Episode #7 is a mother-daughter discussion of women in the Bible. Heidi Winder, my daughter, raises the question: What’s so scary about women?

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We noted that women in the Bible and throughout Christian history have been marginalized, sexualized, demonized, and marked as incompetent — by men. Men wouldn’t do that if they weren’t scared of something. We started the discussion with some evidence of this very deliberate reaction. Mary Magdalene, for example. Was she a prostitute, as the Church Fathers have taught us? Or, was she a spiritually mature, strong leader, as her gospel claims? What about Martha, the sister of another Mary? Why does the emphasis on her character remain on her bustling about as a hostess, when she was also one of very few who confessed to the identity of Christ?

Heidi and I discuss other women throughout Jewish and Christian history, whose lives and characters have been under attack. The common thread we found in these women is that they were extraordinarily strong — spiritually. We could see how spiritual strength could be perceived as a threat, when it is invisible to earthly prowess. But the solution is not in the destruction of femininity, or even the hostessing and attractiveness attributed to womanhood. Rather, a stronger spirituality in both men and women can remove the threat and enable women to make their contributions to Christianity and to the world.

Let us know if you have some further insights to add to this conversation. We feel we just cracked the door open to a very large topic. Click on “Comments” below this posting of episode #7 in Spirituality and Christianity, to tell us what you think. Thanks!

Also mentioned in this podcast:

• Lilith
• Queen Esther
• Ruth, great-grandmother of King David
• Mary Baker Eddy
• Eddy’s concept of woman’s contribution