Female Image of God and Women's Leadership in Ciudad Mistica de Dios

Ciudad Mistica is an autochthonous nationalist religious group in Mount Banahaw, Philippines. A hybrid religion that has blended Christian symbols and beliefs with its deeply held belief in the Motherhood of God and women's spiritual leadership, it has both accommodated to and resisted colonial...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Concilium
Main Author: Brazal, Agnes M. (Author)
Format: Print Article
Language:English
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Published: SCM Press [2018]
In: Concilium
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Balitaan, Maria Bernarda ca. 19. Jh / Ciudad Mistica de Dios / God / Symbolics / Woman / Catholic church
RelBib Classification:AZ New religious movements
KBM Asia
KDB Roman Catholic Church
NBC Doctrine of God
NBE Anthropology
Further subjects:B Image of God
B WOMEN leaders
B RELIGIOUS groups
Description
Summary:Ciudad Mistica is an autochthonous nationalist religious group in Mount Banahaw, Philippines. A hybrid religion that has blended Christian symbols and beliefs with its deeply held belief in the Motherhood of God and women's spiritual leadership, it has both accommodated to and resisted colonial domination. This essay explores the question: What would a contrapuntal reading of the beliefs and praxis of the Catholic Church and Ciudad Mistica yield for a conversation on the issue of female God image and leadership of women in the church? Feminist Christians can learn from Mistica that God can be seen as Mother, without necessarily linking this to physical motherhood and traditional feminine qualities. Mistica likewise demonstrates how a female imaging of God translates to and/or is supported by women's religious leadership, and that a woman-led church need not be a mirror image of a patriarchal church. Mistica is also a reminder to post-gender feminists that in particular cultural contexts, gender continues to be regarded as a significant category but such do not always lead to the subordination of women. Mistica on the other hand, in its encounter with Christian feminists, seems to have moved from a theological belief in women's spiritual pre-eminence to a focus instead on the equal creation of woman and man in God's image.
ISSN:0010-5236
Contains:Enthalten in: Concilium