Jesus as Mother and Abbot as Mother: Some Themes in Twelfth-Century Cistercian Writing

1977 ◽  
Vol 70 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 257-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Walker Bynum
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Spiritual Growth ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Erotic Love ◽  
Human Relationships ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
High Middle Ages ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
Idea Of God

A number of scholars in this century have noticed the image of God or Jesus as mother in the spiritual writings of the high Middle Ages. The image has in general been seen as part of a “feminine” or “affective” spirituality, and neither of these adjectives is incorrect. The idea of God as mother is part of a widespread use, in twelfth-century spiritual writing, of woman, mother, characteristics agreed to be “feminine,”and the sexual union of male and female as images to express spiritual truths; the most familiar manifestation of this interest in the “female” is the new emphasis on the Virgin in doctrinal discussions and especially spirituality. And the frequency of references to “mother Jesus” is also part of a new tendency in twelfth-century writing to use human relationships (friendship, fatherhood or motherhood, erotic love) in addition to metaphysical or psychological entities to explain doctrinal positions or exhort to spiritual growth.

scholarly journals Uses of the Past in Twelfth-Century Germany: The Case of the Middle High German Kaiserchronik

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-38
Author(s):  
Mark Chinca ◽  
Christopher Young
Keyword(s):  
Original Composition ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Geoffrey Of Monmouth ◽  
Middle High German ◽  
Vernacular Literature ◽  
Salvation History ◽  
The Past ◽  
Multiple Contexts ◽  
High Middle Ages

AbstractDespite its broad transmission and its influence on vernacular chronicle writing in the German Middle Ages, the Kaiserchronik has not received the attention from historians that it deserves. This article describes some of the ideological, historical, and literary contexts that shaped the original composition of the chronicle in the middle of the twelfth century: Christian salvation history, the revival of interest in the Roman past, the consolidation of a vernacular literature of knowledge, and the emergence of a practice of writing history as “serious entertainment” by authors such as Geoffrey of Monmouth and Godfrey of Viterbo. Placed in these multiple contexts, which have a European as well as a specifically German dimension, the Kaiserchronik emerges as an important document of the uses of the past in fostering a sense of German identity among secular and ecclesiastical elites in the high Middle Ages.

The Military Orders

2020 ◽  
pp. 247-263
Author(s):  
Jochen Burgtorf
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Church Reform ◽  
High Middle Ages ◽  
Military Orders ◽  
The Military ◽  
Order State

The chapter discusses the two major international military orders of the high Middle Ages, the Templars and the Hospitallers. It outlines their origins in the twelfth-century Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem, as well as the factors that contributed to their emergence, such as pilgrimage, the eleventh-century Church reform, knighthood and chivalry, the Crusades, and the role of the papacy. It then considers the comparative historiography of Templars and Hospitallers, including the scholarly debate on the Templars’ suppression and the Hospitallers’ survival. The chapter goes on to address the question of the military orders’ identity by examining the extent of the Templars’ charity and hospitality, the question of the Hospitallers’ militarization, and the genesis of the concept of an ‘order state’. It concludes with suggestions for future research.

scholarly journals I Second That Emotion: Modelling the Anxious Experiences of Thirteenth-Century Episcopal Office

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Philippa Byrne
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Institutional Authority ◽  
Emotional Language ◽  
Christian Service ◽  
High Middle Ages ◽  
The Church

Abstract The episcopacy in the High Middle Ages (c.1100–1300) can be understood through the idea of a shared emotional language, as seen in two treatises written to advise new bishops. In them, episcopal office was largely defined by the emotions it provoked: it was a cause for sorrow, a burden akin to back-breaking agricultural service. The ideas most associated with episcopal office were anxiety, labour and endurance. Ideas about Christian service as painful labour became particularly important in the twelfth century, alongside the development of the institutional authority of the Church. As episcopal power began to look more threatening and less humble, this emotional register provided one means of distinguishing episcopal power from secular lordly power: both were authorities, but bishops were distinguished by sorrowing over office and ‘enduring’, not enjoying it.

Persons in the Image of God

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan L. Mittleman
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Ethical Orientation ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Jewish Thought ◽  
Body And Soul ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
Made In

Using the motif of the image of God as an organizing principle, this chapter shows how Jewish sources address such issues as mind/body dualism, body and soul, the relation of human nature to animal nature, sexuality, birth and death, vulnerability and dependence, and violence and evil as well as selfhood and the relations among rationality, emotion, desire, and imagination. Classical Jewish thought assumes and propagates dichotomies: human beings are bodies and souls, male and female; a little lower than the angels, but not much higher than the animals; descended from a common father and mother, yet divided into nations and races; biologically the same, though unique in their individuality; and a part of nature, yet possessing a power to remake both nature and themselves. Underlying the dichotomies is a basic Jewish commitment. Human beings are made in the image of God, and therefore possess intrinsic and undeniable worth. The idea of an image of God has an ethical function. It integrates human nature into personhood and gives persons an ethical orientation.

Pembinaan Pastoral Konseling Terhadap Kelompok “Wanita-Pria”

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-113
Author(s):  
Veydy Yanto Mangantibe ◽  
Olyvia Yusuf
Keyword(s):  
Gender Identity ◽  
Pastoral Counseling ◽  
Gender Identity Disorder ◽  
Deviant Behavior ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Psychological Disorder ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
The Image Of God

This article discusses pastoral counseling for shemale groups. In the time of creation, Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them”. This verse provides clear evidence that in terms of sex or gender, there are actually contrasting differences between men and women. Men and women are two different individuals, there is no mixing of both or shemale. However, in reality, it was found that they were male but felt that they were women. In general, shemale experienced errors in identifying their gender. This mistake is caused by a psychological disorder called gender identity disorder. It appears that in society, shemale behavior is seen as abnormal or deviant behavior. They often experience rejection, mockery, insults and even become targets of various acts of violence. In the midst of the negative response from the general public to the existence of transgender women. Abstrak Artikel ini membahasa mengenai pembinaan pastoral konseling terhadap kelompok waria. Dalam masa penciptaan, Kejadian 1: 27 “menurut gambar Allah diciptakan-Nya dia; laki-laki dan perempuan diciptakakan-Nya mereka.” ayat tersebut, memberikan bukti nyata bahwa dari sisi seks atau jenis kelamin, sesungguhnya terdapat perbedaan yang kontras antara laki-laki dan perempuan. Baik laki-laki maupun perempuan adalah dua pribadi yang berdiri sendiri, tidak ada pencampuran dari keduanya atau Wanita pria, atau yang disingkat waria, namun pada kenyataannya didapati mereka yang berjenis kelamin laki-laki tetapi merasa dirinya adalah perempuan, Secara umum, waria mengalami kekeliruan dalam mengidentifikasi jenis kelaminnya. Kekeliruan tersebut disebabkan oleh gangguan psikologi yang disebut gender identity disorder, Nampak persoalan Dalam masyarakat umum, perilaku waria dipandang sebagai perilaku yang abnormal atau menyimpang. Mereka kerapkali mengalami penolakan, dijadikan bahan ejekan, hinaan bahkan sering menjadi sasaran berbagai tindakan kekerasan. persoalan ini juga tentunya menjadi tanggung jawab bagi kekristenan dalam pelayanan maka perlu adanya tindakan nyata untuk menyikapi persoalan kelompok waria.

Patristic Divergences about the Image of God in Man

2007 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 69-79
Author(s):  
Stuart George Hall
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
The Church

The pathologically pious heresy-hunter Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis from 365 to 403, might be reckoned a champion of uniformity in the Church. Notoriously he promoted the campaign against Origen in Palestine, and in his Panarion attacks Origen’s theology at length. Never the brightest of the Fathers, he was confused by the question of the image of God in man. He comes to it when considering the sect of Audians, who were anthropomorphites; that is, they held God to have a bodily form which the human body replicates. According to Genesis 1: 26–7, God made man, male and female, in (after, according to) the image and likeness of God When Epiphanius gets to the detail of the Audian argument, it is plain that they argued from the use in Scripture of bodily language about God’s eyes, hand, feet, and other organs, and from the Lord’s appearances to Moses and the prophets, to demonstrate his bodily shape. Epiphanius can refute this in detail, but is aware of other suggestions about wherein what is ‘in the image’ consists, and regards none as wholly coherent with orthodox faith and Scripture. He mentions the theories that it is the soul that is in the image, or that it is virtue, or that it is the grace received in baptism, or that it applied to Adam only before his sin.

scholarly journals Vrou as beeld van God, Deel 1: 'n Historiese ondersoek - Vanaf Genesis tot die Middeleeue

2000 ◽  
Vol 56 (2/3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yolanda Dreyer
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Patriarchal Society ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
Historical Investigation ◽  
The Asymmetry ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
The Middle Ages

Woman created in the image of God, Part 1: a historical investigation - from Genesis to the Middle Ages. This study indicates that the traditions in the Pentateuch, especially the creation traditions, implied the egalitarian status of man and woman as image of God. The context of this traditions, however, was patriarchal and thus opened the possibility of the exploitation of women. Though Genesis 1:27 does not specifically attest to the asymmetry between man and woman in patriarchal society, the fate of women in general was bound up with the presentation of God as a male creator. The implications of this presentation can be clearly seen in texts of the intertestamental period. The study points out the degree to which Philo's view of a hierarchy concerning man and woman as immanent to God's order of creation, strongly influenced Christian thought on the place of women. Since the "fall of woman" necessitates a "soteriology", women in general are portrayed negatively in patristic texts. Mary is seen as the positive counterpart of Eve. The image of women then becomes that of submission on account of their alienation from God. The article concludes with the view of Thomas Aquinas that the subservience of slaves is less than that of women, because in their case it is not an order of creation.

Prelacy, Pastoral Care and the Instruction of Subordinates in Late Twelfth-Century England

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 114-128
Author(s):  
Rebecca Springer
Keyword(s):  
Pastoral Care ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Lay People ◽  
High Middle Ages ◽  
Religious Services ◽  
Eternal Salvation ◽  
Parish Priests ◽  
The Middle Ages

Historians of the Middle Ages usually associate the phrase ‘pastoral care’ with the sacraments and religious services performed by parish priests on behalf of lay people. But late twelfth-century writers primarily attributed pastoral care to prelates. Closely following the tradition of Pope Gregory I's Pastoral Rule, they held that prelates bore the responsibility to govern, guide and (perhaps most importantly) instruct their subordinate clergy or religious. Prelates did this by preaching, and they were supposed to validate their words with the example of their own righteous lives. But although commentators assumed that prelates would be reasonably well educated, late twelfth-century writers did not attribute good preaching to intellectual aptitude, or to the availability of preaching treatises or model sermon collections, as historians often assume. In an age of intellectual vibrancy and flourishing schools, ensuring that prelates instructed their subordinates remained firmly a moral, rather than an educational, question for the English church. Only by instructing subordinates could a prelate ensure their, and by extension his own, eternal salvation: neglect of preaching was tantamount to murder. This article uses the little-studied writings of Alexander of Ashby, Bartholomew of Exeter and Thomas Agnellus to uncover new links between ideas about prelacy, pastoral care and the instruction of subordinates in the high Middle Ages.

Disputing Privileges

2019 ◽  
pp. 136-169
Author(s):  
Jennifer C. Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
High Middle Ages

Chapter 4 examines disputes between the abbess of Sainte-Croix, canons of Sainte-Radegonde, and the bishop of Poitiers over jurisdiction and privileges between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries. Poitiers’ spatial, administrative, and mental orientation had shifted to give greater power to the Count and bishop, enhance Sainte-Radegonde’s canons’ status, and place new pressures on the nuns. When the canons resisted the abbess’s claims, she appealed to the papacy to defend their privileges. The pope supported Sainte-Croix’s abbesses’ authority, despite the supposed misogyny of the eleventh- and twelfth-century reform, and encouraged the bishop to intervene on the abbesses’ behalf. Poitiers’ bishop was also a rival to the abbess, however, complicating his response. Chapter 4 demonstrates that the gendering of authority in the high Middle Ages was complicated for both men and women, and that Sainte-Croix’s abbesses constantly sought ways to muster support from allies who were eager to demonstrate power.

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