Volume 26, Number 18 · November 22, 1979
The Suppressed Gnostic Feminism
By Elaine H. Pagels
Unlike many deities of the ancient Near East, the God of Israel shared his power with no female divinity, nor was he the divine husband or lover of any.[1] He can scarcely be characterized in any but masculine epithets: king, lord, master, judge, and father.[2] Indeed, the absence of feminine symbolism for God marks Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in striking contrast to the world's other religious traditions, whether in Egypt, Babylonia, Greece, and Rome, or in Africa, India, and North America, which abound in feminine symbolism. Modern Jewish, Christian, and Islamic theologians deny that God should be characterized sexually.[3] Yet the language they use daily in worship and prayer conveys a different message: who, growing up within Jewish or Christian tradition, has escaped the distinct impression that God is masculine? And while Catholics revere Mary as the mother of Jesus, they never identify her as divine in her own right: she is 'mother of God,' but not 'God the Mother' comparable with God the Father.
Feature, 6723 words
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