Because the scriptures have been written, translated, interpreted, and most often taught by men, it’s not surprising many women don’t feel empowered to venture beyond the understanding we’ve received at church. Women’s influence and involvement in the scriptural narrative has been minimized too, leaving only a few female characters with little detail about them. Their role is often glossed over or skipped altogether in our Sunday talks and curriculum. In Episode 125, Kajsa Berlin-Kaufusi joins Cynthia and Susan for a conversation urging Latter-day Saint women to reclaim the scriptures for ourselves in every way.
Notes & Quotes:
Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible’s View of Women, by Sarah Bessey
Where Is It Written?, from Yentl, performed by Barbara Streisand
The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth, by Beth Allison Barr
“Goddess and God in the World: Conversations in Embodied Theology,” by Carol P. Christ and Judith Plaskow
Rise Sister Rise: A Guide to Unleashing the Wise, Wild Woman Within, by Rebecca Campbell
Kajsa’s Blog, Dialogue and the Experience
Kajsa’s Email
“If we minimize our gifts, hush our voice, and stay small in a misguided attempt to fit a weak and culturally conditioned standard of femininity, we cannot give our brothers the partner they require in God’s mission for the world.
Often when a woman exhibits leadership, she’s accused of having that Jezebel spirit. I look forward to the day when women with leadership and insight, gifts and talents, callings and prophetic leanings are called out and celebrated as a Deborah, instead of silenced as a Jezebel.
In a world that didn’t accept the word of a woman as a valid witness, Jesus chose women as witnesses for his resurrection. In a world that gave husbands power over the very lives of their wives, Paul told husbands to do the opposite—to give up their lives for their wives. In a world that saw women as biologically deformed men, monstrous even, Paul declared that men were just like women in Christ.”
— Sarrah Bessey
“I knew the problem wasn’t a lack of women leading in church history. The problem was simply that women’s leadership has been forgotten, because women’s stories throughout history have been covered up, neglected, or retold to recast women as less significant than they really were.”
“Historically, one of the greatest problems for women is that we do not remember our past and we do not work together to change our future. We do not stand together. But what if we did?”
“Reformation theology might have removed the priest, but it replaced him with the husband.”
— Beth Allison Barr
“In Goddess and God in the World, leading theologians Carol P. Christ and Judith Plaskow propose a new method for thinking about theological questions: embodied theology rooted in experience and tested in dialogue. Their theological conversation begins from the premise that the transcendent, omnipotent male God of traditional theologies must be replaced with new understandings of divinity that can provide orientation and guidance as we face the social, political, and environmental challenges of our time. Situating divinity in the world and placing responsibility for the future firmly in human hands, they argue for an inclusive monotheism that affirms the unity of being through a plurality of images celebrating diversity and difference…” — From Goddess and God in the World: Conversations in Embodied Theology” by Carol P. Christ and Judith Plaskow
“Goosebumps ran down her side. She knew that she was not alone. She was held by all the sisters who came before her. Guided by their voices. Strengthened by their gaul.” — Rebecca Campbell
