Becoming Divine: Toward a Feminist Philosophy of Religion

Rating:
Summary: Warning! Tiny print masks gross verbosity
Review: I've read lots of academic books in the course of studying for several degrees, but this has to be one of the most impenetrable. It's almost impossible to read because of the typeface which seems to be 9.5 font size - even with my glasses this is very tiring, and brings up the question why so small?

There is only one answer, and that's to keep the book of manageable length, which then leads to the question why is the book so long? Why indeed. The author is far too prolix - the text should have been edited down by at least a third - perhaps then it may have been possible to persevere with the turgid prose.

But, probably not as the author doesn't seem to have much original to say, rather just surveying what has already been said and criticising that. Oh, for something cogent and readable on the subject of religion and feminism.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Creative New Thought
Review: Jantzen's book must count as one of the most exciting and groundbreaking new books in the generally dreary and highly conservative field of Philosophy of Religion. With an extrememly wide range of reference, she expertly charts the ground for a possible new approach to the discipline from a feminist perspective, arguing that the alleged neutrality and apolitical nature of much work in the field masks conservative and hazardous assumptions of its own. She sketches compelling new proposals for revisioning the sorts of questions asked in philosophy of religion, in terms of gender, experience, desire, community and justice, and proposes a new concept of the divine beyond traditional dualisms (which links back to her earliest work, God's World, God's Body). All in all this must count as a great and often moving achievement in speculative and creative thinking, coupled with powerful critical analysis of existing methodologies. It is a substantial book, not written for the beginner, and as such is challenging, but well worth the effort. I recommend it unreservedly.