Gender equality is a major pursuit in development amongst impoverished communities. It’s one of the big planks for moving things forward. The empowerment of women in places where they have been relegated to second-class citizenship and poorly treated because of cultural norms is an aim of much of the work undertaken by individuals and groups getting their hands dirty in the work of justice. There are often religious beliefs pushing against this work and it has made me start wondering about some things such as what the world would be like if Jesus had been a woman. What do you think?

UN MDG 3 Info Graphic

If you scan the horizon of religious frameworks, most are male-centric. They’re dominated by male images of the divine and the biggest heroes at the center of the major stories of such religions are men – at least, that’s the case with the world’s major religions. Even the heroes of the new-atheism are predominantly male.

It throws up some fascinating ‘what if’ questions. What if Jesus had been a woman? What if the prophesied Messiah had been a female and Jesus had fulfilled that by being a girl? If such a thought makes us squirm and it seems offensive to even put the question out there, do we need to ask why? Aside from arguments that stem from cultural context, what difference would it have made if Jesus had been a woman?

Reading the Bible there are definitely feminine attributes in the divine to be seen and any understanding of being created in the image of God includes both male and female, but the latter is harder to see when our view of the text is dominated through male eyes. I think there are shining examples of a feminist progression through scripture but plenty of people don’t see it. I believe Christianity has much to offer to a positive progression of the rights of females but I also know that it’s sometimes used to argue for a femininity that plays second fiddle to men.

I know I’m stepping into shaky territory for some so allow me to be clear that I’m not asking this question to be offensive, nor do I, in any way, want to devalue who the incarnated person of Christ was/is – my King and Saviour. I’m asking it to spark an open conversation. I have no agenda or pre-set answer to the question.

If Jesus had been a woman would it have made an even more powerful statement than him being a male? Would his teachings and story have had a bigger or lesser impact? What effect would it have had on the place of women in ministry or women in societies heavily influenced by Christian ethics? How would it make us respond to the degradation of women that goes on throughout our world?

The same could be asked about the central figures of other religions. I’d love to know what you think. What difference do you think it would have made if Jesus had been a woman?