| If the user of the term "Goddess" really honestly means to practice the
Christian Faith as revealed by the Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection,
and awaited Second Coming of Jesus Christ Our Lord and Saviour, but to
just use the word "Goddess" some or all of the time I would use "God",
and to really mean the same Almighty God[dess] of Israel, the Lord of
Hosts, that the Christians, Jews, and Moslems worship -- really, honestly,
just a name change -- then I can't say yet that it's definitely not a
Christian Perspective (someone else might object and might be right!),
but I can cringe at it as strange language.
But if it is a foot in the door for a different understanding than is
reachable without using "Goddess" instead of "God", then as a Christian
stating the Historic Christian Perspective, I have to say "that goes
too far." That deviates from the historic Faith.
/john
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| I am not sure that it helps the discussion by breaking the categories
that Patricia introduced into separate topics. Those categories were
introduced together as part of single discussion in which these
approaches could be compared and contrasted, which you can't really do
by breaking them up into separate categories. Be that as it may, the
question was raised here as to whether the name "Goddess" is nothing
more than a name change with no implications towards the way we
understand or perceive God. Patricia stated in her note,
"I personally believe that women need the Goddess, an image of the
divine as feminine. We need it to truly be comfortable with our
identities as women. I also believe that men need the Goddess in
order to be comfortable with the feminine side of themselves."
I think one purpose behind viewing the deity as feminine is certainly
so that we can add balance to the metaphors through which we view God,
because the metaphors we use affect our theological understanding and
our self-image. If that qualifies as "a foot in the door for a
different understanding than is reachable without using 'Goddess'",
then so be it. There would be no reason to make a point of using that
word instead of "God" if did not set out to accomplish something.
-- Mike
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| This is in reply to Richard's 654.37 "Shekina"
The name is "Shekinah" in the Dictionary of Angels and "Shekhinah" in
the Encyclopedia of Mysticism.
In some classical Jewish thought, the glory of God. In the Kabbala, an
angel depicted as a female with different contacts with the people of
Earth, and in Gnostic (Jewish) writing a bride or daughter of God.
The identification of Shekinah as God is a heresy in Judaism.
The article on Shekinah in the Ency. of Angels is almost a full page.
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| .3 Thank you, Patrick. I'd learned that the term was definately feminine
in gender and that it was applied to the active spirit of God, that is,
akin to the Holy Spirit.
Richard
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