The Feminine Spirit: Recapturing the Heart of Scripture - By Lynne Bundesen

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The Feminine Spirit: Recapturing the Heart of Scripture

By Lynne Bundesen

Paperback: 208 pages

Publisher: Jossey-Bass (March 30, 2007)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0787984957

ISBN-13: 978-0787984953

 

We all know that the Bible has a long history as the backdrop for

domestic, national, and international relations. And, we know that

history extends to our time, when the domestic and foreign policy of

the United States is currently dictated by the biblical beliefs of

some of our leaders. We also know, or think we know, that the Bible

is a book about men who lived long ago in the desert with robed women

trailing after them. And, that is where we are wrong. The Bible can

be read as a narrative of spiritual power for women of all ages

through all time, to today.

 

I am privy to no special knowledge of the Bible but I have been

sufficiently interested in the Book's impact on the female body, mind

and spirit to have learned cursory Hebrew, how to use a biblical

Concordance, and how to read the original texts for myself. I am

surprised at how easy it is to do that and how radical that seems

even in 2007 AD, or 5767 in the Jewish calendar.

 

In making my own notes and in writing The Feminine Spirit:

Recapturing the Heart of Scripture, two biblical themes are featured.

 

First, my book offers a corrective and nondenominational reading of

the Bible that has, by interpreters for centuries, claimed an

exclusively male God. The Feminine Spirit looks at the textbook of

current western culture from interpreters of the original text and

traces the biblical, textual narrative of a female gendered Spirit,

God.

 

Second, in the light of this female Spirit, my book looks at familiar

accounts of the stories of women and men in the Bible and offers a

view of their stories in the light of the female nature of God and

how that view impacts lives today.

 

No previous Bible knowledge is required to read The Feminine Spirit,

but what if the Bible was easy to read and-in just the turn of a page-

you could find the comfort, inspiration, and answers you need today?

Here are some tips from The Feminine Spirit that you might find

helpful if you want to tackle the Bible or if you are already a

reader and student of its texts.

 

How can you read the Bible easily? Begin by reading the Bible as the

woman or man you are today-as the sum of all your experience.

 

Take the Book, go into a room alone and shut the door behind you. Or,

if you prefer, take the Book and go out for a walk.

 

This simple approach is deliberate. The Bible becomes more immediate

if you read it alone. No one hears with your ears, sees with your

eyes, knows what you need, what you want, or where you want to go in

just the way that you do.

 

Allow yourself to be alone with the Bible and your own unlimited

potential for understanding it. The Bible is a lens that magnifies

your spiritual self. Reading glasses, mirrors, camera pictures, and

the approval of friends are poor substitutes for the vision that

exists when you see the Book as a guide to your own consciousness. A

Bible of your own is the passport to the greatest adventure of all-

the adventure toward self-realization. Each reader in each age is

always discovering the Bible. You are on a voyage of discovery.

 

The Bible you choose should be one that is yours, that speaks in a

language you appreciate. Choose the Bible that suits you, just as you

choose the music you listen to in your most private, personal

moments. Unless you read Hebrew-the original language of the Jewish

Bible-or the biblical Greek language of the New Testament, you will

be reading a translation.

 

Ever since the King James Version of the Bible was first published in

1611 and the Bible became available to the individual lay reader, the

idea that God is male has informed literature, language, and national

and international policies. But there is a female aspect to the

biblical Spirit, the Creator, that already exists in the Book. To

read the Bible as it is written, to appreciate the feminine aspect of

the God of the Bible, may lead you to revise your view of God and of

yourself, improve your sense of self-worth and your spiritual,

emotional and some say, even your physical health.

 

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Genesis 1:1 KJV

 

Genesis 1:1 to 2:3 describes the Creation of the universe by an all-

good, all-powerful God. The Creation-not just of all objects, but

also of all ideas-sets the tone for the entire Bible. All else, all

the remainder of the pages that make up the texts of the Hebrew and

Christian holy words, are commentaries. Backgrounds and foregrounds,

highlights and dim places, all politics, history, art, relations

between men and women, all stand in relation to the first chapter of

Genesis.

 

Spirit of God, in the original Hebrew, is ruah Elohim. Ruah, the word

meaning, " Spirit, " is a feminine noun. Elohim is a grammatical

feminine plural form of God. Nothing is said about a bearded old man

in flowing white robes. What is said is that Spirit, denoted by a

feminine word and a feminine plural word, is Creator and moves.

 

There is no fearsome Father to run from, no overbearing Mother, no

absent parent to search for. Remind yourself, make a note if you need

to: No matter what you might have heard before, the Creator is not a

large man. This reminder will help clarify the Bible for you. The

Creative God of the Bible is described as feminine Spirit. And, there

begins a new journey for all of us, and the beginning of The Feminine

Spirit: Recapturing the Heart of Scripture.

 

The Feminine Spirit: Recapturing the Heart of Scripture

By Lynne Bundesen

 

 

Reviewer: Mary C. Yeh " The WORD eater " (Richardson,TX USA) - See all

my reviews

 

This book is excellent. It is full of truth from the Scriptures. I am

thankful for how much Lynne Bundesen has dug out the riches and

presented to the reader to meditate and digest on. I love this book

very much. It is one I will keep as my most favorite. I keep my most

favorite books by my bed to pull and refresh upon ever now and then.

Her writing is that special to me.

 

The references she gives are good tools for serious Bible students. I

have known God as the great Utter, drinking from the breast,

nurturing me as a mother and raising me in wisdom, which wisdom is

nothing but the Holy Spirit that Christ Jesus has given me to

understand all aspects of my God. I am female and know I am made in

His image as female. It is experiential and very personal. I am glad

this aspect of God is being presented so others will hear the truth

and can act upon to experience for themselves. Being a Christian,

this is my inheritance that she presents. Exellent book!

 

--------------------

 

Note: The reason i secured the name www.ruach-elohim for the Divine

Feminine of Judaism is because of this:

 

" Spirit of God, in the original Hebrew, is ruah Elohim. Ruah, the word

meaning, " Spirit, " is a feminine noun. Elohim is a grammatical

feminine plural form of God. Nothing is said about a bearded old man

in flowing white robes. What is said is that Spirit, denoted by a

feminine word and a feminine plural word, is Creator and moves. "

 

i hope all Her devotees understand the immensity and importance of

the task to explain the Divine Feminine of various traditions, and

synthesize all the religions and scriptures. Many cannot see the

forest for the trees. Violet and Nicole should thus take their time

to methodically complete a most critical, delicate and sensitive

issue. They can take a giant leap in progress by investing in books

about the Divine Feminine and using quotes for the all-important

foundation of faith. i am sure over the years they will find

completing their site http://holyspirit-shekinah.org most rewarding.

i wish them Silence to accomplish this great task.

 

regards to all,

 

jagbir