REVIEW: She Who Changes, by Carol Christ

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Xiao Rong
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REVIEW: She Who Changes, by Carol Christ

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She Who Changes: Reimagining the Divine in the World, by Carol Christ
Published in 2003 by Palgrave Macmillan


[standard disclaimer that this book review is solely my opinion, etc. Feel free to disagree with me!]

ABOUT THE BOOK

In her earlier book Rebirth of the Goddess, Carol Christ briefly touched upon the role of process philosophy, a view of the world that posits change as the cornerstone of the universe, in paganism and Goddess feminist spirituality. In this book, she expands upon the role of process philosophy and really goes into depth about the divine in the world. Although she uses the term “Goddess/God”, her understanding of the divinity is really radically different from anything else I’ve ever read. She discusses the “six theological mistakes” of religion (well, mostly Judeo-Christian religion), panentheism (“all is in the world”), the open-endedness of life, affirming pleasure and life in the body, and what it means for social change in the world.

THE GOOD

Christ is a wonderful writer, and the Goddess that she evokes is really breath-takingly beautiful. Also, like I said before, this Goddess is really quite different from traditional ideas of deities, as She is a divine sympathetic power but not omnipotent or omniscient. For those of you who have struggled with Christianity, her book very neatly addresses things like the Problem of Evil and the Problem of Hell - and process philosophy answers these questions much better than anything else I’ve ever read. As she writes it, process philosophy is very well suited for understanding the world in a way that reaffirms the feminine, the environment, and social justice. In my opinion, her work constitutes a really solid theological underpinning for paganism (not all pagans, but certainly some. My brand of paganism, anyways!). It is also not a particularly dense book to read. A lot to think about and unpack, but the writing itself is not very dense, considering how much it deals with theology/thealogy.

THE BAD

I love this book so much, so it’s really hard for me to think of things I would say are bad about her book. The only thing I can think of is that she doesn’t really introduce process philosophy all that well, considering how much she relies on it. By the end of the book, you’ll have a pretty solid understanding of what process philosophy is, but I would have wished she had a chapter in the beginning that was like, “Okay, this is what process philosophy is …”

TO TAKE WITH A GRAIN OF SALT

This is not a Paganism 101 book. This is a book about theology/thealogy, so it is mostly theoretical. You won’t find rituals or spells in here, and it won’t give you much straightforward advice on how to live your day to day life, or your spiritual practice. However, if you’re really interested in thinking about what divinity is, then this is perfect. (Polytheists might disagree with a lot of it, though!)

Also, the answers that she provides are NOT easy by any means - for example, she writes about how there is no life after death, the Goddess cannot prevent evil, and the future is entirely uncertain. Some might find these answers liberating (as I do), others might find that these conclusions are unbearable. Still worth thinking about, though.

THE VERDICT

For anyone who’s interested in a theoretical basis to paganism, I think this book is a fantastic place to start. It’s very inspiring, and it’s so radically different in perspective from anything I’ve ever read, and even if you wind up disagreeing with it, it’s still a worthwhile challenge. I would absolutely recommend this to any Goddess feminists out there too.

5 out of 5 stars
~ Xiao Rong ~ 小蓉 ~ Little Lotus ~
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Re: REVIEW: She Who Changes, by Carol Christ

Post by -Dark-Moon- »

Looks really interesting, Xiao. Thank you ...
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Re: REVIEW: She Who Changes, by Carol Christ

Post by North Star »

Thank You Xiao Rong, this is another subject I am looking more into, this is going on the list!

Thanks for sharing :)
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