Carol Patrice Christ (December 20, 1945 – July 14, 2021) was a feminist historian, thealogian, author, and foremother of the Goddess movement. She obtained her PhD from Yale University and served as a professor at universities such as Columbia University and Harvard Divinity School. Her best-known publication is "Why Women Need The Goddess".

Christ wrote five influential books on women's spirituality and feminist theology and was a co-editor of two classic anthologies: "Weaving the Visions: New Patterns in Feminist Spirituality" (1989); and "Womanspirit Rising" (1979/1989). The latter included her essay Why Women Need the Goddess. Both anthologies included feminist religious writing from writers from a very diverse range of religious backgrounds. She held a PhD from Yale University. Carol P. Christ taught at major universities in the United States, including Columbia University, Harvard Divinity School, Pomona College, San Jose State, and the California Institute of Integral Studies. As director of the Ariadne Institute, she conducted pilgrimages to sacred sites in Greece containing artifacts of matriarchal religion. For many years she had been a resident of the Greek island of Lesbos, the home of the poet Sappho.

Feminist thealogy

The first conference of Women Thealogians took place in 1971 at Alverno College in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. According to Christ, the meaning of thealogy to her is the idea of religious symbols having influence on human beings but also the understanding of ethical decision making. It is having the consciousness rising process where women fit together. She has taken her approach imagining the Goddess in a patriarchal tradition. She defined her own religious views as "immanental inclusive monotheism and panentheism". She distinguished herself from her collaborator Judith Plaskow in that she did not view the Goddess as all-powerful. which gives a solidified explanation as to how influential a Male given God's representation affects the moods as well as motivation of why women and their privileges are the way they are. There are many restrictions a woman has to follow and go through in Christianity, Judaism, and other religions because of the way these religions have structured the hierarchy (with men in control of everything and women being under them). Because of how religion is controlled by men, feminists did not want to leave it as it is and make amendments so that women are valued as well.

The essay also talks about other important figures in history to support the idea of needing a female representation of Goddesses like Philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, as she said "Man enjoys the great advantage of having a god endorse the code he write; and since man exercises a sovereign authority over women it is especially fortunate that this authority has been vested in him by the supreme being."

Significance

According to scholarly source, Carol believed that "it is necessary to take the risk of writing personally because in that way we remain true to what we know at the deepest levels of our being and to the insights with which we create feminist theology". Christ's ideology is not neglecting or questioning religion, it is solely based on the authoritarian justice and worship of male figures which is demeaning to women. Christ has written another follow up of "Why Women Need a Goddess" to "Why Women, Men, and Other Living Things Still Need the Goddess". It argues that even still today, everyone needs a Goddess figure to control the power of hierarchy and patriarchy. Christ has written six books in her areas of Feminism study and the following are mentioned.

  • She Who Changes (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003)
  • Rebirth of the Goddess (Routledge, 1998)
  • Odyssey with the Goddess (Continuum, 1995)
  • Weaving the Visions (coeditor with Judith Plaskow, 1989)
  • Laughter of Aphrodite (Harper, 1987)
  • Diving Deep and Surfacing (Beacon, 1980/1986/1995)
  • Womanspirit Rising (coeditor with Judith Plaskow) (Harper & Row, 1979, 1989)

Essays

Death

Christ's death from cancer was announced by the Association for Study of Women and Mythology on July 14, 2021. An obituary honouring her contributions to Feminist Thealogy may be found on "The Girl God" blog. She was remembered by the American Academy of Religion for her service to the organization, and her elevation of the Goddess movement.

See also

  • Dianic Wicca
  • Feminist theology
  • Marija Gimbutas

References

  • Carol P. Christ's website
  • Carol P. Christ's author page on Feminism and Religion