Carol P Christ
Biographic Data
| ID | 575931 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Carol P Christ |
| GIVEN NAMES | Carol P |
| FAMILY NAME | Christ |
| SIGNATURE | CHRIST C P |
| AFFILIATIONS | American Academy of Religion |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 5 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1976 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Sophia Goddess and Feminist Spirituality
Thealogy Matters
In this article Carol P. Christ states that ‘thealogy matters’ because religious symbols not only articulate meaning but also provide orientation for ethical decision-making. Rejecting the notions that religious meaning is delivered from on high and that traditions must be uncritically accepted, she proposes a model of ‘embodied theology’ in which individuals and communities take responsibility for religious worldviews. She asks us to question Ju…
Revisiting BISFT Summer School 2004, University of Bristol, ‘Embracing Diversity
The article presents a dialogue between Carol P. Christ and Judith Plaskow. It argues that a process metaphysic provides an alternative to the Christian liberation paradigm and could help feminists in religion to articulate alternatives to the concept of God as a dominant male other found in classical theism. A shared metaphysic could help feminists in different religious traditions to recognize common concerns and commitments, to guard against c…
Thinking about Goddesses
A New Definition of Patriarchy
Carol P. Christ discusses her new multi-pronged definition of patriarchy as an integral system: male dominance is enforced by violence which is a product of war; the control of female sexuality ensures the transfer private property and slaves which are the spoils of war in the male line; and the system as a whole is legitimated by religion. She argues, based on the new research on matriarchies (which are not the mirror image of patriarchies) that…
Why Women, Men and Other Living Things Still Need the Goddess
Carol P. Christ reflects on her influential essay ‘Why Women Need the Goddess,’ responding to misinterpretations and arguing that women, men, and other living things still need the symbol of Goddess. As long as ‘Goddess’ and ‘God-She,’ like the word ‘feminist’ are controversial, we still have a long way to go before we as a culture can fully accept female power as a beneficent and independent power
Embodied Embedded Mysticism
Embodied Embedded Mysticism:Affirming The Self and Others in a Radically Interdependent World Carol P. Christ (bio) I have had a mystical relationship with nature for as long as I can remember. I was brought from the hospital to my grandmother's home and garden that backed onto the Los Angeles County Arboretum. My earliest memory includes peacocks screeching on the roof above my crib—sounds that while frightening or eerie to others are as dear to…
Community and Ambiguity
Community and Ambiguity:A Response from a Companion in the Journey Carol P. Christ (bio) Two themes, community and ambiguity, stand out for me in reading Judith Plaskow's collected essays in The Coming of Lilith: Essays on Feminism, Judaism, and Sexual Ethics, suggesting what is distinctive (and distinctively Jewish) in Judith's feminist theological voice. While some of us might say that feminism means embracing certain ideas and feelings—such as…
Theological and Political Implications of Re-imagining the Divine as Female
This paper argues that re-imagining the divine through the symbols of Goddess and God-She have powerful psychological and political consequences for women and men. The Goddess provides a creative alternative to conceptualizations of the divine that are based on hierarchical images of male dominance and power. Members of the Goddess movement are active in a wide variety of feminist, ecological, and social justice causes. This link between feminist…
Ecofeminism and Process Philosophy
In this article Carol Christ illustrates the ways in which process philosophy offers dynamic alternatives to dualistic habits of thought. She highlights how the Goddess is the most relational in the process and therefore the most sympathetic to the unfolding of the universe and those who inhabit it, human and non-human alike. Change she asserts is good, indeed divine, a statement in bold contrast to the Western tradition which attempts to fix and…
Does Feminism Need a Metaphysic? Toward a Feminist Process Paradigm
This paper lays out the case for a new metaphysics to underpin feminist work in religion, one that is experientially-based, relational and inherently open. The author suggests that the work of process philosophers, Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne can provide a starting point for this venture. The author is mindful of the justified criticism that neither of these men paid attention to issues related to women and that philosophy in ge…
Whose History are We Writing
In reviewing the books listed above, I was asked to consider several ques tions: How is feminist work in religion being codified and transmitted by fem inists? What is being selected for emphasis and what is being left out? What values are implicit in the process of selection? Are these criteria inclusive or ex clusive? Do the new introductions and anthologies represent the range of fem inist work in religion? Or do they distort feminism and reli…
Feminist Re-imaginings of the Divine and Hartshorne's God
I hope to open a wider dialogue between process philosophy (as expressed by Charles Hartshorne) and feminist spirituality. Process philosophy can help us to articulate the philosophical implications of feminist revisionings of divine power. Feminist spirituality can help us to understand the wider implications of process philosophy's rethinking of finitude, relationship, the body, and nature
Reading Marija Gimbutas
In 1974 Marija Gimbutas, previously known for her theories about IndoEuropean cultures, published a scholarly work with an academic press on neolithic and chalcolithic Europe. Titled The Gods and Goddesses of Old Europe, this book argued that the neolithic (stone age) and chalcolithic (copper age) cultures of Old Europe 6500-3500 BCE were peaceful, matrifocal, egalitarian, sedentary, agricultural, highly artistic, and worshiped the Goddess. These…
Unspoken Worlds
Book Notices
Journal Article Book Notices Get access The Goddess: Mythological Images of the Feminine. By Christine Downing. Crossroad, 1981. 250 pages, $14.95, cloth. $9.95 paper. The Female Experience and the Nature of the Divine. By Judith Ochsborne. Indiana University Press, 1982. 261 pages. $17.50. Mother Worship: Theme and Variation. Edited by James J. Preston. University of North Carolina Press, 1982. 360 pages. $24.00 cloth. $8.95 paper. Women in New …
Feminist Studies in Religion and Literature
Journal Article Feminist Studies in Religion and Literature: A Methodological Reflection Get access CAROL P. CHRIST CAROL P. CHRIST CAROL P. CHRIST (Ph D Yale University) is Assistant Professor of Religion at Columbia University An earlier version of this essay was presented at a symposium titled “The Feminist Transformation of Religious Studies Statements from Several Disciplinary Perspectives,” at the 1975 annual meeting of the American Academy…
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood
Embodied Embedded Mysticism
Embodied Embedded Mysticism:Affirming The Self and Others in a Radically Interdependent World Carol P. Christ (bio) I have had a mystical relationship with nature for as long as I can remember. I was brought from the hospital to my grandmother's home and garden that backed onto the Los Angeles County Arboretum. My earliest memory includes peacocks screeching on the roof above my crib—sounds that while frightening or eerie to others are as dear to…
Theological and Political Implications of Re-imagining the Divine as Female
This paper argues that re-imagining the divine through the symbols of Goddess and God-She have powerful psychological and political consequences for women and men. The Goddess provides a creative alternative to conceptualizations of the divine that are based on hierarchical images of male dominance and power. Members of the Goddess movement are active in a wide variety of feminist, ecological, and social justice causes. This link between feminist…
Whose History are We Writing
In reviewing the books listed above, I was asked to consider several ques tions: How is feminist work in religion being codified and transmitted by fem inists? What is being selected for emphasis and what is being left out? What values are implicit in the process of selection? Are these criteria inclusive or ex clusive? Do the new introductions and anthologies represent the range of fem inist work in religion? Or do they distort feminism and reli…
Feminist Studies in Religion and Literature
Journal Article Feminist Studies in Religion and Literature: A Methodological Reflection Get access CAROL P. CHRIST CAROL P. CHRIST CAROL P. CHRIST (Ph D Yale University) is Assistant Professor of Religion at Columbia University An earlier version of this essay was presented at a symposium titled “The Feminist Transformation of Religious Studies Statements from Several Disciplinary Perspectives,” at the 1975 annual meeting of the American Academy…
Margaret Atwood
Book Notices
Journal Article Book Notices Get access The Goddess: Mythological Images of the Feminine. By Christine Downing. Crossroad, 1981. 250 pages, $14.95, cloth. $9.95 paper. The Female Experience and the Nature of the Divine. By Judith Ochsborne. Indiana University Press, 1982. 261 pages. $17.50. Mother Worship: Theme and Variation. Edited by James J. Preston. University of North Carolina Press, 1982. 360 pages. $24.00 cloth. $8.95 paper. Women in New …
Unspoken Worlds
Reading Marija Gimbutas
In 1974 Marija Gimbutas, previously known for her theories about IndoEuropean cultures, published a scholarly work with an academic press on neolithic and chalcolithic Europe. Titled The Gods and Goddesses of Old Europe, this book argued that the neolithic (stone age) and chalcolithic (copper age) cultures of Old Europe 6500-3500 BCE were peaceful, matrifocal, egalitarian, sedentary, agricultural, highly artistic, and worshiped the Goddess. These…
Feminist Re-imaginings of the Divine and Hartshorne's God
I hope to open a wider dialogue between process philosophy (as expressed by Charles Hartshorne) and feminist spirituality. Process philosophy can help us to articulate the philosophical implications of feminist revisionings of divine power. Feminist spirituality can help us to understand the wider implications of process philosophy's rethinking of finitude, relationship, the body, and nature
Whose History are We Writing
In reviewing the books listed above, I was asked to consider several ques tions: How is feminist work in religion being codified and transmitted by fem inists? What is being selected for emphasis and what is being left out? What values are implicit in the process of selection? Are these criteria inclusive or ex clusive? Do the new introductions and anthologies represent the range of fem inist work in religion? Or do they distort feminism and reli…
Does Feminism Need a Metaphysic? Toward a Feminist Process Paradigm
This paper lays out the case for a new metaphysics to underpin feminist work in religion, one that is experientially-based, relational and inherently open. The author suggests that the work of process philosophers, Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne can provide a starting point for this venture. The author is mindful of the justified criticism that neither of these men paid attention to issues related to women and that philosophy in ge…
Ecofeminism and Process Philosophy
In this article Carol Christ illustrates the ways in which process philosophy offers dynamic alternatives to dualistic habits of thought. She highlights how the Goddess is the most relational in the process and therefore the most sympathetic to the unfolding of the universe and those who inhabit it, human and non-human alike. Change she asserts is good, indeed divine, a statement in bold contrast to the Western tradition which attempts to fix and…
Community and Ambiguity
Community and Ambiguity:A Response from a Companion in the Journey Carol P. Christ (bio) Two themes, community and ambiguity, stand out for me in reading Judith Plaskow's collected essays in The Coming of Lilith: Essays on Feminism, Judaism, and Sexual Ethics, suggesting what is distinctive (and distinctively Jewish) in Judith's feminist theological voice. While some of us might say that feminism means embracing certain ideas and feelings—such as…
Theological and Political Implications of Re-imagining the Divine as Female
This paper argues that re-imagining the divine through the symbols of Goddess and God-She have powerful psychological and political consequences for women and men. The Goddess provides a creative alternative to conceptualizations of the divine that are based on hierarchical images of male dominance and power. Members of the Goddess movement are active in a wide variety of feminist, ecological, and social justice causes. This link between feminist…
Embodied Embedded Mysticism
Embodied Embedded Mysticism:Affirming The Self and Others in a Radically Interdependent World Carol P. Christ (bio) I have had a mystical relationship with nature for as long as I can remember. I was brought from the hospital to my grandmother's home and garden that backed onto the Los Angeles County Arboretum. My earliest memory includes peacocks screeching on the roof above my crib—sounds that while frightening or eerie to others are as dear to…
Why Women, Men and Other Living Things Still Need the Goddess
Carol P. Christ reflects on her influential essay ‘Why Women Need the Goddess,’ responding to misinterpretations and arguing that women, men, and other living things still need the symbol of Goddess. As long as ‘Goddess’ and ‘God-She,’ like the word ‘feminist’ are controversial, we still have a long way to go before we as a culture can fully accept female power as a beneficent and independent power
Thinking about Goddesses
A New Definition of Patriarchy
Carol P. Christ discusses her new multi-pronged definition of patriarchy as an integral system: male dominance is enforced by violence which is a product of war; the control of female sexuality ensures the transfer private property and slaves which are the spoils of war in the male line; and the system as a whole is legitimated by religion. She argues, based on the new research on matriarchies (which are not the mirror image of patriarchies) that…
Thealogy Matters
In this article Carol P. Christ states that ‘thealogy matters’ because religious symbols not only articulate meaning but also provide orientation for ethical decision-making. Rejecting the notions that religious meaning is delivered from on high and that traditions must be uncritically accepted, she proposes a model of ‘embodied theology’ in which individuals and communities take responsibility for religious worldviews. She asks us to question Ju…
Revisiting BISFT Summer School 2004, University of Bristol, ‘Embracing Diversity
The article presents a dialogue between Carol P. Christ and Judith Plaskow. It argues that a process metaphysic provides an alternative to the Christian liberation paradigm and could help feminists in religion to articulate alternatives to the concept of God as a dominant male other found in classical theism. A shared metaphysic could help feminists in different religious traditions to recognize common concerns and commitments, to guard against c…
Sophia Goddess and Feminist Spirituality
Philosophy (16 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Art (9 works) · Epistemology (9 works) · Gender Studies (8 works) · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices (7 works) · Aesthetics (6 works) · History (5 works) · Law (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works)