What do you think?
Rate this book
Seeking the Risen Christa
The figure of the feminine side of Christ is widely present in art and in feminist theology, but the risen Christa has not so far been explored. In this ground-breaking book, Nicola Slee, writing in a mixture of reflection, poetry and images, revisits many of the central narratives of the gospels and key Christological themes, re-imagining them through the eyes and voice of the Christa, offering original and creative perspectives as a resource for theology and spirituality. This book is in quest of a risen Christa who invites women and men to leave behind a clinging, dependent relationship with God and to discover a wider, freer Christ.
- GenresTheology
175 pages, Paperback
First published March 18, 2011
4 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Read
November 30, 2013The invite for Why Words Matter: Expansive Language & Liturgical Leadership said: "This ecumenical event will feature EDS professor Rev. Dr. Stephen Burns Associate Professor of Liturgical Theology and the Study of Anglicanism, co-editor of the book “Presiding Like a Woman,” [...]"
Curious (though also really uncomfortable with gender essentialism), I looked it up. The only area libraries that had a copy were ones I wasn't sure I could get access to, so I decided to just buy a copy online.
When I did, the system suggested other books by Nicola Slee, including this one -- which was much more appealing to me.
I really liked the introductory chapter, with its overview of extant female Christ imagery (I hadn't realized there was so much of this -- though as Slee notes, most of it is Christ Crucified, which I have almost zero interest in) and exploration of some of its development and problematics.
The remainder of the book moves through Jesus' life -- well, one chapter on Jesus' early life through to the temptations in the wilderness and then one chapter each on Maundy Thursday/Good Friday/Holy Saturday/Easter Sunday. Slee refers to the book as "a series of poems, prayers and reflections on the Christa" (p. 3), which is accurate, and which disappointed me as I'd been hoping for a something that dug more deeply into theology and the inherited texts we have about Jesus. That said, some of the poetry is really striking and for me was worth the whole book.
Taking the book for what it is, my big criticism is the simplistic way it treats gender.
I'm uncomfortable with the universalizing of experience -- in talking about Maundy Thursday, Slee says, "women don't need to be taught about the washing and care of bodies; this is something they have done down the centuries, and continue to do so, both as everyday, domestic service and as the lavish, erotic cherishing of the body of the beloved in intimate lovemaking. Keeping watch at the place of agony and betrayal is another experience that women have known for centuries: as carers of the ill and dying, as those who know what it is to watch and wait, as those who have remained faithful in prayer" (43). I'm not disputing that certain tasks/experiences have historically been women's domain, but to say, "women don't need to be taught about the washing and care of bodies" because this is something they have always done and continue to do??? Slee may have come of age in the 1970s, but this book was published in 2011...
And it perhaps goes without saying that trans* women's experiences are completely elided in this volume.
Curious (though also really uncomfortable with gender essentialism), I looked it up. The only area libraries that had a copy were ones I wasn't sure I could get access to, so I decided to just buy a copy online.
When I did, the system suggested other books by Nicola Slee, including this one -- which was much more appealing to me.
I really liked the introductory chapter, with its overview of extant female Christ imagery (I hadn't realized there was so much of this -- though as Slee notes, most of it is Christ Crucified, which I have almost zero interest in) and exploration of some of its development and problematics.
The remainder of the book moves through Jesus' life -- well, one chapter on Jesus' early life through to the temptations in the wilderness and then one chapter each on Maundy Thursday/Good Friday/Holy Saturday/Easter Sunday. Slee refers to the book as "a series of poems, prayers and reflections on the Christa" (p. 3), which is accurate, and which disappointed me as I'd been hoping for a something that dug more deeply into theology and the inherited texts we have about Jesus. That said, some of the poetry is really striking and for me was worth the whole book.
Taking the book for what it is, my big criticism is the simplistic way it treats gender.
I'm uncomfortable with the universalizing of experience -- in talking about Maundy Thursday, Slee says, "women don't need to be taught about the washing and care of bodies; this is something they have done down the centuries, and continue to do so, both as everyday, domestic service and as the lavish, erotic cherishing of the body of the beloved in intimate lovemaking. Keeping watch at the place of agony and betrayal is another experience that women have known for centuries: as carers of the ill and dying, as those who know what it is to watch and wait, as those who have remained faithful in prayer" (43). I'm not disputing that certain tasks/experiences have historically been women's domain, but to say, "women don't need to be taught about the washing and care of bodies" because this is something they have always done and continue to do??? Slee may have come of age in the 1970s, but this book was published in 2011...
And it perhaps goes without saying that trans* women's experiences are completely elided in this volume.
April 23, 2021
I absolutely love Nicola Slee, having picked up her 'Book of Mary' quite by chance in an abbey bookshop some years ago. 'Seeking the Risen Christa,' is yet another of her books that I found thought-provoking, meaningful, and moving. She has a wonderful way of drawing out, what are quite subversive, themes gently and powerfully through a combination of prose and poetry, which I really enjoy. Here, Christ as female is explored in some depth, drawing on the story of The Passion for a guide. What would it mean to follow the crucified feminine, and how might that change our perception of the last week of Christ's life? Truly wonderful.
December 21, 2020
So interesting. Great to have new viewpoints. And to see there is a whole load of feminist theology I have not explored. Natality was new to me too. Exciting!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews