Customer Reviews

She Who Changes: Re-imagining the Divine in the World

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

The more I think about this book, the better I like it and the more important I think it is. I believe it is groundbreaking for theology and religion in the way that Women's Ways of
Knowing was for women's studies and epistemology. Like all great books, it may raise as many questions as it answers. So it deserves a slow, careful reading and a thoughtful, thorough discussion. If I were still teaching college, I would use it in my women's studies classes. But it would also be great for book clubs.

The more I think about this book, the better I like it and the more important I think it is. I think it may be groundbreaking for theology/religion in the way that Women's Ways of Knowing was for women's studies and epistemology. And like all really good books, in my opinion, it may raise as many questions as it answers. Thus, it deserves to be read slowly and carefully and discussed thoroughly from all angles. The highest compliment that I can pay it, I think, is to say that if I were still teaching, I would find a way to use it in one of my women's studies classes. It would also be great for book clubs.

Here are some of the things it made me think about:

From a personal point of view, I never had any argument with or anger towards God, perhaps only because personally I never bought it. I cannot remember not knowing that I was part of God and God was part of me, and knowing/experiencing/believing this so certainly that I also knew everyone, that would be most people and society in general, was wrong -- god was not (only) male. S/he/It clearly could not be, because I was part of it and it was part of me, and I was female. So my anger was with society generally and patriarchal religions specifically. From the time I was a child, I argued with everyone (except my parents who allowed me to think about it on my own and draw my own conclusions). I gave up trying to find a place to fit into the religions available to me and having these conversations, debates, however, when I entered college. I decided that it was simply not worth the time and effort any more to discuss it.

I couldn't win the debates. Why not?

Them: No, we really don't believe that God is male, but we just use "He" because you have to use some pronoun. It's no big deal. It really doesn't matter.
Me: Well, if it's no big deal and doesn't really matter, let's just use "She."
Them: Oh, heavens, no. We could never do THAT!
Me: Well, then, it does matter, doesn't it? So what's with that?
Them: Basically, we just don't want to think about it.

This book would allow me to have/legitimize those conversations again and make people really think about it. Wow! How cool that would be. And I can only hope that people who are still in religion/theology and/or women's studies take advantage of this book's publication and have those conversations.

Other topics/thoughts to consider/discuss in the process might include the concept of praying. What is it? How do people do it? It's generally thought to be about talking to/asking God for something. Maybe new conceptions of God/dess require new conceptions of things like prayer. For myself, I consider everything I do a prayer and so I don't specifically (stop to) pray, like people think about it ordinarily. What I do is listen, all the time, carefully....(and always do what I'm told,
even if/when it's hard.) Might this be appropriate for new conceptions of God/dess?

Just one other thought at the moment, in terms of the book raising other questions: It seems to me that peace is not simply the absence of war(fare). And that sometimes war has been/may be necessary. And that there are huge human rights violations occurring around the world, especially against women. Traditionally, it seems like many wars have been fought for freedom and independence. I'm not sure where I'm going
with this, but as I said, this book raises important questions and suggests new way of thinking about them. Few books do this so well, which is why I recommend it so highly.

I think the author does an excellent job of helping the reader understand a new vision of God. It is obvious from the book that our current vision of God is warped and outdated.

This is a book of philosophy and history and Goddess spirituality....if you can call it that. Goddess spirituality as a veneer over process philosophy is a more accurate assessment of what this book actually is.

This is a well written, well thought out book. However, in my opinion it belongs in the woman's studies section of the bookstore as opposed to anything related to religion/spirituality. There is nothing here for anyone interested in the "spirit" part of Goddess spirituality. I give it two stars becuase it deserves that much for the information within as the author is very intellegent and makes some very good points. I would have given the book 3 stars if the presentation didn't use the Goddess as a fiction.

In fact, the author states, rather boldly and with an impossible certainty, that there is no afterlife, no soul and no actual God/dess. So essentially, this book is a book of feminist philosophy that uses the Goddess as a symbol/metaphor.

One reviewer says that the author has taken a " leaner, rational approach to the Goddess as characterized by process philosophy." This isn't true. The Goddess (as divinity) has been removed from the equation and has been relegated to the status of symbol. This isn't a rational approach to the Goddess as much as it is a redefining of the term Goddess so that she is nothing more than a metaphor for a philosophical point of view. And no, there is nothing particularly New Age about keeping The Goddess as a goddess considering that by definition that is what "She" as divinity is supposed to be.

I have to question the use of the idea of the Goddess at all in regards to this book. I feel that a potential reader who doesn't get the benefit of Amazon.com reviews may be very disappointed to discover that this is a book of philosopy by an atheist and not a book that will deepen your spiritual connection to the feminine aspect of the Divine.

I don't think that women need to re-imagine the God right out of the Goddess. And I certainly don't believe that women's healing requires a divorcing of women from theism altogether. The concept itself is a massive case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater in the worst possible way.