5. Damian’s Boy’s Club Apostle Paul (5 – 67?)
1 Timothy
I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume
authority over a man; she must be quiet.
1 Corinthians
“For man did not come from woman, but woman
from man; neither was man created for woman, but
woman for man.”
6. Damian’s Boy’s Club Tertullian (155-240)
On the Apparel of Women
“…do you not know that you are (each) an Eve? ...You are the
devil’s gateway: you are the unsealer of that (forbidden) tree: you are
the first deserter of the divine law: you are she who persuaded him
whom the devil was not valiant enough to attack. You destroyed
so easily God’s image,
man. On account of your
desert – that is, death –
even the Son of God had
to die.”
7. Damian’s Boy’s Club Jerome (347-420)
“You've already learned the miseries of marriage. It's like
unwholesome food, and now that you have relieved your heaving
stomach of its bile, why should you return to it again like a dog to its
vomit?”
On 1 Corinthians 7: 1
“...if it is good not to touch a woman, it is bad
to touch one: for there is no opposite to
goodness but badness.”
“Christ loves virgins more than others,
because they willingly give what is not
commanded them.”
8. Damian’s Boy’s Club Augustine of Hippo (354-430)
Literal Commentary on Genesis
“What is the difference whether it is in a
wife or a mother, it is still Eve the temptress
that we must beware of in any woman.”
Literal Commentary on Genesis
“Woman does not possess the image of God
in herself but only when taken together with
the male who is her head, so that the whole
substance is one image...
10. Damian’s Boy’s Club St. Peter Damian (1007-1072)
(To the Wives of Pastors)
“I speak to you, O charmers of the clergy, appetizing flesh of the
devil, that castaway from paradise, poison of the minds, death of
souls, companions of the very stuff of sin, the cause of your ruin.
You, I say, I exhort you women of
the ancient enemy, you bitches,
sows, screech-owls, night-owls,
bloodsuckers, she-wolves…
...come now, hear me, harlots,
prostitutes, with your lascivious
kisses, you wallowing places for fat
pigs, couches for unclean spirits…”
12. The Second Lateran Council (1139)
1. Clergy are no longer allowed to marry.
2. This was socially disruptive and took centuries to implement.
3. Why did the Church go this way?
13. The Second Lateran Council (1139)
1. Clergy are no longer allowed to marry.
2. This was socially disruptive and took centuries to implement.
3. Why did the Church go this way?
A. The spiritual dilemma: Women compete with God for the souls of men.
(1). How dedicated to Christ are you?
(2). Demonizing women; they are “The Gateway of the Devil”.
B. Ritual purity; Sex and impurity are seen as the same.
C. The institutionalizing of authority and control.
14. The Fourth Lateran Council (1215)
The Two Paths
“Aut maritus aut murus” (either marry or enclosure)
16. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
Doctor of the Church, prophet, writer, preacher, abbess, musician...
Anchoress
Abbess
17. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
Doctor of the Church, prophet, writer, preacher, abbess, musician...
Theologian
Mystic
Author
Visionary
“But when I had passed my youth and
attained the age of perfect strength, I heard
a voice from heaven saying ... write what
you see and hear.”
18. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
Doctor of the Church, prophet, writer, preacher, abbess, musician...
Theologian
Mystic
Author
Visionary
“So God gave him (Adam) a helper which
is his mirror image, woman, in whom the
whole human race lay hidden...
...And the man and the woman were thus
complementary, so that one works through
the other, because man is not called ‘man’
without woman, nor is woman without
man, called ‘woman’”.
19. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
Doctor of the Church, prophet, writer, preacher, abbess, musician...
“God too cannot be seen, but can
be known through his creation, just
as the body of a man cannot be
seen on account of his clothes.
And just as the inner brightness of
the sun cannot be seen, so God
cannot be seen by mortal man, but
he may be understood through faith
as the external shape of the sun can
be seen by the watching eye.”
20. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
Doctor of the Church, prophet, writer, preacher, abbess, musician...
Preaching Tours
21. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
Doctor of the Church, prophet, writer, preacher, abbess, musician...
The Doctor is In
Musician
22. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
Doctor of the Church, prophet, writer, preacher, abbess, musician...
Dear Hildegard...
Saint & Doctor
23. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
Doctor of the Church, prophet, writer, preacher, abbess, musician...
How was she able to do it?
24. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
Doctor of the Church, prophet, writer, preacher, abbess, musician...
How was she able to do it? PROPHET
25. Mechthild of Magdeburg (1207-1282)
“The Ancient Sybil of the Rhine”
The Beguines
They were Christian lay religious
orders active in Northern Europe.
They were semi-monastic without
formal religious vows, free to leave
the community at any time.
26.
27. Mechthild of Magdeburg (1207-1282)
“The Ancient Sybil of the Rhine”
The day
of my spiritual awakening
was the day I saw—
and knew I saw—
all things in God
and God in all things.
Love your fellow beings—
for they are all
tabernacles of God.
The Flowing Light of the Godhead
28. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)
Doctor of the Church, Evangelist, Peace Maker, Political Activist...
29. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)
Doctor of the Church, Evangelist, Peace Maker, Political Activist...
Asceticism.
Mystical Marriage to God.
From Mysticism to Action.
The Dialogue of Divine Providence.
The Stigmata.
30. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)
Doctor of the Church, Evangelist, Peace Maker, Political Activist...
31. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)
Doctor of the Church, Evangelist, Peace Maker, Political Activist...
“Be who God meant you to be and
you will set the world on fire.”
32. Julian of Norwich (1342- 1416)
Crazy Cat Saint, Mystic, Writer, Spiritual Counselor...
“But God forbid that you should
say or assume that I am a teacher,
for that is not and never was my
intention; for I am a woman,
ignorant, weak and frail.
But I know very well that what I
am saying I have received by the
revelation of him who is the
sovereign teacher.”
33. Julian of Norwich (1342- 1416)
Crazy Cat Saint, Mystic, Writer, Spiritual Counselor...
Black Death & Revolt.
Spiritual Counselor.
The Revelation of Divine Love.
The Gender of God.
The Hazelnut.
34. Julian of Norwich (1342- 1416)
Crazy Cat Saint, Mystic, Writer, Spiritual Counselor...
“...and all shall be well, and all
manner of thing shall be well.”
35. Joan of Arc (1412- 1431)
Patron Saint of France
This illiterate teenage peasant girl
changed history.
38. Damian’s Boy’s Club
Malleus Maleficarum (1486)
A manual for witch-hunters,
a “burst of misogyny without
parallel in Western history.”
39. Damian’s Boy’s Club
Witch Hunts (1560-1760)
1. Associated with the devil
Making a pact with the devil
Having sex with the devil
Deformed child could be interpreted as “of the devil”
2. About 200,000+ “witches” were burned in northern Europe.
3. Scapegoats
Witches were mostly poor women.
Scapegoats for problems, i.e. famine, sickness...
40. The Middle Ages
SUMMARY
1. Women were God’s Competition and Tool of the Devil.
2. Two Paths: Marriage or Monastery.
3. Women were expected to be Passive.
4. Prophecy is the Key to being heard.
42. Middle Ages
Two Paths: Marriage or Monastery
The Reformation
One Path: Marriage
(It is still a Male Dominated World.)
43. Katharine von Bora
“Let them bear children until they are dead
of it; that is what they are for.”
-The Young Single Luther
“Next to God’s Word there is
no more precious gift on
earth than holy
matrimony…”
-The Older Married Luther
44. Runaway Nun
A Role Model
A Business Woman
“My Lord Katie”
“You have complete control. I
concede to you the control of the
household, providing my rights are
preserved. Female government has
never done any good.”
Katharine von Bora Luther (d. 1552)
My Lord Katie
45. Marguerite de Navarre (1492-1549)
The Nagotiator, Defender of the Persecuted, Advisor to the King
Higly Educated
Worked both sides
Santuary for many Reformers
Financial Support for many Reformers
Reformed Abbys in France.
46. Runaway Nun, married former Priest
School for girls in Geneva
Wrote a history of Geneva
Wrote defending the Reformation
Coresponded with Marguerite
Criticized Calvin (but respected)
On the Wall!
Marie Dentière (c. 1495-1561)
The Lightning Rod
47. Marie Dentière (c. 1495-1561)
The Lightning Rod
“For what God has given you and revealed to us women, no more
than men should we hide it and bury it in the earth. And even though
we are not permitted to preach in public congregations and churches,
we are not forbidden to write and admonish one another in all
charity.”
(Epistle to Marguerite de Navarre, 53)
48. Letters and Public opposition to the University of Ingolstadt.
Argula von Grumbach (1492-c.1554)
The Debater
“That most noble woman, Argula, is there making a valiant fight with
great spirit, boldness of speech and knowledge of Christ... I commend
her to you, that Christ through this infirm vessel may confound the
mighty and those who glory in their strength.”
(Martin Luther)
“What have Luther and
Melanchthon taught save the Word
of God? You have condemned them.
You have not refuted them.”
49. Jeanne d’Albret (1528-1572)
The Little Princess, Queen Mother
Daughter of Marguerite de Navarre
Mother of King Henry IV
Opennly Protestant
Sponsored Translation of Scritpure
Supported Huguenots
50. Jeanne d’Albret (1528-1572)
The Little Princess, Queen Mother
“Although I am just a little
Princess, God has given me the
government of this country so I may
rule it according to His Gospel and
teach it His Laws. I rely on God,
who is more powerful than the King
of Spain.”
51. Quakers
“And the priest said to her, ‘I permit not a woman to speak in the
church’…
Then I spoke ...what the woman was that was not to speak, and what
the woman was that might prophesy and speak: and it broke them
all to pieces and confused them...”
Gerorge Fox
(1624-1691)
52. Quakers
“And the priest said to her, ‘I permit not a woman to speak in the
church’…
Then I spoke ...what the woman was that was not to speak, and what
the woman was that might prophesy and speak: and it broke them
all to pieces and confused them...”
Gerorge Fox
(1624-1691)
Gift, not Gender
53. "Sir, a woman's preaching is like a
dog walking on his hind legs. It is
not done well; but you are surprised
to find it done at all."
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
54. Margaret Fell Fox (1614-1702)
Judge Thomas Fell
Swarthmoor Hall
Supported Quakers
Marriage to George Fox
Women’s Speaking Justified
56. The Reformation
SUMMARY
1. One Path: Marriage (monastery is no longer an option).
2. Diversity in Protestantism (Still a Man’s World).
3. Most Reformers were married, they had a woman in their life.
4. Priesthood of the Believer includes women.
5. Education for girls began to become common.
58. Second Great Awakening (19th century)
Purify the Country!
Fueled Women’s Rights, Abolition, and Temperance Movements.
Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) Sojourner Truth (d. 1883)
59. Sojourner Truth
"Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be
something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and
the women of the North, all talking about rights, the white men will
be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?
...Look at me! Look at my arm! I could have
ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns,
and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman?
I could work as much and eat as much as a man-
when I could get it- and bear the lash as well! And
ain't I a woman?
I have borne thirteen children, and seen them
most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out
with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me!
And ain't I a woman?”
61. D. L. Moody and the Early Moody Bible Institute
“MBI women openly served as
pastors, evangelists, pulpit supply
preachers, Bible teachers and even
in the ordained ministry.”
“Consequently, the early MBI
stands as an appropriate
educational symbol of
‘fundamentalist feminism’.”
Janette Hassey
62. Council on Biblical Manhood and
Womanhood (CBMW)
Council for Biblical Equality
(CBE)
BOTH
Identify as Evangelical
Teach Christ as Central
Hold Scripture as Authoritative
63. Council on Biblical Manhood and
Womanhood (CBMW)
Council for Biblical Equality
(CBE)
Egalitarian
Patriarchy is result of sin
Leadership is based on gifts,
not gender
Hierarchical
Patriarchy is God’s plan
Leadership is based on gifts
and gender
Julian of Norwich
Focusing on the West, not the Eastern Church.
Hyperbole?
Don't forget what he wrote, To His Wife
Rosemary Radford Ruether: This is, “perhaps the ultimate core of misogynism”
Orphan, swine herder until adopted by his brother, Hermit, Abbot, bishop, reformer of Church (including encouraging celibacy for clergy).
Also, Doctor of the Church. When Henry IV of Germany wanted divorce D said No, their marriage didn’t improve.
Don’t forget Jerome’s rejection of married clergy (bishops).
Written to the wives of the clergy. I am nominating Peter for President of the “He-Man, Woman-Hater’s Club”.
Quoted in Malone, v. 2, p. 49.
After several fires the old Lateran was rebuilt as the Apostolic Palace on right (1447).
This houses the home of the pope as well as the Vatican museum.
A. Malone, p. 45.
Scripture (1 Cor 7: 1) & Jerome
Tertullian, “the gateway to the devil.
B. OT Law, Revelation 14: 4.
C. Control!
Welcome to the Middle Ages
Mary is presented as both in perfection.
Mary & Martha?
An Anchorhold. The ceremony was similar to a funeral.
Enclosed with Jutta (1112-1136, 24 years?)
Only one out of ten recluses were men.
When Jutta died Hildegard was elected as Abbess.
Eventually she oversaw two abbeys.
Pic: First Vision of the Trinity in Book of Divine Works.
Divine command & Church approval
Know the Ways (Scivias)
Book of Life’s Merits
Book of Divine Works (pic & quote)
Natural History (Physica)
Causes and Cures
Play of the Virtues
Book of Divine Works
Four preaching tours around Germany.
First one was limited to monasteries,
The others were public.
Also, Causes and Cures.
Miraculous healings attributed to her.
She attributed all healing ultimately to God.
As well as exorcisms.
In 1929, an ornate shrine was built for the mortal remains,
in which they have been kept ever since in the parish church of Eibingen, Germany.
Commonly held to be a saint for centuries, she was formally canonized May 2012.
Declared to be a Doctor of the Church in October 2012 (six months later).
The Mouthpiece of God.
She was officially recognized (by the pope) as a prophet.
Anyone, even a woman, can be the mouthpiece of God.
A Marginal lay monastic group, that numbered in the thousands.
As Hildegard was within the structure of the Church, these will be on the fringes.
1. Mysticism, temporary vows, chastity.
2. Served the poor, built hospitals.
3. Read and taught the scriptures in the vernacular.
4. Self-sufficient and independent.
5. Church hierarchy was ambivalent to antagonistic.
A Beguinage in Belgium.
Forerunners of the Reformation.
https://westernmystics.wordpress.com/2015/03/24/mechthild-of-magdeburg/
Called a “stone of offence” back then, because a FEMALE Beguine composed writings with a theological content in vernacular German and not in Latin and she referred to a divine authorization for her mission.
Prophetess, so she had a voice.
She was encouraged to write by her Confessor.
“A stone of offence” for her criticism of Church laxity, her theology, her claim of divine authority.
Age 60 go refuge in nunnery.
She was her mother’s 23rd of 25 children. Half her siblings died as children.
She was a twin, her twin died as well.
Along with Francis she is patron saint of Italy.
Attempted to unite the church during some of the worst years of papal abuse (Great Schism).
She was often encouraging and advising the pope.
Negotiated peace between Rome and Florence.
She claimed to have felt the stigmata, invisible.
Why was she able to do this?
She’s married to Jesus?
Recognized mystic.
The lily is a symbol of purity, often associated with Catherine.
Note: Revelation, prophet!
Not her real name! She takes the name of St Julian’s Church in Norwich where she was enclosed.
Recluse with a pet cat (to get rid of the rats).
Age six when Black Death hit Norwich (1349). Peasant Revolt (1381), Great Schism (began 1377).
First (surviving) book in English written by a woman (a classic).
Record of her visions.
God, and Jesus, as Father and Mother. She pushed orthodoxy, but not too far.
Even though there is great evil in the world…
The Spiritual Counselor’s advice: Trust God.
Turned the tide of the Hundred Years War.
Why was she able to do what she did? Prophetess (mystic).
Teresa (1515-1582): Doctor of the Church, The Interior Castle (Might have influenced R. Descartes)
P. Abelard (d. 1142) & Heloise: P wrote Women are to be partners, not subordinate.
Gertrude (d. 1302): Herald of Divine Love, teacher, advisor, possibly her works are from a community, not individual…
Hadewijch (13th cent): Book of Visions, also poems, Reason cannot touch God, only Love can. a Love Mysticism.
Clare (d. 1253): Left family for religion, mother and sisters eventually followed her.
Malone quoting A. L. Barstow, v. 3, p. 31
The Hammer of Witches, Written by a discredited clergyman.
For 200 years it was a best-seller. How to identify, interrogate, and convict witches.
1. The Devil’s Gateway (Tertullian).
Fear (hatred) of the physical (sex).
Deformity was punishment, but here likened to the father (the Devil)
2. Tortured and killed.
1. A common view within the Church (fear & hatred).
Liberation or Limitation?
Katie von Bora: Former nun. (Quote from Table Talk)
Role Model for pastor’s wives and others.
Purchased land, raised crops, livestock, made beer & wine, ran the household.
Died in poverty.
Education was the same as for her brother the king.
Never abandoned RC, but supported the Reformation.
Santuary: even for Calvin before arriving at Geneva.
See The Mirror of All Christian Queens – A Translation of Marguerite de Navarre’s Correspondence
By Valerie Foucachon
History of Geneva focused on the Reformation changes.
Fiesty
Univeristy located in Germany.]
They were expelling Lutherans.
After parents death she opennly declared herself Protestant.
Her husband was Catholic.
Translation into the common language.
Stated to an ambassador of the King of Spain.
These women are generally in places of civil authority.
Journal of G. Fox p. 24
Quakers were trouble-makers.
1650s women had the right to speak during Quaker meetings.
For Quakers ministry is based on God’s Gifts, not on Gender.
Lecturer, essayist, poet, many notable books.
Devout Anglican.
Speakng Justified: Pamphlet grounding justification in Spiritual Equality.
Quaker gathering, not woman speaking.
The Reformation: Liberation or Limitation for Women?
One Path = limitation.
(4) Priesthood of Believer = eventually liberating.
National Women’s Suffrage Association 1869.
Anthony, Quaker background, later Unitarian Church.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton The Woman’s Bible
Abolition of slavery moved women to speak out, and then speak out for themselves as well.
S. Truth: (1851) Ain’t I a Woman!
The 2nd Great Awakening, Quakers and Abolitionists fueled the First Wave.
Second Wave (1960’s – 1980’s); Third Wave (1990’s to present)
One of the issues: How do we deal with a Patristic reading of the bible?
Elizabeth Cady Stanton The Woman’s Bible
Back to where we started.
Hassey (PhD U of Chicago, Missionary to Philippines) asks,
“Why do evangelical groups that once welcomed women as pastors and preachers now prohibit or discourage such ministry?” (DBE p. 39)
She continues, “I found that fundamentalism a century ago was neither exclusively male dominated nor inherently antifeminist.” (DBE p. 40)
Suggested Reasons: Interdenominational Bible conferences, Women speaking on social needs, Premillenialism…
Two Popular Views from within Evangelicalism
So what’s the difference?
How important is the cultural context?
Is patriarchy part of God’s message, or is it the context of God’s message?
Theology is Dialogue.
The Interpretation of Scripture is 2,000 years of dialogue, not monologue.
Monologue, a “final interpretative authority” destroys the Church.
Adam needs Eve as a dialogue partner.