Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages

Those going to this book for traditional feminist theology may come away disappointed. It can perhaps be understood more as a critique of certain strains of feminism than an endorsement. Observe how Bynum, perhaps the most respected medievalist in the United States, sheds considerable doubt on some standard Seminary mythology: "It was not women who originated female images of God…. such language is in no way the special preserve of female writers… There is no reason to assert, as some have done, that the theme of the motherhood of God is a 'feminine insight.' Moreover it is not at all clear, although many scholars assume it, that women are particularly drawn to feminine imagery" (140).Bynum goes on to explain that in the Middle Ages, feminine God images were occasionally employed by men, specifically abbots, "because they needed to supplement their image of authority with that for which the maternal stood" (154). Interestingly enough, women writers used such imagery much more rarely, if at all. "Jesus as Mother" can therefore be contextually explained as a response to leadership challenges in medieval monasteries, not as a long-suppressed feminine ethos:"The theme of God's motherhood is a minor one in all writers of the high Middle Ages except Julian of Norwich. Too long neglected or even repressed by editors and translators, it is perhaps now in danger of receiving more emphasis than it deserves" (168).