Jesus Was a Feminist: What the Gospels Reveal about His Revolutionary Perspective

by Leonard J. Swidler

Based on four decades of research, Jesus Was a Feminist presents the case that Jesus treated women equally with men, breaking custom to involve them in his work. Renowned scholar & liberal Catholic Leonard Swidler examines all gospel texts involving women, asserts that women were involved in the writing of two gospels, & outlines the importance of women in Jesus' ministry & the creation & development of the early church. He shows how Jesus was a feminist & why modern Christians should be too.
I Yeshua & women: an overview
Prologue: Women in the ancient world
Yeshua, a feminist, androgynous, an integrated human
Women in Yeshua's language
Women in Yeshua's teaching
Women in the life of Yeshua
II The Gospels critically analyzed
The attitude toward women reflected by the Gospel writers & their sources
Conclusions
III Early Christians' views of women
Summary analysis of the appendixes of the New Testament outside of the Gospels & early Church writings
Appendix I The New Testament other than the Gospels
Appendix II Ambivalent elements in Christian tradition
Appendix III Christian tradition's negative elements

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, History, Feminism, Gender, Faith, Christian

287 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2007

Reviews

[Aldric · Rating 1 out of 5]

I will preface this by saying that I have quite progressive views of Catholicism and religion in general: Yay Pope Francis, social justice, liberation theology, and all that good stuff. Of course this book's title drew me in. That said, it does not deliver. Swidler seems like he did his research and cites many Bible passages and stories to substantiate the book's namesake argument, yes. But, even to this progressive Catholic's eyes, it was unconvincing. The evidence was convincing, but something about Swidler's writing, his organization or his style, is presumptive. The book seems to start from the premise "Jesus is a feminist" and goes on to inundate the reader with thematic readings of passages: "Want proof? Here's X, Y, and Z." (I stress here that I accept his premise and conclusion, and I think it was well-researched.) Rather, it would have been more effective to let the conclusion arise from the text itself, which I think he might have tried to do, but he tries to qualify his choices of passage that it makes it hard for me to believe him. He arrives at his interim conclusions much too soon in the volume for my taste. I suspect that this impugns the credibility of his conclusion, especially for more religiously conservative readers.

[Pamela Meek]

Excellent book. Well researched. Loved it.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great content but very repetitive. Wish it was more concise and succinct.

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew I needed to read this book after reading the Jesus was a Feminist article on godswordtowomen.org. This book is an in depth analysis of the gospels including all the nuances and instances of Jesus' interactions with women. The author spends a large amount of time comparing and contrasting the gospels which can get repetitive, but I understand why it is necessary.

This book is chalk full of insights and research regarding Jesus, the gospels, the apocrypha and other exerts including Paul stance on women. Some of my favorite parts are the writings on Mary Magdeline and the complexity of her character in regards to the resurrection and her possible identity as the Beloved Disciple. I also enjoyed reading the cultural research of the early church and how it relates to women. I am very thankful Leonard Swidler wrote this book and will treasure it in my library.

[Sandy Mayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This provocative title was used by Dr. Swidler for one of his most popular essays on Jesus and his perspectives on women. A prolific author of more than 100 texts, Dr. Swidler has penned many essays exploring many long-held beliefs about religion. He examines Jesus' (Yeshua: Len prefers his Jewish name) Jewishness and the relationship between Christianity and Judaism.

Dr. Swidler has several other texts that are less like a text book than this one dealing with the same idea. His Letters to Will series offer simple explanations of the many more complex, highly annotated and researched views of this book. I highly recommend reading Dr. Swidler's work particularly if you are curious about the historical roots of many of our current (wrong) beliefs held today.

[Cheyanne Lovellette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book lived up to the hype and title. As a Christian and a feminist, I was looking for something that would talk in depth about the issues and ideas I was worried about while staying true to the Bible. Swidler is incredibly thorough. There are more footnotes and references than you could ever hope to read but they are all crucial in showing that God's vision of Christianity/the Church is one of equal participation. I grew up hearing women were the helpers and had to agree with whatever the husband said even if it was wrong. This books gives the biblical backing to equality in marriage and life in general. We are all one in Christ. Loved it and highly recommend!

[Tony Desantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

IT is a scholarly somewhat redundant work. It does make a compelling case about Jesus's views of women. Most of this is not new to anyone who has read anything about Jesus from a liberal perspective. But one new intriguing insight is the possibility that the writer of Luke's Gospel was a woman - either May Magdalene or Mary of Bethany. It's more speculative than convincing, butt...there is still so much we don't know about the life of Jesus.

[Scott Neigh]

Reviewed here.