When we began a study of Jesus in SGN, it was in the context of the current research and of our own very different viewpoints. I have taken this as an opportunity to become more educated in the Christian tradition, and to bring my understanding into a little more consistent and thoughtful form, rather than a reactive one. Spong has written several different books. I had read This Hebrew Lord, and had learned from my reading. I relate to his use of Scripture and his placement of it into the context in which it was written. In Born of a Woman, he gives the reader two chapters of information and clarification on how and who wrote the Gospels that we might be able to step free of literalism and its unfortunate consequences. He says that he hopes "to provide a new option beyond the present sterile choices that so many feel the church today offers the world; namely, must I be premodern and prejudicial in order to be a Christian? or must I leave Christianity in order to escape my prejudices and take seriously my post-Christian world?" His aim is to "open my readers' eyes to see that literalism in all its forms can die and yet God will continue to live." (chapter one, p.14).

One of the means to understanding the biblical narratives is by understanding the Jewish tradition of midrash. "Midrash represented efforts on the part of the rabbis to probe, tease and dissect the sacred story looking for hidden meanings, filling in blanks, and seeking clues to yet-to-be-revealed truth." (chapter two, p.18) Midrash is involved in answering the question of meaning, not historical objectivity. So "what we have in the Gospels is an interpretive narrative based on an earlier part of the tradition and designed to enable the reader to see the reality of God in Jesus and to be drawn to this reality in faith." (p.17) As one who had not known of this tradition until a year ago, the explainations in this chapter were educative.

He then writes about the birth narratives of Matthew and Luke as well as the hints from Paul, Mark and John. In his discussion he begins with the earliest notes; Paul's brief mention "born of a woman, born under the law" (Galatians 4:4,5). It is of note that at this early point in history, the birth narratives had not yet developed. The Christian church was still in a stage of diverse communities, and had not yet formed its answers to theological questions. As it sought to do so, one of the ways to explain the impact of Jesus and the faith his life and teaching inspired was through the birth narratives. The first of these are found in Matthew. He writes after the fall of Jerusalem when the Jewish community separated itself from those Jews who believed in Jesus as the Messiah. Probably a Jewish member of a Christian community he "saw the Jewish presence in the Christian Church to be declining and the gentile presence to be increasing. He wanted that emerging gentile majority not to forget the Jewish origins of their faith story. He also wanted his Jewish brothers and sisters to escape their narrow understanding of things Jewish that had so violated him and to embrace all that Jesus meant for this writer. ... He wrote to enable Christians, both Jews and Gentiles, to recognize the primacy of Judaism even as they were being led into the universal embrace of the emerging Christian Church." (Chapter 5, p.66) These themes are responsible for some of the emphasis in Matthew's birth narrative. Jesus stands forth as the son of David and Abraham and then as Immanuel, son of God. From these academic sounding introductions we are led to uncover this master of midrash's hidden stories and explanations. These include some little noted but interesting facets, like four women who kept traditions alive but had compromised themselves sexually in doing so, as well as aspects of the story with which we are so familiar. This is all fascinating reading that tells some of what an original audience might have heard and the questions they may have been responding to in that particular time.

In a similar way the narratives in Luke are discussed. We are given a glimpse of the possible origins of Luke's stories as a compilation or editing of the current liturgies, or a pageant, of his day. These would have developed in response to questions, affirmations and explainations. Luke was most probably a Greek speaking gentile and his reference community would have been different from Matthew's, but the tradition of midrash is still present to give us insights. It is this search for insight that is fed by symbols and story, and in this manner it is a search for and a finding of truth. So, the author feels that "yes, these narratives capture truth to the eyes of faith; truth that mere prose cannot capture. This truth touches the hearts of men and women in every generation with the power of its insight."

He also brings forth some of the non-traditional possibilities which are being discussed in scholarship and over coffee, like the question `Was Jesus illegitimate?' and `Was Jesus married?'. These questions have come forward as women have entered into discussions previously left to men. The second has very real implications for married priests. They are valid questions which have as much evidence on the side of yes as that of no. We, however, have been led to believe that no is the only possible answer. It is this closure which the author next addresses as he explores some of the implications of the virgin birth and its cost over the centuries to women. The church's definition of what it means to be a good woman is unattainable, for no real woman is able to be a virgin mother. So we find that the church has given us definitions which severely limited half of the population's growth. There is also a review of the suppression and degradation of sexuality, until "the sexual life, even the married sexual life, was at best a moral option only for the weak." (p.213) Another definition that we have been misguided in through reference to these narratives is the Christian definition of God as masculine only. And what is the connection? When Gnostics argued for a feminine Holy Spirit, they were faced with the Gospels. "The virgin birth story in both Gospels placed the Holy Spirit into the narritive in the place normally occupied by the father or male agent, thereby making the masculine definition of spirit primary. The Gnostic insights were viewed as an attack on the divine nature of Christ and were opposed vigorously in orthodox circles. A feminine understanding of God was thus condemned as heresy." (Chapter 14, page 206)

When one reads a book of this nature, there is a great deal of support for a questioning of basic assumptions and opening to wider options. If one seeks to know a tradition, then one must be willing to examine its shadow. This is precisely what this book does, and it can be enlightening.

A.S.