Balance that unites the opposites, just as the soul allows for the opposites of body and spirit to unite, so too does the Shekinah play this role for us. Indeed, the Shekinah is the Soul of

Man, what Kabbalists call the Neshamah, for Untitled She has given a portion of Herself in order for Documentwww.tarotofthe each human to come into being in this world.” pomegranate.com

Universal Kabbalah Network http://www.universalkabbalah.net/Shekinah  A feminine word in Hebrew, Shekhina is the Talmudic term for the visible and audible manifestations of the Deity’s presence on Years later Nimoy’s Earth. Over time, Shekhina came to rabbi explained to him represent much more — a softer, empathetic that the entry of feminine counterpart to God who could Shekhina into the argue for humanity’s sake, comfort the poor sanctuary to bless the and sick, and stand as the mother of Israel. congregation could cast a fatally blinding  Nimoy’s first encounter with the mystique light. Such a powerful of Shekhina began in synagogue at the age memory inspired the of 8. “The men were chanting, shouting and actor/photographer to praying in an Orthodox service. It was very explore the feminine passionate, very theatrical,” said Nimoy. aspect of God in His father told him not to look, as the human form, worshippers averted their eyes during including the issues of blessings recited by the kohanim, or sensuality and descendants of the priestly class. “I was sexuality. chilled by the whole thing,” he said. The Catholic Encyclopedia states, “In [Mary’s] Fiat of faith, she received salvation for all. . . . Mary’s mediatorship is to be understood on the level of  In the Roman Catholic the solidarity of all Tradition, the feminine aspect of God is identified mankind which is in need with Jesus’ mother, who was of redemption. . . .The elevated in four edicts: function of Mary in  1) the title “Mother of God” salvation determines her (AD 431) the Council of relation to the Church. . . . Roman Catholic Mariology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaen.wikipedia.org Ephesus Mary is mother of the  2) the Immaculate Church under this more Conception (1854) One can individualistic aspect, since  3) the Perpetual Virginity of trace the she is effectively concerned Mary (after the 7th century) Sophia for the salvation of each  4) the Assumption of Mary In traditions individual” (pages 898– “1950 … Pope Pius XII directly to defined the doctrine of 901). “Mary’s bodily assumption Mariology. into heaven.” What is Mariology? Got Questions?.org http://www.gotquestions.org/Mariology.html Sophia (wisdom) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

a 6th century masterpiece of Byzantine architecture in Istanbul; built as a Christian church, Hagia Sophia (from the Greek: converted to a mosque in 1453, and Ἁγία Σοφία, "Holy Wisdom" made into a museum in the middle of the 20th century. the Free Dictionary.

 In the mystical theology of the , Holy Wisdom is understood as the Divine Logos who became incarnate as Jesus Christ, this belief being sometimes also expressed in some Eastern Orthodox icons. Saint St  In Eastern Orthodoxy humility is the Sophia the highest wisdom and is to be sought Martyr more than any other virtue. Russia n  Not only does humility cultivate the Hand- Holy Wisdom, but it (in contrast to painte d knowledge) is the defining quality that Easter grants people salvation and entrance n Ortho into Heaven. dox  The Hagia Sophia or Holy Wisdom ...ww w.pint church in was the erest.c religious center of the Eastern Orthodox om Church for nearly a thousand years. A modern interpretation

 “The name ChristoSophia includes both the masculine and feminine image of the divine. Sophia is the Greek name for the feminine figure of divine Wisdom in ancient Judaism. Many early Christians viewed the Christ as both the Word (Logos) and Wisdom (Sophia) of God.  Including both Christ and Sophia in the name Christ-Sophia restores the Divine Feminine in .”

• The Sophia that has always been acknowledged by esoteric Christianity is the key to unlock the Christian wisdom that is needed for our time. • Recognizing the Sacred Feminine within Christian tradition leads to a renewed vision of the sacredness of the natural world and the value of mystical experience. ChristoSophia | Blade And Chalicebladeandchalice.wordpress.co Divine Feminine in Christianity, ChristoSophiawww.christosophia.org m  The desire for an expression of the feminine in Hebrew thought is there from its earliest history, at first in mixed devotion to Ishtar and Asherah.  In a similar manner, the idea of a personified Sophia is established in the  The desire for a liberator and the desire for a feminine mediator finds fullest expression in the Wisdom of Solomon and Philo.  Jewish kabbalah continues to view Sophia/Shekinah as a divine figure.  New Testament writers mix the imagery of the Logos with Sophia in the figure of Christ. We are born into a gendered world, and it seems natural to desire both masculine and  The ancient church found various feminine archetypes. ways to incorporate the feminine into orthodox (there were other non- The concept of a Orthodox interpretations) Christian patriarchal God of the theology: Old and New  Roman Catholics in the veneration of Testament has met Mary many historical challenges.  Eastern Orthodox in the veneration of Haggia Sophia How can the church  Groups like ChristoSophia seek to rhetorically address find expression for the feminine in these issues of mythos Christian belief. and logos in a way  Alexandria was the origin of most all that responds to our the interpretations. need for a feminine archetype?