Images Of Women In Early Buddhism And Christian Gnosticism By Karen Christina Lang

Within many known religions, the devotional practices has been known to acquire great importance. The essence of practicing what you preach has scolded many religious groups, introducing true beliefs, righteousness, and a wider connection to the supreme being . In the book entitled “ Living religions” by Mary Pat Fisher, clarified and firm descriptions were introduced about religious rituals. Surprisingly; the author utilized small parts of modern concepts, limiting the reader from a full comprehension of religious practices today, therefore; I will only discuss the basic and traditional rituals. To elaborate; in this paper, I will be providing an opinionated but also, comparative description of the major practices and rituals that undergo in both the Abrahamic and indigenous religions.

Often times we are at a loss for words when it comes to talking about the person of the Holy Spirit. Beth Felker Jones in her work entitled “God the Spirit” serves as an introduction to the study of the Holy Spirit in a distinctly Wesleyan and Ecumenical Perspective. Jones is working against the notion that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is often the most neglected of all Christian teachings (1). She recognizes her experience within the Wesleyan tradition as one that shapes her pneumatology and this book. She asserts that one of Wesleyan Christianity’s special gifts is it’s “leaning against any tendency to neglect the Spirit” (4). Even with this framework she aims to place the Wesleyan perspective in a larger ecumenical milieu that shows the continuity of a Wesleyan pneumatology with the Tradition of the Church. Overall, her approach is very accessible, as she assumes very little and writes in such a way that allows her to cover large dogmatic topics clearly and concisely. By merit of simply being an introduction only style book, there is the risk of glossing over topics and not providing enough in depth discussion to fully understand and comprehend the doctrine discussed. A reader should feel confident that Jones has indeed provided us with a solid introduction to Wesleyan pneumatology that has the ability to bear fruit and initiate growth in the life of the believer.

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. - Matthew 6:9. The idea of “God the father” is one that is rooted deep in our society predominantly the ways in which it rejoices men. The almighty all and powerful God is outlined as a male figure in the bible, constructed using almost entirely masculine language. This simple fact has provoked men to assume the position of authority, to oversee over his family. This simple fact leads to an imbalance of power between men and women subconsciously oppressing women within our society. In Mary Daly’s “After the Death of God the Father,” Mary explains how the Judeo-Christian culture has served to bring structure to a sexually imbalanced man driven culture." This male-controlled society has its establishments in the most discernible parts of Christianity.” Mary’s work is a continuation of what is known as “The women's liberation movement” furthering the conversation of societies hold on a woman and bringing change. In this critical evaluation of Mary Daly's work, I will discuss the thesis and argument of the reading, along with an analysis of its assumptions and implications.

The Case for Christ was written by Lee Strobel and Jane Vogel. The book is almost like a really big essay with a bunch of different sections, each one proving or disproving a certain point. The book focuses on disproving the existence of Jesus Christ but in the process of disproving the existence of Jesus he proves just how real Jesus is. I personally chose this book because I am a Christian and it looked interesting to see why other people who don 't already believe start to believe. Also I feel like the more I know about Jesus the more I know about God, since they are one in the same. I found this book to be extremely interesting because of all the textual and factual based evidence proving that Jesus existed.

The Gnostic Gospels written by Elaine Pagel discusses the origins of the Christian faith and the true reasons behind some of the Christian’s beliefs. Pagel claims that the theological disputes between the Orthodox Church and Gnostics in the early stages of Christianity were largely motivated by the political struggle for leadership of the religion. Orthodox Christians supported texts and interpretations to strengthen their goal which was to create an organization of believers. Gnostics, who was not necessarily seeking authority over Christianity, were eventually overshadowed by the supremacy of the Orthodox. Prior to the discovery of the artifact at Nag Hammadi in Egypt 1945 there were only had texts that support the Orthodox Christians belief, now historians were able to fully evaluate the two groups in a new prospective. Some of the writings found in this newly discovered artifact are believed to be the Gospel of Thomas and Mary Magdalene. Although Mary Magdalene does not have a book in the current bible, it is believed by many gnostic Christians that Jesus came to her in spirit after his death and passed on to her the secret knowledge of enlightenment. The new gospels that were discovered in Nag Hammadi doesn’t emphases on the birth or death of Jesus as the current biblical gospels do, but focuses more on Jesus’ life. Each chapter is devoted to a major theological problem that divides the Orthodox from the Gnostic. Pagel makes a compelling case that theological beliefs

Holy Misogyny is a nine-chapter book that focuses on the removal of the female in scriptures the early Christian tradition. DeConick uses and mentions various branches of Christianity to explore, and compare and contrast the erasing of the female. It was DeConick’s son that spurred her interest and search in this particular topic; he asked her, “Mom, where is Lady God?”. She uses the questions “Why is God male? Why are women associated with sin? Why can’t women be priests?” to help her discover the ultimate answer. The layout of each chapter is based on specific explorations and makes connections between a wide variety of quotes, narratives, letters, and the New Testament gospels. DeConick proves her thoroughness in her research and allows

Conceived in eras of uncertainty and strife, many people weave through the contradictions and inner struggles within communities, while also indulging themselves in the broad concept of redefining themselves just to feel accepted by the society around them. In “Homo religiosus” Karen Armstrong brings out the materialized definition of an “individual” through concepts such as religion, activities like yoga, the artistic features of caves, and most importantly the image of Brahma. The detailed notions placed on each concept yields the reassuring meaning that religion symbolically is a safe harbor, in which individuals can feel comforted and relieved. However the question that always comes up is if an individual is willing to exclude themselves from the harsh realities of society. As the essay progresses, Armstrong 's usage of words such as kenosis—emptying—, junzi—maturity—, and anatta—dethrone—broadens the idea on how an individual’s illusion of an identity can be renewed and reached (14,17). However with the brutish imagery that is brought up throughout the essay a sense of isolation and hopelessness, making for a mood of muted panic and dread questions the truth behind the meaning of a “being”. Yet in the end the idea that there is a world outside the circles of human existence, gets the individual going as they search for something worth living for.

Only then can we engage in mutual dialogue that does not reduce each one of us to instances of the abstraction called woman. (Ibid. 30)

In world religion, gender inequality has always been a great concern. This inequality did not exist based on the concepts of original religion but through cultural influence and social manipulation. The essence of Buddhism originated from a human being (known as Buddha). And Buddha is the one who achieved the highest enlightenment. Often in Buddhism concept, there was confusion about how much devotion is required to achieve the great “Enlightenment” for monk or nun. Women in the Buddhism face much more challenges to become enlightened. Throughout the essay, I will be focusing on how in Buddhist woman needs to be reborn as a man to be fully enlightened. This means this essay will examine the difficulties women face as a nun and how they

Women are a seemingly recurring discussion due to their roles within society, the family, and the Church throughout the years. Sociologists believe in the principle that women “are human beings equal to men” but we see women struggle with inequality due to gender even to this day. The women presented in the Bible such as Mary and Eve are the first instances women have had any form of significance within text. This may be one of the reasons the role of the women has been established and the reason for society’s stereotype towards women. Being the first few women, they have influenced and shaped the role of women till modern day.

Such expression is seen in early Christianity, when Jesus as the incarnation of God has become a crucial model for the saviour of the human race.86 In the work of Ruether who argues for “misappropriation” of the saviour figure in the early Christian thought, the discussion on such gender limitation takes the most dramatic turn: “Who is this saviour, and from what does he save us? This saviour of men comes to free men from birth, from women, from earth, and from limits. This saviour can only come in the image of the male. As God can only be imaged as male, as the male is the proper image of God, so the saviour too must be male....”.87

The next text comes from Elizabeth Johnson called “Speaking about the Living God,” which focuses on the name of God. God never tells us what God’s gender is; only that God is. So by assigning God a gender we limit the power that God has, by making God only male we limit the feminine side of God’s love as well as those who are uncomfortable with a

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all share a conception of a God who supposedly transcends gender, though the sacred texts of these faiths present God using male pronouns and masculine imagery. This masculine portrayal of God not only has the theological consequence of contradicting doctrine, it also alienates women. However, each faith faces unique challenges. Even though Jews and Christians use male God-language, Christians must grapple with the physicality of Jesus’ sex. Furthermore, unlike God in Judaism and Christianity, Allah in Islam is not as clearly understood in masculine terms. Nevertheless, a feminist response to these issues encompasses using gender dynamic language to describe God and expanding the institutional roles of women in these religions.

For women, they were believed to be simple-minded beings who were inferior, obedient, and subordinate to men. Though they were educated, it was not on par with that of men education as only men could pursue University. A few, perhaps of aristocracy, were even allowed to create literature but only those that qualified as 'women text' such as translations or religious text.

A woman in today’s society is somewhat equal to a man’s, or any other person for that matter. Things back before the 1500’s were very strict for women, women basically had no rights. Women had no right to vote, no freedom of speech, women did not work back in the 1500’s they were stay at home mom’s, and took care of their households, and wifely duties. In the ancient times women had their places, and what their roles were supposed to be. It was very important for a woman to know what her role in life is, and how to handle herself. In many countries, the women had very