Continuing the Incarnation: Re-Mythologizing Jesus as Embodied Eco-Feminist and Archetypal Christ

Abstract

Following dominant practices of traditional and mainstream Christianity, contemporary American evangelicalism primarily images Jesus as Savior, Messiah, and Son of God. The supporting language and imagery are overwhelmingly masculine, repressing, if not totally excluding, feminine language and imagery for God and Jesus. These predominantly masculine images of God and Jesus substantially contribute to the abuse and oppression that women, and other marginalized groups, have experienced in and by the Church, both historically and currently. This abuse and oppression have led to increasingly large numbers of women (and others) leaving evangelical Christianity in pursuit of either alternate expressions of Christianity in non-evangelical denominations and traditions, or non-Christian spiritual alternatives. However, there are also those who desire a middle ground, outside of established Church traditions but within the Christian mythos. This dissertation seeks such a middle ground.

This dissertation recovers and revisions the mythos of the gospel figure of Jesus as an embodied eco-feminist and manifestation of the Archetypal Christ, and offers American recovering evangelical womxn a healing and empowering Christian mythos. The mixed methodology incorporates comparative mythology and depth and archetypal psychology, and prioritizes feminist theology and biblical scholarship, all of which are critiqued and complemented by an an eco-feminist lens. This revisioning interprets the Holy Spirit as Jesus’ Divine Mother, Sophia, based on the Divine Feminine in Hebrew and Jewish traditions and the Christian scriptures. Jesus is then re-mythologized, via comparative mythology and archetypal psychology, as a manifestation of the Archetypal Christ, and re-imaged as an embodied eco-feminist based on analyses of gospel passages about Jesus and women and Jesus and the Earth. This results in a revitalized Christian mythos founded on the Christos, theosis, communitas, and active participation in the Incarnation.