bch@unc.UUCP (Byron Howes ) (12/20/83)
Not all flavors of Christianity demanded a masculine Deity, either in the early christian church, or today. Gnostic Christian literature is replace with references to G-d the Father, The Mother and the Son -- and contains other scriptures with G-d specifically designated as androgynous. I was, myself, raised in a Christian denomination whose Child's bedtime prayer began "Father, Mother G-d; loving me..." Like Judaism, much of the intellectual tradition of the Apostolic Christian Church came from Hellenistic influence. Their emphasis on masculinity in the church stands in stark opposition to the Oriental and Arabic intellectual traditions held by the Gnostics. The effort to reconcile these traditions within the body of the Church often lead to bizarre admixtures of faith: The following is from "The Gospel of Thomas, and oft-quoted Gnostic scripture: "Simon Peter said to them: 'Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of Life." Jesus said, 'I myself shall lead her, in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.'" Given that sex-change operations were not as trendy in the first and second century C.E. as they are today, we are forced to adopt a symbolic interpretation of 'male' in this context. I read this passage as saying that women who assimilate to the ritual and leadership of the Word, become 'male,' i.e. worthy. -- Byron Howes UNC - Chapel Hill (decvax!duke!unc!bch)