Take a look at what Beth has written about All Souls Day over on her blog. She’s a young medic who works in the local cancer hospital by day and by night and who works at the altar of the Lord as a server by night and by day.
5 responses to “St Strumpet?”
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How about the wife of Jesus, airbrushed out of the story by later misogynist Christians? See Starbird, M “The Woman with the Alabaster Jar” and other books by her. She is an ex-Catholic who set out to refute the Holy Blood, Holy Grail story and ended by being convinced that Jesus and Mary were a married pair (and an archetype of the male/female balance principle). There’s a wonderful window in Kilmore Church, Mull. Check it out – whoever created it intended it to represent J and M as husband and wife, and M is clearly pregnant. Of course, there is no unchallengeable evidence that Jesus was married, but what I would like to ask the sceptics is why, given that He was the word made flesh and dwelt among us, is it unacceptable for Him to have been a sexual being? Why have later Christians considered sexuality, even in a loving relationship, to be something disgusting? Because they have, we are now stuck with the nasty views of the NotW brigade that sex is either an acceptable leisure activity or something gross. As Margaret Starbird points out, if we restored Mary as Jesus’ beloved consort we would be creating a much more wholesome myth!
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It is a little like the arguments that might be made of the relationship between Jesus and the beloved disciple though, isn’t it? All very attractive and neat if you come from a particular point of view but not really backed up with enough evidence apart from modern presumption, presupposition and desire.
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I think the arguments on Jesus being married are very far from being liberationary. Rather, they’re the natural end-point of the Evangelical mindset that homophobically (and unbiblically) divides the world into Normal Heterosexual Married types and the demonised Other. “It is better to marry than burn” might have some mysognistic readings conducive to the fundamentalist world-view, but it hardly most naturally supports the idolatarisation of particular heterosexual relationships.
If I had a pound for every time a nominal Sola Scriptura type had told me that St.Paul had to have been married (presumably because Our Lord’s asceticism and disinterest in heterosexual marriage is bad enough) then I would be a very rich man indeed 😉
Interesting post Kelvin! Had no idea that St.Mary M even had red hair Perhaps she could be reclaimed as the Patron Saint of Gingers and Other Persecuted Minorities? 🙂
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Oh, her hair was red, Ryan. Flaming Red I believe.
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How reginal! 😉
Previous Posts
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Music Planning
Well, it would be nice to do it again, on Easter Day. Yes, it would. The only problem is, the congregation always want to join in. Mmm. They start humming along at first and then they start singing. It would be fun on Easter Day though. Yes, it would. As the Gradual? Oh yes, definately,…
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Hand-holding
The House of Lords has passed the Sexual Orientation Regulations which will come into effect in April in Scotland. I’ve already written a lot about the attitude of certain religious adoption agencies to these, and I will not repeat that now. There has been such a focus on adoption, that a lot of the detail…
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Stewardship Resources
Last week I wrote to everyone in the congregation at St Mary’s asking them to review their giving to the church. It is something that all congregations in the Scottish Episcopal Church have been asked to think about this year. Initial results are looking promising, though there are a lot of responses still to come…
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The US Bishops Just Say…
Looks like the ECUSA Bishops just said no.
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