Christa Mulack (30 October 1943 – 22 July 2021) was a German
feminist theologian
Feminist theology is a movement found in several religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Neopaganism, Baha'i Feminism, Baháʼí Faith, Judaism, Islam and New Thought, to reconsider the traditions, practices, scriptures, and theologies ...
, educator and author.
Life
Christa Mulack was born and grew up in
Hamburg. She studied
Theology,
Psychology,
Sociology and
Teaching sciences. While working as a teacher at a
Gymnasium (secondary school) she received her doctorate in 1982 from the
University of Dortmund (as it was known at that time). Her dissertation, entitled "Die Weiblichkeit Gottes" (''loosely, "God's Womanhood"''), was published as a book in 1983, and established Mulack's reputation as a
feminist theologian
Feminist theology is a movement found in several religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Neopaganism, Baha'i Feminism, Baháʼí Faith, Judaism, Islam and New Thought, to reconsider the traditions, practices, scriptures, and theologies ...
.
The topic is one on which she worked as a freelance author and teacher at several universities and theological academies after 1984.
Works
Her next significant publications were "Maria – die geheime Göttin im Christentum" (''"Maria - Christianity's secret goddess"'') in 1985
and "Jesus – der Gesalbte der Frauen" (''loosely, "Jesus - Anointed by women"'') in 1987.
She based her selection of theoretical methodical analytical devices on the gender typologies identified by
Carl Jung and on the
Kabbalah.
[Meret Fehlmann: Die Rede vom Matriarchat. Zur Gebrauchsgeschichte eines Arguments. Zürich 2011, , pp. 243-245]
In her work Mulack tries to liberate biblical texts from the powerful patriarchal gloss of the last two thousand years. She retains the Christian symbols, but wants to reform Christianity in a feminist way and reinstate a
matriarchy that traces its origins back to earlier traditions. Under Mulack's model Jesus becomes the prototype of spiritually integrated men and matriarchal societies, positioned at the interface between patriarchy and matriarchy: With this restitution of the image of the mother and her beloved son, which over the ages flows through all religions, Jesus reconnects with the matriarchal world in which revelation was fashioned".
[Christa Mulack: Die Weiblichkeit Gottes. 1983, S. 91]
Applying this prism, Mulack sees Jesus as the one anointed by women, with
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...
as the goddess figure and Jesus as her "beloved son". Under this reading, there are clear parallels between the "anointing stories" in the
New Testament at the rituals around the
"Great Mother" and related hero figures, as identified by
Heide Göttner-Abendroth
Heide Göttner-Abendroth (born February 8, 1941 in Langewiesen, Nazi Germany, Germany) is a German feminist advocating ''matriarchy studies'' (also ''modern matriarchal studies''), focusing on the study of matriarchy, matriarchal or matrilineal soc ...
as the core element of matriarchal religions.
[
Mulack's 1993 book "… und wieder fühle ich mich schuldig" (''"… and I'm feeling guilty again"'') moves away from themes relating directly to "God's Womanhood", and deals with feelings of guilt which, the author asserts, are typically found in women. She imputes social causes to the problem.][Christa Mulack: … und wieder fühle ich mich schuldig. Ursache und Lösung eines weiblichen Problems, Kreuz-Verlag, Erstaufl. 1993, .][
]
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulack, Christa
Writers from Hamburg
People from Hagen
Scholars of feminist theology
German gender studies academics
20th-century German theologians
21st-century German theologians
1943 births
2021 deaths
Christian feminist theologians