George Walker Redding Lecture

2022 GEORGE WALKER REDDING LECTURE

Dr. Beth Allison Barr, professor and associate dean of the graduate school of Baylor University, opened this year’s George Walker Redding Endowed Lecture in the Ward Room of the Ensor Learning Resource Center February 17th, by showing the audience a provoking photo of a Shrine Madonna from the medieval period. These sculptures, revered from the late 13th century into the 15th, depicted Mary, the mother of Jesus, and opened to reveal complex carvings and paintings. In the shrine Barr used to illustrate her message, Mary is holding the Christ child in one arm and an apple in her hand, illustrating how she, in giving birth to Jesus, redeemed the sin of Eve when she ate the original fruit. Inside are symbols of God and the Holy Spirit. “It’s the whole Godhead literally enthroned inside the Virgin Mary,” explained Barr.

Christians during the medieval period, as evidenced in church documents and sermons cited by Barr, appeared more open to the feminine side of Christianity than many evangelical Christians are today. She stated that some of the most frequently used Biblical texts in sermons of that era were those where God would refer to himself symbolically as a female, nursing, caring for, and saving her children from harm. Summarizing a 15th century sermon, Barr indicated that perhaps a woman had to be the vessel to bring redemption to the world. Eve believed Satan and ushered in sin. Mary, conversely, believed the words of the angel Gabriel and her belief in his message ushered in salvation through Jesus.

“The medieval world emphasized God as a woman. There is biblical amnesia in the modern view of God.” Barr noted that using the terms “father” and “mother” are both symbolic and that the titles themselves limit our understanding of God’s nature. The misogyny that has been present in most societies since recorded history and still lingers in many Christian organizations and denominations, has caused rifts recently in the Christian church. This has been the catalyst for many to leave the church and even their faith behind. “The problem in the church is never with God; it’s always with people …. Could forgetting our history have brought us to this place?” Barr asked.

According to Dr. Barr, shrine Madonnas like this one demonstrate the high regard in which the medieval church held the importance of women in God’s plan of salvation.