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Under the Tree of Life: The Religion of a Feminist Christian
At the significant juncture of her 50th birthday, Gail Ramshaw looks unflinchingly at her life and her beliefs. Her reflections offer the reader a glimpse inside the heart and mind of woman, mother, scholar, daughter, writer, wife and teacher - enriched and encouraged for similar reflection.
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First published January 1, 1999
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January 28, 2023
A PROGRESSIVE FEMINIST OUTLINES HER OWN FAITH
Gail Ramshaw is professor of religion at LaSalle University in Philadelphia.
She wrote in the Introduction to this 1998 book, “Some Christians … are not feminist. Others go further, declaiming that it is not possible for Christians to be feminist, that women’s rights are a sin. And it is true that many a feminist … drifts away from the church. Yet others maintain that feminism is supported by biblical faith… This book is about how one woman wants to be and stay both… I want to be both a feminist and a Christian. Either option is an easier place to reside in than the center of the river.” (Pg. 5)
She continues, “I have decided to write these essays, not because I imagine my thoughts to be somehow unique, but rather because I assume that thousands of people will find my situation familiar… We countless feminist Christians need each other… In the art gallery of the university where I teach hangs a … 17th century Dutch painting… [of] Eve blessing the animals… Let’s join her there with the animals under the tree of life as I work out my description of feminist Christian religion.” (Pg. 7)
She recalls, “I came to feminism not in angry reaction against my rearing but as the natural development of my life… My dad’s countercultural valuing of a woman’s worth at the office corresponds with my daily experience growing up. I never had the sense there was something I was not allowed to do.” (Pg. 14)
She observes, “Often I reason that the natural world is all there is. But I choose to believe and to live a if there is more, a dimension beyond the natural cycles that gives a second, a third, yet another, level to what I see. I choose a religion beyond the natural.” (Pg. 34)
She states, “what is experienced remains a mystery. I see this mystery manifest in … Guadalupe, in the continuing faceting of Mary of Magdala…. In the records of0 first century Christians. But … My task is to help construct a Christianity that can resonate with, animate, and inspire the contemporary feminist.” (Pg. 45)
She explains, “Some people can walk well without a god: I desire to believe in such a God to assist my walking. But before this deity I do not grovel, a helpless peon before a mighty monarch. God is not a queen whose orders I follow blindly… God grants me the honor of my being. It heightens my sense of responsibility … Thus God is not quite my king or queen.” (Pg. 61)
She asserts, “Along with an increasing number of Christians, I do not believe that hell exists. There is no eternal pit of fire from which to be rescued… I see no evidence that God is busy meting out appropriate penalties… I am freed from a life kept small and constricted … by continuous rotation around myself. I am released from the lie that I am the center of the world. I have been opened up. I have been given a meaning beyond myself.” (Pg. 82)
She suggests, “If you grant that, at least in its fullest manifestations, religion is a communal worldview, then we must inquire into religion’s rituals, for rituals it will have. Rituals are the communal enactments of a group’s myths…” (Pg. 89)
She says, “Of the three kinds of Christian prayer---liturgical, contemplative and conversational---I am good at only the first. .. Liturgical prayer is more or less prescribed, its syntax straightforward, its form and content varying little and slowly over the centuries. Liturgical prayer is not about the me who it, but about the us whom faith hopes we become.” (Pg. 113)
She acknowledges, “It is not easy to let go of heaven. We Westerners want an everlasting personal consciousness…. I hope that by the time I am dying of terminal something, my Christian community has no problem with clergy-assisted suicide. Without a heaven, Christian life can be more than with one. God gives this life, and it is precious beyond comprehension… If God is to be honored and praised, such worship must happen here, not after death above the clouds… The goal of religious faith is not life after death, but the transformation of life by holiness and justice.” (Pg. 122-123)
She concludes, “In these essays I might have presented a simpler definition of religion. For example, here’s one: religion is a shared symbol system that give meaning to life in the face of death.” (Pg. 142)
This book will interest many feminist, and Christians of the ‘progressive’ sort.
Gail Ramshaw is professor of religion at LaSalle University in Philadelphia.
She wrote in the Introduction to this 1998 book, “Some Christians … are not feminist. Others go further, declaiming that it is not possible for Christians to be feminist, that women’s rights are a sin. And it is true that many a feminist … drifts away from the church. Yet others maintain that feminism is supported by biblical faith… This book is about how one woman wants to be and stay both… I want to be both a feminist and a Christian. Either option is an easier place to reside in than the center of the river.” (Pg. 5)
She continues, “I have decided to write these essays, not because I imagine my thoughts to be somehow unique, but rather because I assume that thousands of people will find my situation familiar… We countless feminist Christians need each other… In the art gallery of the university where I teach hangs a … 17th century Dutch painting… [of] Eve blessing the animals… Let’s join her there with the animals under the tree of life as I work out my description of feminist Christian religion.” (Pg. 7)
She recalls, “I came to feminism not in angry reaction against my rearing but as the natural development of my life… My dad’s countercultural valuing of a woman’s worth at the office corresponds with my daily experience growing up. I never had the sense there was something I was not allowed to do.” (Pg. 14)
She observes, “Often I reason that the natural world is all there is. But I choose to believe and to live a if there is more, a dimension beyond the natural cycles that gives a second, a third, yet another, level to what I see. I choose a religion beyond the natural.” (Pg. 34)
She states, “what is experienced remains a mystery. I see this mystery manifest in … Guadalupe, in the continuing faceting of Mary of Magdala…. In the records of0 first century Christians. But … My task is to help construct a Christianity that can resonate with, animate, and inspire the contemporary feminist.” (Pg. 45)
She explains, “Some people can walk well without a god: I desire to believe in such a God to assist my walking. But before this deity I do not grovel, a helpless peon before a mighty monarch. God is not a queen whose orders I follow blindly… God grants me the honor of my being. It heightens my sense of responsibility … Thus God is not quite my king or queen.” (Pg. 61)
She asserts, “Along with an increasing number of Christians, I do not believe that hell exists. There is no eternal pit of fire from which to be rescued… I see no evidence that God is busy meting out appropriate penalties… I am freed from a life kept small and constricted … by continuous rotation around myself. I am released from the lie that I am the center of the world. I have been opened up. I have been given a meaning beyond myself.” (Pg. 82)
She suggests, “If you grant that, at least in its fullest manifestations, religion is a communal worldview, then we must inquire into religion’s rituals, for rituals it will have. Rituals are the communal enactments of a group’s myths…” (Pg. 89)
She says, “Of the three kinds of Christian prayer---liturgical, contemplative and conversational---I am good at only the first. .. Liturgical prayer is more or less prescribed, its syntax straightforward, its form and content varying little and slowly over the centuries. Liturgical prayer is not about the me who it, but about the us whom faith hopes we become.” (Pg. 113)
She acknowledges, “It is not easy to let go of heaven. We Westerners want an everlasting personal consciousness…. I hope that by the time I am dying of terminal something, my Christian community has no problem with clergy-assisted suicide. Without a heaven, Christian life can be more than with one. God gives this life, and it is precious beyond comprehension… If God is to be honored and praised, such worship must happen here, not after death above the clouds… The goal of religious faith is not life after death, but the transformation of life by holiness and justice.” (Pg. 122-123)
She concludes, “In these essays I might have presented a simpler definition of religion. For example, here’s one: religion is a shared symbol system that give meaning to life in the face of death.” (Pg. 142)
This book will interest many feminist, and Christians of the ‘progressive’ sort.
October 15, 2014
Cool meeting the author in person!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews