Mar. 30th, 2004

theatokos: (Default)
So I was asked what my thesis was going to be on.... since I'm cross-posting this everywhere, I may as well put it here too. I can't seem to get the cuts right, so I appologize for taking up so much of your friends space (especially to Erinya and Willendorf! Please forgive me). Here goes:

I am working on my masters in theology, hoping to specialize in the Dinvine Feminine. I was asked to elaborate; perhaps you all have some insight and maybe it will provoke discussion. Here's what I'm really interested in, though it ends up sounding more like a PhD dissertation (eventual possibility) or a life's work.

As a woman I seek a feminine expression of the Divine. Christianity, for all it's "God is gender neutral," has really fashioned a male God, male Trinity, and ignored the expression of a true gender neutral deity or a feminine expression of the one God. Throughout the millenia it seems clear to me that people seek balance and an expression of the Feminine. Mary and her devotion seem to be the way that Christians and some expressions of Christianity (though by no means all) have accomodated a feminine expression closer to Divinity. I have long been interested in the possibility of Mary being an actual expression of the Feminine Divine. Ultimately, I would like to look at how pre/non-Christian understandings and veneration of goddesses has been appropriated within Marian devotion and what this means for Christian women.

As I continue my studies I am finding that theologically I may not be able to draw as many conclusions as I'd like to. Theologically, or rather within existing doctrine, there is very little room for Mary as anything other than merely human. SO FAR, it seems to me that there isn't room within Catholic or Orthodox theology for a co-redemptrix (which is an idea with a small movement behind it). Yet, people still need and respond to Mary and again, I think this is our human need for balance (though not in an ultra-polar male/female dualism that is often set forth in some forms of Paganism) and an expression of the feminine.

I would like to see a feminine expression within the Trinity. There is always the argument that the Holy Spirit is that..... or look at Sophia in the Wisdom writings..... we'll see. I think a Feminine expression of the Divine also challenges Christology (the study of Christ, essentially). Yeah, pretty much I've just laid out all of the books I plan to write in my lifetime. I'm not sure how I'll narrow this down for a masters thesis. My goal this summer is to do a ton of reading to find an area I can work with. I am looking at the Divine Feminine within a Christian context, but many of my essays are from a more pagan veiwpoint. It is impossible to do work on the Divine Feminine and not be open to/aware of/working directly with non-Christian expressions, particularly paganism. Until Paganism can develop a more systematic theological method (and there is someone at my school who is here to do that!), many more Pagan ideas will continue to be worked out through a Christian lens.

Please remember that this is a work in progress. There are very few courses on the Divine Feminine or even on Mary, so most of my work is independent reading and research.

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