A Man's Relationship With Jesus: A Review of Leon J. Podles, The Church Impotent: The Feminization of Christianity

We live in a time of societal confusion about sexual roles and sexual identity. The dominant concern, fueled by the modern feminist movement, has been with women and their confusions and "issues." More and more people, however, are noticing that not is all well with men and perhaps men might be suffering more. Some are also noticing the failure of the Church to be of help to men, or even to attract them. That failure may be rooted in the feminization of the Church, a phenomenon that long antedated feminism.

The Problem of Male Absence

In The Church Impotent, Leon Podles gives us one of the first Christian discussions of the feminization of the Church. This is not a book that gives a detailed exegesis of biblical passages telling us what it means to be men and women. Nor is it the place to go for guidance about the role relationships of men and women in the home and in the Church. It is, however, almost the only place to go for a discussion of the origins and consequences of the feminization of Christianity.

One of the greatest merits of Podles's book is his willingness to discuss obvious facts that few others want to mention. The Western Christian churches, Catholic and Protestant alike, are made up of a greater and increasing percentage of women, both in attendance and in active involvement. Perhaps even more significantly, the image of Christianity presented in these churches emphasizes what is attractive to women, not what is attractive to (most) men. In addition, according to various psychological profiles, the clergy in the Catholic church and most Protestant denominations can be shown to be more feminized than males in general.

The Masculine Role

Podles moves from the undeniable problem of male absence from church to the underlying reason: the need and desire of men to be masculine and to be part of environments that support masculinity. He takes the common sense view, supported by the social scientific data, that men and women are indeed different in both makeup and personality. Relying heavily, though not exclusively, on David Gilmore's Manhood in the Making, Podles observes that men have an important social role in risk-taking on behalf of a society or community. Moreover, to become manly, they need to separate themselves from the world of the feminine in order to return to it as men, no longer as something similar to women.

His emphasis on the intrinsically sacrificial aspect of the male role, the willingness to risk one's life or die to protect others, is a welcome note. In many Christian circles masculine behavior is often seen as simply problematic. The sooner young males are trained to be good boys-boys that behave more like good girls-the better. And the more husbands behave the way their wives would like, the better. Podles's focus on the social value of masculinity is one of the chief contributions of the book.

The Cause of Feminization

The Bible is not the cause of the feminization of Christianity. Podles describes the many examples of manly character found in the Scriptures and discusses what is sometimes called "the image of the man (or the woman)" in the Scriptures. As he observes, behind the various biblical instructions on how to act as men or women is an understanding of what men and women should be. In the Bible, masculinity is highly valued. Therefore it is not by coincidence that Judaism, Christianity, and special religious movements such as monasticism, have drawn the dedication of men in large numbers.

If the Church was not feminized in biblical or early church times, when did the change occur? Podles contends that the transformation began in the High Middle Ages in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, by means of various devotional themes that were emphasized during this period. They had the effect of feminizing the Church and religious culture. In all of these devotional currents, an erotic love is directed toward the man Jesus, in a way with which women might feel comfortable, but with which masculine men would have difficulty.

Distorted Spiritualities

Podles makes the important point that Christianity, even in its forms that emphasize authority, has always had difficulty in dealing with spiritualities that may contain distortions. The Church, at least until recent times, has had no problem condemning doctrinal errors. It has had a more difficult time condemning distorted spiritualities, even though these distortions may be more harmful to the Church than some doctrinal deviations.

Podles gives particular attention to the rise of "bridal mysticism" during the High Middle Ages. Though he sees traces of this devotional theme earlier in the history of the Church (e.g., in the writings of Origen), it does appear that this development represents something new in the Christian tradition. The Bible, of course, teaches that the Church is the bride of Christ. But, Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) made a revolutionary change in applying this scriptural teaching to the individual: Each Christian is the bride of Christ. Though this shift from Church to the individual may seem to be very minor, it had unfortunate and unhealthy consequences for the Church and for men.

Here I think Podles is making an important point, but one that needs more qualification. He is probably correct in seeing a decisive shift in Bernard, certainly in Western Latin devotional currents around Bernard's time. He is not, however, fully correct in describing the shift. Before Bernard, in the early church, the idea of the Church as the bride was commonly applied to the individual soul but simply because he or she was a member of the church. It was not understood as Christ particularly choosing an individual soul in order to marry him (or her), much less have a love affair with him (or her). Rather it was understood as His choosing a people. In joining that people by being united to Christ, Christians received a grace that could be expounded in terms of the commonly accepted interpretation of the Song of Songs as well as other biblical texts.

Thus, an image that once was seen typologically or symbolically and treated as a way of applying Scripture to Christian conversion, was made the basis of a devotional approach that was understood affectively and imaginatively. Rather than contemplating the truth of union with Christ by meditating on the scriptural image of the Church as the bride of Christ, people began to practice devotions based on the view that they were themselves, individually and specially, married to Christ.

Unforeseen Consequences

This new mode of scriptural interpretation led to some unforeseen consequences. Podles maintains that the use of this imagery could only repel normal men. Will they be inclined to have this almost homosexual relationship with Jesus or to adopt a posture of feminine receptivity toward God? The answer seems intuitively obvious, however much it may have escaped the attention of some world-class theologians. Thus, according to Podles, the rise of "bridal mysticism" in the western church was the beginning of the feminization of Christianity and the beginning of the estrangement of men from the Church.

Other medieval developments could have been mentioned. Podles overlooks the role of the medieval romantic (courtly love) traditions that probably influenced the process. Neglecting to treat the influence of Francis of Assisi and the Franciscan tradition also leaves a gap. He also could have extended his treatment of the role of devotion to the new Marian devotions, which Bernard certainly had an important role in developing. Some of the currents of Marian devotion would have men relate to Mary as a little boy to his mother. These can repel normal young (and older) men seeking to establish or continue a proper adult separation from their mothers as part of the world of men (and of adults). The emphasis on such a devotion to Mary can create in men the view that church is fundamentally a place to go for maternal comfort but not for manly investment.

There is one notable place where I would simply disagree with Podles's view of the development. That concerns the place of the Aristotelian and Scholastic approach to women. In fact, the Scholastics in general and Aquinas in particular present a foundation for Podles's approach. While I agree that the Scholastic method divorced doctrine from spirituality in a way that was often unhelpful, and I could be persuaded that Scholastic overemphasis on the analytically rational may have produced a negative reaction that led to an increase of feminization, I do not agree either that they saw women or femininity as solely receptive, nor that Scholastic teaching directly produced feminization. If anything, the opposite was true.

While Podles has the historical development roughly right, I think he overemphasizes the influence of the devotional currents and the feminized image applied to Christian spirituality. I do not think he has established the case that men stayed away from Christianity before industrialization. Intuitively I agree that something important happened in the High Middle Ages, and I agree it produced a feminization of Christianity. I am, however, inclined to think that the actual flight of the male from Christianity began seriously only with the advent of the Enlightenment and industrialization. This happened for primarily sociological reasons, although the feminized approach to western Christian spirituality probably facilitated the change in the way Podles views it.

The book contains a wealth of examples that are both instructive to read apart from the analysis and also that establish much of his point. Though many more examples could have been given, this would have extended the work to many volumes and so made it inaccessible to most readers. Nonetheless, certain developments would have strengthened his case, such as the emphasis on masculinity in the writings of the Popes of this century before the Second Vatican Council, as well as the impact of Catholic Action and the Cursillo movement that sprang from it.

Podles does not deal much with modern theological developments, although he notes that some of them contain heavily feminized approaches to Christianity. He has the courage to comment on the way Hans Urs von Balthasar, heavily influenced by Adrienne von Speyr, presents a theology with feminized (and feminizing) orientations. Theological teachers influenced by von Balthasar have, as Podles notes, given a strong impetus to feminized presentations of basic Christian truths. Unfortunately, the development here is brief, and little space is given over to discussing other theologians of the same orientation.

A Book for Protestants

Much of what he covers would be unfamiliar to most Protestants. However, he does treat Protestant spiritual and devotional currents, derived from medieval origins, that "make Christianity conform more to the desires of the feminine heart." Had he treated contemporary popular charismatic and evangelical piety, he could have found material for quite a few more chapters. His comments on the weaknesses of Promise Keepers, a movement he supports, unfortunately are on target. Perhaps more importantly, many hymns popular among Protestants show the same problematic tendencies that he is criticizing.

Podles's conclusion to the book is adequate, but disappointingly short. The focus of the book is on the problem, not on the solution. Of course, coming up with a solution is a daunting prospect. Perhaps it is the virtue of prudence that keeps most writers who know a good deal about the subject from saying all that much. Hopefully it was not just a fleshly desire to live a bit longer.

The readers of JBMW might be inclined to see Podles's book as a Catholic book. It is. However, it is a book written by a Catholic who has a sympathy for the Eastern church. He is criticizing what he sees as Western Catholic developments from which the Eastern churches, whether Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox or Uniate, have largely been spared. In this I think he is accurate. The consequence, however, as Podles makes clear, is that the Protestant churches and traditions have not been spared the developments he discusses. Until someone writes a book specially for them, they should read Podles's book with attention and note the analogies in their own traditions.

In summary, Podles's book is well worth reading. My main critique is that it could use more development along the same lines. Perhaps Podles could be persuaded to write a followup or some supplementary essays. We would benefit from more of what he has to say.