Article January 14, 2002 Issue

She sees a new seminary

with contributions from Laura Lapointe

Laura Lapointe Is A Student at Andover Newton Thelogical School in Newton, Massachusetts. Laura is a first-year student in the three-year Master of Divinity program. We asked her to give some of her observations about the environment she's immersing herself in.

Have you found that the view of God in seminary is less patriarchal than in the past? Do you see the motherhood of God emerging?

The majority of professors and students I've met are highly sensitive to the demand for cultural, religious, and gender inclusivity in their definitions of God. This semester, three of my four professors are women. Not long ago, my Old Testament professor explained to us that Shekinah refers to the feminine presence of God. She also highlighted the stories of some less-famous women in the Bible—like Miriam, Deborah, Rahab, and the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah. Another professor circles any masculine pronoun we use in reference to God in our papers, just as a means of encouraging heightened awareness of how our language manifests our conceptions of God.

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