Visionary Women: Three Medieval Mystics

by Rosemary Radford Ruether

In Visionary Women , influential feminist theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether glimpses into the souls of three medieval mystics. Hildegard of Bingen, a self-taught theologian who developed a mystical secret language used in her community of mystics, became a traveling preacher and author. At the age of forty, Mechthild of Magdeburg was commanded by God to write down her visions, which resulted in seven books. Julian of Norwich prayed as a young child that she would see Christ's passion, that she would get deathly ill, and that she would long for God--all in her desire to focus her life solely on God--and He answered all three. Ruether describes the women as prophets with a God-given message for the church and society of their time. Her sympathetic overview evokes the new religious horizons they envisioned for Christianity. She discusses the three women's beliefs about God, theology, and their identity. Though they faced adversity, they challenged these notions as bold women in the faith, secure in their strong relationship with God. Visionary Women is an adaption from Ruether's award-winning book, Women and A Theological History . Readers will join in the long tradition of keeping the mystics' messages alive and relevant.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mysticism

79 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2001

About the author

Visiting Professor of Feminist Theology B.A. Scripps College; M.S., Ph.D., Claremont Graduate School

Rosemary Radford Ruether was the Carpenter Emerita Professor of Feminist Theology at Pacific School of Religion and the GTU, as well as the Georgia Harkness Emerita Professor of Applied Theology at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary. She had enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a scholar, teacher, and activist in the Roman Catholic Church, and was well known as a groundbreaking figure in Christian feminist theology.

Education

B.A. – Scripps College
M.S., Ph.D. – Claremont Graduate School

Recent Publications / Achievements

Christianity and Social Systems: Historical Constructions and Ethical Challenges (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2009)

Catholic Does Not Equal the Vatican: A Vision for Progressive Catholicism (New Press, 2008)

America, Amerikkka: Elect Nation and Imperial Violence(Equinox, 2007)

Encyclopedia of Women And Religion in North America, with Rosemary Skinner Keller (Indiana University Press, 2006)

Goddesses and the Divine Feminine: A Western Religious History (University of California Press, 2005)

Integrating Ecofeminism, Globalization, and World Religions(Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2005)

Mountain Sisters: From Convent To Community In Appalachia, Forward (University Press of Kentucky, 2004)

The Wrath of Jonah: The Crisis of Religious Nationalism in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (Fortress Press, 2002

Reviews

[oliver · Rating 2 out of 5]

fine for a book of its length (under 60 pages when notes are taken into account) and it does manage a fair amount of detail for what it is, but i was a little underwhelmed after Sexism and God Talk: Toward a Feminist Theology, which fundamentally changed the way i see god and human society. obviously i wasn't expecting every book of ruether's to reach that level, but this is literally just biography, without any comment on why this phenomena was so prominent in the medieval ages (beyond just these three women), how this fits into the "golden thread" of prophetic tradition which is such an important part of ruether's exegesis or what these women's visions mean for christianity or the catholic church as a whole. probably better as an introduction to how women have wielded power and godliness through the history of christianity.

[Catherine Corman · Rating 4 out of 5]

in Mechthild the focus is on the intense, intimate drama of the soul

-Rosemary Radford Ruether, Visionary Women