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The Red Tent

12/8/2014

With gratitude to Lifetime and Roma Downey for offering Women of the Bible as an introduction to The Red Tent and as Kate Shellnut observes, also the new reality series about nuns, it is good to pause and consider why the Christian women’s market is such a viable niche.

When we consider that the study of women in the bible is no easy task, that it requires much textual and contextual work to glean from a patriarchal narrative a counter narrative that names otherwise scandalous women as part of the in-breaking of liberation in and through the liberator, Jesus. What is true is, they are there and the contributions of these women are manifold, what’s more, it is clear that God worked in and through these women to accomplish the plan of salvation for the world.

This message, however, becomes complicated and convoluted when we consider that these stories do not come to us from the perspective of the women themselves. Rather, what we have are stories about men, recorded by men, handed down by men and admitted into the canon by men. What is more, we have for the better part of human history, had these stories told to us by men and in contemporary contexts they are dressed with sports analogies and offered up with illustrations that hail from a male sense of knowing and being in the world. Thus, we have never heard, the quiet, revolutionary non dominant stories that are there, buried under Abraham and Isaac, knit beneath the surface of Jacob and Joseph but they are there for those who wish to dig deep and to flesh these texts out with careful study and preparation.

This is why I’m grateful to Lifetime for the introduction of Women of the Bible to the main stream market and for the inclusion of a scholar in the all-female commentator line up. Though there were a couple of foibles--words of Paul attributed to Jesus and the perpetuation of the notion that the second temple period was 400 years when God was silent--for the most part it was accessible and a good many people posted on social media they learned something new. In my view this is what good scholarship and effective sermons should do, invite folks to sit with you, pour a cup of coffee, reflect and discuss, share and exchange insights and then move us all forward to share what we’ve learned with others.

The Red Tent received mixed reviews on social media ranging from people who were thrilled to see Anita Diamant’s stellar work come to life and others who were disgusted that the story was not biblical and therefore of no good use. I am a fan of Diamant’s book and have recommended it widely across the years. For her part, Diamant does an expert job of relaying the bloody, sexual and earthy cultic practices and religious ritual for ancient nomadic people. And yes, the biblical account follows Jacob and his sons and we do not hear from Dinah, here Diamant fills in the gaps and shows us the contours of a young woman in love and the system in which she is forced to live and find her way. The series seems well done with an impressive cast though most of them are several shades too pale to be historically accurate. Overall it seems important that we have conversations about the women in the story of God.

The reason Lifetime and others will benefit from reaching out to this niche market is because most women religious are starved for stories of our mothers. We have grown up with the hero, adulterer King David and the venomous temptress Bathsheba. For Protestants we have been locked away and cheated the texts Ben Sira and Wisdom of Solomon where the Wisdom of God is most certainly female and leads God’s children through the land. We are only allowed to talk about Mary at Christmas, otherwise, we’ll be suspected of turning Catholic and forget any discussions of Sophia or we’d be accused of worshiping someone other than the one true God. We are empty when it comes to knowing how God has worked in and through women throughout history and we are searching for anyone anywhere who will dare to tell us the old, old story.

The reason why The Red Tent received mixed reviews is because we have domesticated and tamed down wild texts about humans and stories of violence and bloodshed, rape and incest, love and rage until the persons in the pages of our sacred book are one dimensional, idealistic and nothing like you and me in our fallen skin. We need stories like The Red Tent to remind us that our fore parents were, like we are, blood and flesh, impetuous and envious, at times vile and self-serving, flawed and imperfect, yet, so loved.

I say kudos to Lifetime and keep ‘em coming and maybe we will know ourselves better because we remember who they were.

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This Jesus: Divine Son

12/3/2014

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We leaned in, all flushed from playing hide and go seek in our crushed red velvet suits on Christmas Eve. Our cheeks, rosy from play and too many candy canes, we pressed in to get a seat around the Christmas tree and listen to my uncle read the story about the babe in the hay. The lights on the tree blinked red, blue and green, the room was hushed and little eyes sparkled as the story began the same way year after year; “And there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed”(Luke 2.1).

As magical and unique as the story of Jesus’ birth may seem to contemporary readers, it is important to understand that the narrative of the birth of the Savior is drawn upon an ancient map of rulers and deity stories that existed long before the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.

In antiquity there are deity stories associated with most great leaders so that the worship of a particular ruler was good and proper. The founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus were born from the union of a virgin and Mars. When Mars learned of their birth and tried to have the boys drowned in the Tiber, it overflowed and they were saved to be raised by a she-wolf as cubs. Alexander the Great, was said to be the son of his mother Olympia and the Greek god Zeus and therefore innately divine.

Gaius Octavian Caesar Augustus was helped by a bright and burning star–what we now believe be Haley’s comet-- that fell across the sky during the funeral games of his adopted father and great uncle, Julius Caesar. The comet was understood to be a sign of Julius Caesar’s reception into the realm of the gods and verification of his deification. Thus, Augustus styled himself as the first citizen of Rome also with the flaming star which added to his status the divi filius or divine son. Throughout his long and storied reign, Augustus would never allow himself to be depicted as a god, rather he embraced the status of son of god.

More interesting perhaps, is the use of “gospel” or “good announcement” for the telling of the life and works of Jesus of Nazareth since in the early centuries of the Common Era, “gospel” was the word used for the edicts or actions of Roman emperors that were for the good of the world.[1] In fact, peace, hope, faith and victory were all divine articles who should be worshiped. These entities are familiar and frequent in the lexicon of Augustus and Roman emperors after him.[2] Augustus was heralded as the savior who ushered in Pax Romana, the peace of Rome.

When we consider the birth narrative of Jesus in its 1st century context we understand more clearly that the stories that Luke and Matthew convey are not just about a cuddly baby with furry sheep and shepherds gathered around. Rather, the depiction of Jesus’ birth drawn upon the map of the divine son notion, is—from the beginning—a challenge to the rule of Rome and the kingship of Caesar. Luke here is clearly and expertly telling the story of a new king who has come from the one God and he crafts his story in such a way that his audience will not miss his cues. The message is clear about this Jesus, from the first cries in the manger, there is a new king and he has come to set us free.

[1] Mark Reasoner, Roman Imperial Texts (Fortress Press, 2013).

[2] Ibid.

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This Jesus: Advent Series

12/2/2014

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What if this year as you trim the tree and bake the cookies and shop for that perfect gift, you could actually come to know Jesus in an intimate and profound way? What if you could take a break from the wrapping and the holiday buzz to familiarize yourself with the story of the child born in a manger in his own time and context, to know the Jesus of flesh and blood who walked the dust of the earth in the 1st century of the millennia?

This Jesus, yes. The one with the dark skin who came into the world through a poor unmarried girl who would be known as a queen. The tiny child born in a backwater town in an unimportant part of the world save for the travel routes which lie in and through the rocky craggy hills of Judea and the lush green hillsides of the Galilee. This Jesus, who in his tiny form challenged notions of kingship and rule; this Jesus--wisdom of God-- wrapped in skin whose Gospel would rival the Pax Romana of Augustus and whose story would subvert the rules and rulers of the world.

Stay tuned this week as we look at the Gospel of Jesus versus the Gospel of Augustus.

Most Recent Installment : This Jesus, Herod and Rome

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