Peter Kreeft on Goddesses and Priestesses

A great quote from Peter Kreeft's new book The Philosophy of Jesus:

Alone among the ancient gods, the Jewish God was always "He," never "She" (or "It" or "They" or Hermaphrodite). For "She" symbolized something immanent, while "He" was transcendent. "She" was the Womb of all things, the cosmic Mother, but "He" was other than Mother Earth. He created the earth, and He came into it from without, as a man comes into a woman. he impregnated nonbeing with being, darkness with light, dead matter with life, history with miracles, minds with revelations, His chosen people with prophets, and souls with salvation. He was transcendent.

That is why only Judaism, of all ancient religions, had no goddesses and no priestesses. For priests are representatives and symbols of gods. Priests mediate not only Man to God but also God to Man. Women can represent Man to God as well as men can, for women are equally human, valuable, good, and pious. But women cannot represent this God to Man, for Gos is not our Mother but our Father. Earth is our Mother.

This is a great quote and it distills the matter rather clearly. I've spent hours explaining this to people, and Kreeft says everything needed to be said in two simple paragraphs.

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