The Female Ancestors of Christ

Ulanov ( The Feminine in Jungian Psychology and Christian Theology ) seeks in this slim volume to aid in the rediscovery of the female voice in the Christian religious tradition. Her vehicle is a reexamination of the four women listed in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel according to Matthew. Ruth is the Moabite widow who with the help of her mother-in-law secures a new marriage. Tamar, also a widow, disguises herself as a prostitute and seduces her own father-in-law to produce a child. Rahab is a Canaanite prostitute who, in order to save her family, betrays her own people to aid the Israelite invaders. Bathsheba, whose affair with and marriage to King David were the source of many problems, rounds out the list. Why would such people be included in the lineage of Jesus? According to the author, they embody and closely link sexuality and spirituality, symbolizing Jesus' feminine side. Ulanov's style, however, is difficult and her writing frequently seems deliberately obtuse. Her psychological analyses must often be taken on faith. These flaws obscure the vitality of her argument and risk leaving these women as voiceless as Ulanov shows Bathsheda to be in the biblical text. (Sept.)