She Who Changes: Re-imagining the Divine in the World [Hardcover]

Carol P. Christ (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 18, 2003

It was only recently that people began to refer to God, occasionally, as “she.” Is it now possible to re-imagine divine power as a female force deeply related to the changing world? If so, then we can understand the deeper meaning of female images of divine power including depictions such as “The Goddess.” Carol Christ offers a new look at these female images of God in She Who Changes. She shows how many traditional ideas about divine power reject the female body and connection to the natural world. She looks at the work of female theologians in Judaism, Christianity, and various religions that worship "The Goddess" to explore the way in which they are re-imagining both divine and human power as embodied both in a changing world and deeply related to all beings.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Carol Christ, who is one of the brilliant foremothers of the Goddess movement, has an important new book out. She's one of the people who always most inspire me and stimulate my thinking, and who I find myself quoting and turning to for inspiration and clarity."--Starhawk

"She Who Changes is a gift to the world. The style is clear, passionate, and utterly compassionate, building a sturdy bridge between process theology and feminist thought that is valuable beyond calculation. After reading the book, I too will call myself a feminist process theologian." --Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, author of The Divine Feminine and Omnigender and Founding Member of the Evangelical & Ecumenical Women's Caucus

Book Description

Can we re-imagine divine power as deeply related to the changing world? Can we re-imagine the creation of the world as an on-going process of co-creation in which every individual from particles of atoms to human beings plays a part? Can we re-imagine the world as the body of Goddess/God? If we can, then we can understand the deeper meaning of female images of divine power, including Goddess, God-She, Sophia, and Shekhina. Carol Christ's gift is to make complex ideas seem simple and radically new ideas seem familiar; She Who Changes is for everyone who has ever wondered about re-imagining God as female.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; First Edition edition (July 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403960836
• ISBN-13: 978-1403960832
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,627,811 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written and thought provoking..., February 13, 2006

By 

M. Nichols (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: She Who Changes: Re-imagining the Divine in the World (Paperback)

Carol Christ has written an engaging, thought provoking book with "She Who Changes: Re-Imagining the Divine in the World." The book is an exploration of the influence process theology has had on Christ's own notion of the divine. Rooted in her own experience, and the "problems with God" she encounters (including the problem of evil) Christ details the potential answers process theology offers.

Writing about the perspective of process theologian Charles Hartshorne, Christ recounts the six mistakes of classical theism (including belief in scriptural infallibility and belief in the afterlife) and possible alternatives to them. There is an emphasis on social justice and ecology, and on enjoying life.

Although this book is rooted in process theology, there is still considerable overlap with other theologies. How does this stack up, and differ, from other alternatives to classical theism? Episcopal bishop John Shelby Spong has written about similar issues in "Why Christianity Must Change or Die." There are less theistically based denominations, such as Unitarian Universalism. Some forms of Christianity and Judaism focus on environmental issues, and use gender inclusive language and symbology. I would put Christ in complement to these, not in contrast. Her focus may be outside Christianity but that doesn't put her in opposition to it.

20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars We may not have a soul, but change is good for it., September 29, 2003

By 

Peter M. Schogol (Lexington, KY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: She Who Changes: Re-imagining the Divine in the World (Hardcover)

How the reviewer from Butler, New Jersey, could not have known beforehand that the author was deeply engaged by process philosophy and that the book was all about the application of that philosophy to thealogy is beyond me. Such information was on the dust jacket, in the introduction, and everywhere in the book. Perhaps the reviewer bought the book sight unseen, in which case she clearly hadn't read Ms. Christ's earlier book REBIRTH OF THE GODDESS where her initial interest in process philosophy was spelled out.

The reviewer said Ms. Christ states "there is no deity, no Goddess, no after-life, and we have no souls." This is strange in that the entire book is about deity and God/Goddess. I think the reviewer is upset that Ms. Christ has moved from a New Age Goddess perspective to a leaner, more rational approach characterized by process philosophy. From that perspective questions of after-life and the existence of a soul are not particularly relevant.

I think many in the New Age and Goddess movements will be unsatisfied with Ms. Christ's turn towards a less touchy-feely metaphysic. Others -- those of us who came to Goddess from within the Jewish and Christian traditions -- will likely find this informative and inspiring.

Also, for those of us who are well-read in process philosophy and theology, this book takes the discussion in a much needed direction -- away from specifically Christian applications where such discussions are usually to be found and into the world of comparative religion.

"Process Pagan Panentheism" may be too much of a mouthful to describe Ms. Christ's developing approach, but I think it fits well, and I look forward to more from her and others who recognize the implicit wisdom of this direction.

P.S. Those reviewers who assert that Ms. Christ is an atheist might want to consider that just because her God/dess isn't yours doesn't make her any less and you any more oriented to the Divine.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars religion better re-imagined, November 28, 2005

By 

Shane Smith "shentzu" (UT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: She Who Changes: Re-imagining the Divine in the World (Hardcover)

This is a truly great and potentially life changing book. I highly recommend it for anyone who has had their fill of "domination religion" and would like to look into a more compassionate understanding, hopeful and even realistic look at faith.

Contrary to the popular "stern father figure in the sky with a whipping belt" type of belief system, Carol imagines a loving, compassionate and most importantly co-creative deity. This more "feminine" goddess/god that she refers to seems much more in line to me with the teachings of great religious minds like the Buddha or Jesus than with any of todays contemporary religious beliefs. It may not be what belief is today, but it is what it should be.

If you have ever thought that religion or faith should be about love, understanding, helping, or compassion, then this book is a must read, regardless of your own faith or religion or gender or upbringing.