Jesus Was a Feminist: What the Gospels Reveal about His ... (ISBN 1580512186)

A convincing case for Jesus' feminism:
Reviewed by Linda Benninghoff for Reader Views (11/07) In "Jesus Was a Feminist," Leonard Swidler makes the case that Jesus respected, cared for and even advocated for the rights of women, not in the sense of Betty Freidan, but in the highly personal relationships he formed and the subtle societal changes he was able to bring about through them. Swidler discusses the times in which Jesus lived, and states that in Palestine women did not have many rights and their status was not high. Although men could divorce, women could not divorce their husbands. The woman taken in adultery was about to be stoned to death. Prostitutes were pariahs. Widows were viewed as worthless because their husbands, who conferred worth on them, were dead. Jesus was kind to widows. He felt men should not be able to divorce and gave equal rights in marriage to women. He befriended Mary Magdalene, sister to Lazarus. One of the non-canonical gospels even suggests he kissed her on the mouth. In fact, Swidler goes on to suggest that two of the gospels had as their major source proto-gospels written by women. Mary, Jesus' mother, was probably the source for Luke, with its numerous references to women. The source for John, the book suggests, was written by Mary Magdalene, who was the beloved disciple. The book "Jesus Was a Feminist" makes a convincing case for Jesus' feminism. According to Swidler, the church as we know it couldn't have come into being without women leaders at its beginning. A well-researched, illuminating book, it asks, is our feminism today as deep as his?

JESUS LOVED WOMEN SO MUCH:
I believe Leonard Swidler's book, Jesus Was A Feminist, is the Most Empowering book ever written for women! Swidler clearly shows not only how much Jesus loved women, but also how very valuable their witness has been to Christianity. Jesus came for "the poor, the broken hearted, the captives, the blind, the marginal and the oppressed." On every page Jesus defended women, honored them, healed them, threw away the taboos and fought for their equality with men. Swidler analyzes how Jesus treated each woman with dignity, especially giving them a voice. Without women's telling and retelling their stories, we would not have much in our gospels. We would still not know that He rose from the dead if they had remained silent. After reading God's Word to Women, God was showing me that much is misinterpreted / slanted. I was getting discouraged at the general lack of study and concern for the Word from the pulpit. It seemed like every Mother's Day I had to sit through yet another sermon about how women have to submit, and Easter was always about Peter. We were either invisible, inferior or unclean. I eventually slowed down in going to church, and had almost stopped reading my bible. I had many questions which no man could answer but I knew God was bigger than patriarchal churches. God has always loved women and then Jesus showed it. He chose to reveal the most profound information only to women; He chose only women to be the first witnesses to His Resurrection. You will be surprised to find out how extremely valuable Mary Magdalene was, and that parts of the gospels were written, yes, by women! Swidler explains the problem passages, and shows that Jesus did not reject divorce and remarriage. I just weep when I think of Jesus' love for women and how it has been soooo overlooked and minimized. Jesus was a feminist; He did more for women than we have been taught. This is one book which cannot sit on the book shelf; a precious pearl, it must be passed around. I totally love this book. I believe it is the Best Book in the world! Adele Hebert