Our Mother Saint Paul

by Beverly Roberts Gaventa

In his epistles, Paul at various points uses maternal imagery to talk about his apostolic labors, sometimes actually referring to himself as a mother. For example, Paul writes that he must behave "like a nurse caring for her own children." Later, he writes, he "is in labor again" and must continue to nurse his fellow Christians with milk. These images, though known among earlier generations of Christians, today remain largely both unacknowledged and unexplored in thinking about Paul and his work. In Our Mother Saint Paul , Beverly Gaventa retrieves these images, explores their significance for understanding apostolic ministry, and demonstrates how they point beyond their original contexts and offer unique perspectives for understanding Paul's thought as well as the larger, cosmic understanding of the gospel.

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies, Religion, Christianity, Church, New Testament

232 pages, Paperback

First published June 19, 2007

Reviews

[Jake Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gaventa weaves themes of maternal imagery and the apocalyptic together in ways I had never even seen!
Her redefining of Sin and Death in Paul’s thought was incredibly compelling. Recommend if you are curious about Paul’s use of maternal imagery and other big concepts in his thought.

[Kate Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

So so so so interesting. Completely opened up Paul's letters for me. I only wish I had time to read it more slowly (alas, paper due) to be able to spend more time with the concepts -- it's draining to "unlearn" what has been done with his words while learning to read them well. Starts slow (I often thought, "this is really interesting; why is it written to be so dull?") but picks up quickly.

[W.e. Norman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am only about a third of the way through this, but it is very persuasive on the idea of St. Paul embracing feminine as well as masculine metaphors concerning salvation, mentoring, etc.