The Feminine Face of God : The Unfolding of the Sacred in Women

Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking and insightful.
Review: I just finished this book last week while on vacation. It made for easy, fascinating reading due to all the personal stories. No matter where you are in your life journey, you will be able to find a story in this book that speaks to you. The authors did an excellent job of interviewing a cross-section of women at various points in their life journeys. I especially appreciated hearing from women of different faith traditions. The book challenges women to seek a new language and experience to express their spiritual longings. Too often we have settled for the male models, and frankly, they don't work very well for us! It was refreshing to be given permission to pursue the tangents I know I have felt in my own spiritual journey, but have not always given credit to their validity. This book is an excellent gift and is appropriate for women in their mid-20s on. It also should appeal to the woman who has never set foot within a "church" setting, as well as one who has. The book has excellent endnotes as well as a selected bibliography to seek out further resources.

Rating:
Summary: God for Women?
Review: Reflectively, and logically, God did not exist for women within the construction of religious except as the afterthought in the creation of man, a theory to which religion has remained fixed throughout the centuries as evidenced by the inadequate recognition of women in the daily life cycle of everything but being used as a vessel of child bearing. This theory is substantiated by most theories of gender dynamics (created mostly by men) to form a view that while women are disappointed to recognize they are second class citizens in a world bound by traditional religions, their unique qualities have never been given "equal time" or encouragement to develop to apply to what is thought as traditional male pursuits, usually defined by the hierarchies of dominance in military formats. Altering the dynamics of that reality requires than women give significant thought to their own strengths and vulnerabilities in a "larger" context to define their own place in social,political space and economic space and stop trying to fit into that designed by men, for men. Redefining the interpretation of themselves within traditional religious context may well be a part of that requirement to release their innermost ability and capacity for expression and social impact, an historic recognized need but as yet unrealized by most, and unaddressed. Sharing God within the traditional biblical philosophies will not be easy given historic interpretations of their place in humanity but may well be worth the effort to study and examine. No doubt, finding God for women may well lie in the "greater domain" of integrating their capacity to give birth as well as to maintain it according to an experience that men are incapable of appreciating fully from that larger perspective. Ideal reading for all adults interested in Christian gender integration and power potential.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring Book
Review: The authors spent a lot of time researching and interviewing various women that are considered extremely spiritual. The result is a book of many stories of women from different backgrounds and the many paths to took to find their spirituality.

I found the book very inspiring and wanted to read it again as soon as I finished the last page. I recommend this book for every woman out there.

Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking and insightful.
Review: Upon reading this book for the first time I found myself pleasantly surprised. First published in 1991, this book is as germaine to women's spirituality today as it was then. Instead of being a book about Christian women only, Anderson and Hopkins have included a cross section of North American women in their study. Women of many different faiths candidly discuss their personal revelations regarding their spiritual growth and their relationships with the divine.

Interspersed with the women's stories are the experiences of the two authors as they struggled to research and write this book. This sharing of the authors' experiences makes the book accessible to anyone, reminding us that we are all only human - subject to doubts and questions as easily as we are to revelations and joy. Instead of being a dry, preaching, self-help book, the combined experiences of Anderson and Hopkins and their subjects create a story full of laughter, joy, pain, sorrow and, most importantly, a sense that as women we must explore our own spiritual lives in our own ways in order to live at our fullest potential.