Born of a Woman: A Bishop Rethinks the Birth of Christ - Softcover

Spong, John Shelby

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060675292 ISBN 13: 9780060675295

Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco, 1992

Synopsis

"Only the church that manages to free itself from its sexist definition of women, anchored significantly in the Virgin Mary tradition, will survive", writes Bishop Spong. He challenges the doctrine that Jesus's mother Mary was a virgin, traces its development in the early Christian Church and the Christmas narratives, and reveals its legacy in our contemporary attitudes toward women and female sexuality. Other books by Spong include "Living in Sin", "Beyond Moralism", "The Easter Moment" and "Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism".

About this title

Review

"Spong restores a flesh-and-blood humanity to the mother of Jesus."--Ron Hansen, author of Mariette in Ecstasy

"A marvelous combination of scholarly, speculative, and imaginative reflection written in language accessible to the theologically unsophisticated. Highly recommended."--Library Journal

How a one-sided portrayal of the Mother of God has been used to keep real women under wraps. --Clarissa Pinkola Est?s, author of Women Who Run With the Wolves"

Spong restores a flesh-and-blood humanity to the mother of Jesus. --Ron Hansen, author of Mariette in Ecstasy"

A marvelous combination of scholarly, speculative, and imaginative reflection written in language accessible to the theologically unsophisticated. Highly recommended. --Library Journal"

"How a one-sided portrayal of the Mother of God has been used to keep real women under wraps."--Clarissa Pinkola Est's, author of Women Who Run With the Wolves

About the Author

John Shelby Spong, the Episcopal Bishop of Newark before his retirement in 2000, has been a visiting lecturer at Harvard and at more than 500 other universities all over the world. His books, which have sold well over a million copies, include Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy; The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic; Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World; Eternal Life: A New Vision; Jesus for the Non-Religious, The Sins of Scripture, Resurrection: Myth or Reality?; Why Christianity Must Change or Die; and his autobiography, Here I Stand. He writes a weekly column on the web that reaches thousands of people all over the world. To join his online audience, go to www.JohnShelbySpong.com. He lives with his wife, Christine, in New Jersey.

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060675292
• ISBN 13: 9780060675295
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 237