""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" November 17, 1995 - Episode 476 - Women of Achievement and Herstory compiled by Irene Stuber """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" "The New Testament's presentation of the Virgin Birth should not be understood as expressing hostility to sex and marriage, although it has been misunderstood in this sense. The Old Testament did not promise a biological Virgin Birth, nor did the New Testament wish to describe such a birth as a historical event. Matthew I and Luke I use the Virgin Birth as a metaphor, like other metaphors in the New Testament. As for the prophet Isaiah (8th century BC) he never speaks of a Virgin Birth at all. The supposed promise of the Virgin Birth by the prophet does not correspond to the Hebrew text. In Isaiah 7:14 it says: "Behold, a young woman (alma) shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." The appearance of the word "virgin" in Matthew 1:@3 comes from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Bible (third century B.C.), which translates the word "alma" as "parthenos" (virgin). The Hebrew word CAN mean virgin, but need not do so any more than every young woman MUST have preserved her virginity." -- From Uta Ranke-Heinemann's _ Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven, Women, Sexuality and the Catholic Church_, New York, Doubleday, 1990, ISBN 0-385-26527-1, discusses the oppression of women in Western Society, particularly by the male-dominated religions. It is also available as a paperback. Ranke-Heinemann remains a Catholic calling for change. She holds a Ph.D. in Catholic theology and qualified as a university lecturer at the University of Essen, West Germany, in 1969, the first woman to do so. She became a full professor of Catholic theology in 1970 but lost her academic chair in New Testament and Ancient Church History for interpreting Mary's Virgin Birth theologically and not biologically (see above). In 1987 she held the chair for the History of Religion at the University of Essen. 11-17 Anniversaries ........................................... Died Nov. 17, 680, Saint Hilda, her abbey was one of the great religious centers of NE England. Patron saint of business and professional women. Event Nov. 17, 1558, Elizabeth I ascended the throne of England and immediately settled the religious wars by siding with the protestant moderates. B. Nov. 17, 1815, Eliza Wood Burhans Farnham opposed women's political rights because she thought it would lessen women's actual influence. She was superintendent of women at Sing Sing prison and made a number of humanitarian changes. Her _Woman and Her Era_ espouses the natural superiority of women over men and the modern social structure was based on the unconscious recognition by men that women were not to work or live on a equal basis, but to occupy a higher level to oversee the morality of life. B. Nov. 17, 1870, Winifred Holt established the Ticket Bureau for the Blind, worked closely with others in the Lighthouse (for the blind) movement, and established them in the US and France. B. Nov. 17, 1878, Grace Abbot worked with immigrants at Jane Addams' Hull House, was the innovative director of US Children's Bureau 1921-34. B. Nov. 17, 1881, Mary Harriman Rumsey, born into wealth, organized in 1901 what became the Junior League movement. She was active in consumer affairs throughout her life. Event Nov. 17, 1975, the Supreme Court invalidates a Utah law that claims a woman in her third trimester of pregnancy should be presumed unable to work and, therefore, not eligible for unemployment benefits. Event Nov. 17, 1976, Dr. Rosalyn S. Yalow becomes the first woman to receive the Albert Lasker prize for her research. She would later be awarded the Nobel Prize. Quotes du jour ................................................ "What woman essentially lacks today for doing great things is forgetfulness of herself; but to forget oneself it is first of all necessary to be firmly assured that now and for the future one has found oneself." -- Simone de Beauvoir. ....................... * ........................ WOA salutes volunteers Jennifer Gagliardi for posting Women of Achievement and Herstory and Catt's Claws through her listserv and Paula Levine, Ronnie Falcao, and Margaret Russell for their proofreading (when we get it to them in time. It's FLU season!) WOA depends on its readers to point out any factual mistakes. We check and double check, but errors occur. Sometimes recognized sources are found to be incorrect. WOA publishes an errata on the last day of each month. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- >>(C) 1995, All Rights Reserved, Irene Stuber, PO Box 6185, Hot Springs National Park, AR 71902, voice mail or fax, 501-624-5262 ID #300, or email irenestuber@delphi.com with comments and suggestions. Distribute verbatim copies freely with copyright notice for non-profit use. We are accepting *limited* donations (only what can be spared) to help offset the online costs of posting WOA.<<