Wholly Woman, Holy Blood A Feminist Critique of Purity and Impurity

by Herbert, Judith A.; Johnson, Judith Ann; Korte, Anne-Marie; De Troyer, Kristin

• ISBN13: 9781563384004
• ISBN10: 1563384000
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-04-01
• Publisher: Bloomsbury T&T Clark

Summary

This is the first book to take a broad interdisciplinary approach to the relationship between female blood and issues of purity and impurity. Well-known women scholars examine blood and purity laws, especially as those laws have been passed down in the biblical literature and in the Roman Catholic tradition. These scholars work with different texts, ranging across the biblical, classical, patristic, medieval, and modern, with approaches varying from historical critical to postmodern.Kristin De Troyer (Claremont) asks whether blood is a threat to holiness or a step toward another holiness. Judith Ann Johnson (Claremont) explores the shedding of blood as the sanctifying rite of heroes. Anne-Marie Korte (the Netherlands) takes an anthropological look at female blood rituals. Kathleen O'Grady (Toronto) analyzes the woman with a discharge of blood in light of menstrual prohibitions in the Hebrew Bible. Deborah Ellens (Claremont) offers a challenging reading of Leviticus 15. Mayer Gruber (Beer Sheva, Israel) examines Qumran law and halachic sources dealing with women and pollution. Kathleen P. Rushton (Brisbane, Australia) offers a feminist reading of the story of the woman in childbirth in John 16:21. Jennifer Schultz (Toronto) explores doctors, philosophers, and the Christian Fathers on menstrual blood. Susan K. Roll (Buffalo, New York) surveys early patristic and medieval texts dealing with the churching of women after childbirth. Grietje Dresen (the Netherlands) examines the churching of new mothers in the Roman Catholic tradition.

Table of Contents

Contributors	vii
Preface	ix
Abbreviations	xiii
The Semantics of Taboo: Menstrual Prohibitions in the Hebrew Bible	1	(28)
Kathleen O'Grady
Menstrual Impurity and Innovation in Leviticus 15	29	(16)
Deborah Ellens
Blood: A Threat to Holiness or toward (Another) Holiness?	45	(20)
Kristin De Troyer
Purity and Impurity in Halakic Sources and Qumran Law	65	(12)
Mayer I. Gruber
The Woman in Childbirth of John 16:21: A Feminist Reading in (Pro)creative Boundary Crossing	77	(20)
Kathleen P. Rushton
Doctors, Philosophers, and Christian Fathers on Menstrual Blood	97	(20)
Jennifer Schultz
The Old Rite of the Churching of Women after Childbirth	117	(26)
Susan K. Roll
The Better Blood: On Sacrifice and the Churching of New Mothers in the Roman Catholic Tradition	143	(22)
Grietje Dresen
Female Blood Rituals: Cultural-Anthropological Findings and Feminist-Theological Reflections	165	(24)
Anne-Marie Korte
Shedding Blood: The Sanctifying Rite of Heroes	189	(34)
Judith Ann Johnson
Bibliography	223	(22)
Index	245