Mourner, Mother, Midwife
Author | : L. Juliana M. Claassens |
Publisher | : Westminster John Knox Press |
Total Pages | : 140 |
Release | : 2012-11-28 |
ISBN-10 | : 9781611642681 |
ISBN-13 | : 161164268X |
Rating | : 4/5 (81 Downloads) |
Download or read book Mourner, Mother, Midwife written by L. Juliana M. Claassens and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2012-11-28 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traditional understandings of God as deliverer depict God as a mighty liberator-warrior and wrathful avenger. Juliana Claassens explores alternative Old Testament metaphors that portray God as mourner, mother, and midwife--images that resist the violence and bloodshed associated with the dominant warrior imagery. Claassens discusses how metaphors of God as life giver began to develop in the aftermath of the trauma of Israelite exile. She offers compelling examples of how this feminine imagery still has the power to inspire hope amidst violence in today's world. She demonstrates that God's delivering presence helps people of faith cope with trauma and suffering on many levels--individual, community, national, and global--while bringing forth new life out of death and destruction.