A Feminist Image of Christ for Burma 1

Saw Solomon Opehtoo

A Feminist Image of Christ for Burma

Introduction

Christology in Burma1 needs to be reimagined in a relevant Christological form to

respond to today’s extremely poor economic situation, social discrimination and the

existence of sixty years of military dictatorship. This paper will propose a new way of

communicating Jesus Christ to address the present social location in Burma. In this paper,

I will try to urge a feminist image of Christ for Burmese people2 because I believe a

relevant expression of Christological image is essential to meaningfully respond to the

contemporary social situation. Traditionally, the image of Christ has been presented with

a masculine identity because the Bible was written in the time of patriarchy. Tyron

Inbody clearly states that “the presupposition for Christology has always been the

patriarchal perspective of the scripture and Christian tradition. The biblical framework is

patriarchal to the core, not simply in some of the language used.”3 This masculine image

of Christ still dominates the faith-system of Burmese Christians in their expression of

Christian imagination about divinity. Presenting masculine image of Christ is a problem

for Burmese people because the contemporary Burmese social conditions reflect only the

weakness of masculinity. In this situation, people have survived through the love,

faithfulness, sacrifice, sufferings, and liberation sustained by Burmese women. Therefore,

1
Burma is the former name of the country. In 1990, the military junta changed the name of the country
from “Burma” to “Myanmar.” Although people officially voted for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for
Democracy to form a democracy government, the military refused to hand over the authority to Aung San Suu Kyi
to manage the State. Aung San Suu Kyi always denies the new name of the country changed by military junta so
that I will use the word “Burma” as the name of the Country in support of Aung San Suu Kyi.
2
In this paper, I would like to use Burmese people to represent not only Burman majority population but
also for all the people residing in the land of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Burma). It means “All people
of Burma.”
3
Tyron Inbody, The Many Faces of Christology (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2002), 119.
 A Feminist Image of Christ for Burma 2
Saw Solomon Opehtoo

I would like to argue that the image of Christ of the Burmese Christians will be a harmful

message for the people unless a new feminist image of Christ can be constructed.

A Feminist Image of Christology is preferable because contemporary Burmese social

condition portrays masculine image as an oppressive image that represents soldiers, drinkers, the

lazy men. Generally, we can divide Burmese men into groups such as the soldiers, the religions

persons, the business men participating in an unjust economic system, and the alcohol drinkers.

We can see only a few men engaged in the life of fulfilling their responsibilities for their family

and society. These are the main reasons why I would like to assert the more relevant

Christological image for Burma as a feminist identity to respond to oppressive social, political

and economic situation in Burma.

The main method that I will use in constructing a feminist Christological image relates

my Burmese context to the sources of theology that I encountered from the readings about third

world feminist theologies. I have been inspired by learning the experience of sufferings of

women in African, Latin American, and Asian contexts and these sources invite me to imagine a

new idea of Christ which is totally oriented in feminist image. Therefore, I will use some

important theological discourses from African, Latin American and Asian feminist theology as

the sources of my writing. In this paper, I will discuss the three Christological features to

understand the feminist image of Christ which addresses the Burmese context. These three

features are mothering or care-giving, suffering servant, and true humanity to be a true

worshipper. This feminist Christological image will establish a new form of true worship in

Burma.
 A Feminist Image of Christ for Burma 3
Saw Solomon Opehtoo

Mothering or Care-Giving

In this first part, I would like to discuss the image of mothering as care giving in arguing

feminist image of Christ for Burma. According to the research of Daw Mya Sein in 1958, unlike

other countries, “women In Burma have equal position with that of men in leadership both for

their family and for their community.”4 In contrast, a survey of Violet Cho and Aye Lae in 2008

found the situation of Burmese women that “women should focus on caring for their husbands

and the children prevent them from aspiring to a more active life outside the home.”5 I agree with

the Cho and Lae that women are mainly considered as those who have to care for their family

and their children while men are considered to be the leaders of the family and the country. A

good image of mothering care is very important for a person to be fully human in Burmese

context. For me, mothering is not the subordinated position for a family and a community but it

must be given equal value of leadership position with Burmese men. I realize that mothering is a

given position by nature that cannot be occupied by men.

In Burma, mothers are usually faithful in their mothering care even in the time of

difficulty. In the book called Suffering in Silence: the Human Rights Nightmare of the Karen

People of Burma, we can see the enduring cares of the women in tribal lands as following:

While men flee their villages as soon as the military approaches, women usually
remain to take care of the house and surrounding fields. Without a male presence
to prevent their advances, troops more easily take advantage of the women’s
vulnerable position. Knowing they will encounter less resistance if the male

4
Daw Mya Sein. 1958. “The Women of Burma: A Tradition of Hard Work and Independence” The
Atlantic News, February 1, 1958, accessed November 23, 2013.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1958/02/the-women-of-burma/306822/
5
Violet Cho and Aye Lae, “Women in the Movement.” The Irrawaddy Magazine, July, 2008,
accessed November 23, 2013. http://www2.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=13191
 A Feminist Image of Christ for Burma 4
Saw Solomon Opehtoo

owner of the house is absent, soldiers boldly enter houses at will, looting
belongings and making sexual advances toward women.6

I acquire two understandings from this information: firstly, the value of faithful

mothering care for the family and secondly, the unfavorable images of men as unfaithful fathers

and oppressive soldiers. It is an undeniable fact that mothering faithfulness that is intentionally

chosen by Burmese women represents the Christological image of faithful care-giver and love-

giver for both their families and their society.

African feminist theologian Mercy Amba Oduyoye states the African women’s struggle

on the side of alafia, as women with a mothering agenda that “mothering is a term to encapsulate

not simply biological motherhood, but all nurturing, mentoring and life enhancing praxis that

make for humanity and human communities as women image God to have willed and of with the

Gospel provides a glimpse.”7 The meaning of mothering cannot be limited to one’s own family

affairs but to the advantage of the entire society. It is true for the Burmese society that in

mothering faithfulness of women, people have survived through obtaining true love, ceaseless

care, and incessant nurturing.

In her article “Wives, Warriors and Leaders: Burmese Christian Women’s Cultural

Reception of the Bible,” Anna May Chain discusses the real lives of Burmese women. She

discovers that women in Burma are normally considered as wives and mothers not more than the

standard of domestic workers. She strongly accuses the influence of Buddhism in subordinating

Burmese women under Burmese men. She referenced the research of Cho Cho Win that “the

influence of Buddhism strongly shapes the status of Myanmar (Burma) women. Men are

6
Karen Human Rights Group, and Claudio O. Delang. Suffering in Silence: The Human Rights Nightmare of
the Karen People of Burma (Parkland, USA: Universal Publishers, 2001), 251.
7
Mercy Amba Oduyoye, Oduyoye, Introducing African Women's Theology (Cleveland, Ohio: Pilgrim Press,
2001), 37-38.
 A Feminist Image of Christ for Burma 5
Saw Solomon Opehtoo

believed to have believed to have an inborn glory or phon, which keeps then at a higher level

than women. Women accept a subservient position in the family showing respect for the person

of the male. In the family, the father is known as ‘ain-oo-nat,’ meaning ‘chief spirit of the

house.’”8 In Burmese culture, women need to submission to their husbands and also they have to

take fully responsibility for the entire household affairs. Although culture subordinates the value

of mothering under other masculine leadership positions, women are willing to choose this

mothering and trying to faithful in this choice.

The main fact that I would like to discuss here is the important of mothering both in a

house and a society. Without mothering faithfulness, it is sure that there will be problems or

conflicts in a family or society. Even though the roles of father is more favored than that of

mother in Burmese culture, I strongly believe that the role of mother is more valuable than that

the father for a family. Without them, there is no possibility to see the source of assurance of

love, concern and care. Delicious foods are rooted in the mothering faithfulness. I also believe

that the role of mother is the center of all individual’s spirituality in a family. One of the

traditional rituals of the Karens9 called “Bgha,” also recorded by Harry Ignatius Marshall that

“the grandmother or the eldest female in the direct line of the family presides as the high

priestess at the Bgha feast of the whole family.”10 For the Karen people, mother is not only

considered as the caregiver and manager of foods but also believed as the spiritual leader for a

family. Even though the male-dominated historical records assert about the women’s leadership

8
Anna May Chain, " Wives, Warriors And Leaders: Burmese Christian Women's Cultural Reception Of The
Bible," SBL Forum , n.p., Oct 2005, accessed on November 25, 2013. Online:http://sbl-
site.org/Article.aspx?ArticleID=455
9
The Karen people are one of the ethnic minorities in Burma who make up approximately seven percent
of the total Burmese population of approximately fifty million people.
10
Harry Ignatius Marshall, The Karen People of Burma: A Study in Anthropology and Ethnology (Columbus:
The University, 1922), 248.
 A Feminist Image of Christ for Burma 6
Saw Solomon Opehtoo

in Karen ritual called Bgha as “the woman is the more susceptible to sickness, she properly has

more to do with the offerings and should take the leading part in ritual ceremony,”11 In construct,

I would like to assert that mother possesses the most important position to manage not only

physicality but also spirituality of every family member.

Historically, the roles and capacities of not only Burmese women but also all third world

women had been neglected. Ana Maria Bidegain writes that “when we see woman’s ability and

mutuality in undertaking the construction of society and culture (without abandoning her post in

the home), we are awestruck. Women themselves are surprised at the breadth of their creative

capacities. We forget that this is simply God’s plan.”12 For Burmese women, Daw Phyu Phyu

Thin, a parliament member from National Leauge for Democracy states that “women’s roles and

rights have been prohibited by law constituted by the former military government.”13 Actually,

women possess the same capacity with men since they are originated from the same creature of

God. Ignoring the positions and the capacities of women must be condemned by means of

accepting the equality value of the God’s creation. In particular social situation of Burma, I

would like to assert that the Christological image that we should present in Burmese society

mothering image. In this image, I believe that people will see the divine knowledge about

faithful lover, believable caregiving, accurate manger and devoted leader that they had already

encountered from the experiences in their families. For next part, I would like to discuss

suffering servant of Christ to portray as one of the feminist Christological image for Burma.

11
Ibid., 249.
12
Ana Maria Bidegain, “Women and the Theology of Liberation,” in Through Her Eyes: Women's Theology
from Latin America, edited by Elsa Tamez (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1989), 33.
13
BBC News, “Women in Burma are being Violated by Law,” BBC News, November 23, 2013.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/burmese/burma/2013/06/130625_burmese_women_rights_violation.shtml?print=1
 A Feminist Image of Christ for Burma 7
Saw Solomon Opehtoo

Suffering Servant

In this part, I would like to discuss Christological feature of suffering servant which can

be seen from the dedicated leadership of the women both within their particular families and

society. I believe that the authentic Christian leadership is not rooted on the personal skills and

the education skills that can be received by nature. Nonetheless, Christian understanding of

authentic leadership is rooted in the experience of life sufferings. Suffering is the most authentic

source to be a committed and dedicated leader for the benefit of both particular groups and larger

societies. Therefore, I would like to present the suffering that women are now being experienced

as my main discussion to give Christian understanding of servant-leadership.

Suffering is the most prominent matter in discussing about Burmese women. It can be

said that Burmese women and the suffering of life are identical. The main courses of suffering of

Burmese women are come out of political instability and extreme poverty. Suffering of women is

real both in ethnic minorities’ tribe lands and the entire country. In mainland areas, while the

lowest income jobs depress Burmese men to give up working for fulfilling their family

responsibilities, women cannot avoid to abundant their loves for their children thus they try to

struggle for family income as much as they can. Therefore, current workers’ movements for

justice and fair-pay in factories are considered as women movements because majority of the

factory workers are women. According to an article from Irrawaddy news written about

factories’ workers, “the ages of women factories’ workers are common from sixteenth to twenty

year old and they all had suspended their education and enter in factories to solve their families’

food problems.”14 They are also being suffered from injustice factories managements that they

14
Yang Pi, “From the Behind of the Burmese Factories” The Irrawaddy Magazine, June 3, 2012, accessed
November 25, 2013. http://burma.irrawaddy.org/article/2012/06/03/11206.html
 A Feminist Image of Christ for Burma 8
Saw Solomon Opehtoo

are being required to work additional times by without pay and even some women workers are

required to work men jobs that are too hard to for a woman worker. For that all workers from

Loyal Groups Furniture factory demonstrate for their rights and fair payments.15 It can be stated

that the suffering of women workers are hugged from their families to the workplaces. The

sufferings, injustice, exploitation of the women workers are originated in their desire of

sacrificing for their families. Sufferings of the Burmese women indicate a new face of Christ for

their families and for society.

In studying contemporary women life in Burma, Teresa O’Shannassy discovers that “the

civil war and economic decline, most women’s lives are characterized by instability and extreme

poverty. The current government violates the fundamental rights of all women and subjects man

to gender-specific abuse.” 16 Through working for Women’s League for Burma, Christine Leah

and Non Paw Gay discovered that:

Women, girls, and children have suffered disproportionately as civilians in this

more than 60-year civil war. Soldiers bear the physical and psychological scars of
armed combat, but innocent civilians suffer outside direct conflict, at any time;
rape, sexual violence, abuse, torture, and forced labor are widespread regardless
of whether there is a ceasefire or not. Women are therefore as much involved in
conflict as men are, even if they do not bear arms and fight against the enemy. 17

According to the nature of armed conflict, women and children are the majority of

victims so that the sacrificial suffering of Burmese women can be seen in life experience

15
Za Nay Lin, “Unsuccessful Lives of the Workers from Taw Win Factory” in Burmese(
), The Irrawaddy Magazine, November 9, 2012, accessed November 25, 2013.
http://burma.irrawaddy.org/%E1%81%80_strike/2012/11/ 09/24971.html
16
Teresa O’Shannassy, Burma's Excluded Majority: Women, Dictatorship and the Democracy Movement.
(London: CIIR, 2000), 14.
17
Christine Leah and Non Paw Gay, “Karen Women’s Voices Vital in Peace Talks,” Karennews.org, May 26,
2013, accessed November 25, 2013. http://karennews.org/2013/05/karen-womens-voices-vital-in-peace-
talks.html/
 A Feminist Image of Christ for Burma 9
Saw Solomon Opehtoo

of women of ethnic minorities. In the midst of sufferings, women have been encountered

new understand of Christ in order to find the way of liberation from their sufferings.

Chung Hyun Kyung also discuss about the situation of suffering of Asian women.

Even though this message may not relevant for today South Korean women, I am sure

that Chung Hyun Kyung’s assertion is still relevant for the experiences of Burmese

women that “pain and suffering, therefore, are the epistemological starting point for

Asian women in their search for the meaning of full humanity. The Asian woman knows

the depth of humanity and the aching hearts of other women because she has suffered and

she has lived in pain.”18 To understand suffering servant of Christ for Asia, Chung Chun

Kyung also emphasize about “Jesus as Suffering Servant.” She states “the most

prevailing image of Jesus among Asian women’s theological expressions is the image of

the suffering servant. Asian Women seem to feel most comfortable with this image of

Jesus whether they are theologically conservation or progressive.”19 Because of life

experiences in suffering, women possess more quality of leadership than men. Lean and

Gay continue to present about the quality and the value of women obtained from their

experiences of suffering that;

Women leaders have a much better understanding of what is happening to ethnic

women, children, and girls than men do; they can much better represent the voices
of those not engaged in armed combat than senior Karen male political and
military leaders.20

Unlike male-oriented leadership which can be obtained by academic learning,

women’s experiences in suffering make them to be more qualified leaders. Maria Clara

18
Chung Hyun Kyung, Struggle to Be the Sun Again: Introducing Asian Women's Theology (Maryknoll,
N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1990), 39.
19
Ibid., 53.
20
Christine Leah and Non Paw Gay.
 A Feminist Image of Christ for Burma 10
Saw Solomon Opehtoo

Bingemer also discovered this important fact and recognized that “Prompted by the

experience of faith, these women from poor communities are taking responsibility for

practical struggles on behalf of their people”21 This women’ qualification in leadership

can be identical with the savant-leadership of Jesus Christ.

We can also learn that many women in Burma become prostitutes for their desire

to lead and to sacrifice for their families.22 Naw Ohn Hla, a political activist, who is

struggling for the justice of farmers, is also considered as a contemporary prominent

leader for the poor. We have learned that her leadership attitude is rooted in her

experience of suffering as a female farmer. Her experience of suffering makes her to be a

courageous leader for the poor farmers.23 In Burma, while men are enjoying to engage in

masculine leadership such as military men and clergymen, women are sacrificing as

mothers, teachers, doctors, nurses, construction-workers, factory-workers, farming

cultivators, and even as prostitutes. In Burma, while masculine image of leadership is

reflected the oppressive and hierarchical features, true sacrificial leadership has been

occurred from the faithful and dedicated leadership of women. I strongly assert that

suffering servant of Christology is more significant in feminist image than that of

masculinity. For the next part, I will try to discuss in search of true humanity for Burmese

people from the perspective of feminist image of Christ for Burma.

21
Maria Clara Bingemer, “Women in the Future of the Theology of Liberation” in The Future of Liberation
Theology: Essays in Honor of Gustavo Gutierrez, ed Marc H. Ellis and Otto Maduro (Mary knoll: Orbis, 1989), 476.
22
Sa Nay Lin, “Young Women from the Dark World for Living-Food of The Families,” In Burmese
( ) The Irrawaddy Magazine, November 6, 2013, Accessed November
26, 2013, http://burma.irrawaddy.org/article/2013/11/06/50572.html
23
Sa Nay Lin, “Naw Ohn Hla or A Politician from Farm” in Burmese (
) The Irrawaddy Magazine, September 10, 2013, accessed November 27, 2013.
http://burma.irrawaddy.org/%E1%81%80_farmers/2013/09/10/47789.html
 A Feminist Image of Christ for Burma 11
Saw Solomon Opehtoo

True Humanity to be True Worship

I believe that one of the important images in Christological studies is divine-

human relationship. In Jesus Christ, Christians believe fully standard humanity has

occurred by the empowering inspiration of divinity. To show this message, Christ the

divine portray himself as a human beings so that all human beings can know the essence

of fully humanity and can follow to lives for the sake of society especially in setting up

the Kingdom of God on earth. I also believe that the most relevant way to bring the good

news about Jesus Christ to Burma is looking for the truly humanity of the people because

dehumanization is one of the main human problems that we need to solve in terms of

upgrading human dignity within the context.

To save humanity and to reconnect divine-human image of Christ, Christians are

required to demolish all form of dehumanization. To understand the source of

dehumanization, Kwok Pui-lan point out the negative impact of globalization as the main

causes that enslave the people from third world countries. Therefore, dehumanization, the

common social problems in the age of globalization, is also a product of the unjust

economic system of globalization.24 In her writing about impacts of globalization and

asking for transnational feminist theologies in terms of liberation of Asia Pacific, Pui-lan

also state that “if we analyze the history and cultures of any Asia nation, we will see how

much they (Asian Nations) have been restructured to fit into the mode of U.S. hegemony

24
Kwok Pui-lan (2010-09-15), “Introduction,” in Hope Abundant: Third World and Indigenous Women's
Theology (Kindle Locations 128-131). Orbis Books. Kindle Edition.
 A Feminist Image of Christ for Burma 12
Saw Solomon Opehtoo

in the region.”25 Pui-lan gives invites me to rethink the source of dehumanization and

also calls me to search the best way to liberate humanity in my context from the

dehumanized situation. We need to accept that like other Asian Women, Burmese women

are also being suffered under dehumanization. Even though I am not sure whether the

Burmese people are capable to stand against the impact of globalization and neo-

liberalism or not, I have seen the issues of Burmese women and suffering as a message to

get intentions for human liberation in Burma. The document called “License to Rape”26

had reported the suffering of ethnic women and obtained international attention for

human rights.

To obtain a way to liberate humanity, feminist issue is the most important matter

not only for Burma but also for all the third world countries. Letty M. Russell’s

understand of human freedom is totally identical by the liberation of women. In her book,

Human liberation in a Feminist Perspective, Russell tries to define a new understanding

of human freedom. She tries to state the suffering of humanity by suffering of women.

According to her, women liberation is human liberation since humanity suffering is

understood as women suffering. In a new understanding of Jesus Christ, she states “In

him (Jesus) we trust that God has made known the beginning of the love, obedience, and

true humanity which is the destiny of a restored creation.”27 It provides me the true

connection between Christological studies and human liberation from the perspective of

25
Kwok Pui-Lan, “Fishing the Asia Pacific: Transnationalism and Feminist Theology,” in Off the Menu:
Asian and Asian North American Women's Religion and Theology. Ed. Rita Nakashima Brock (Louisville:
Westminster John Knox Press, 2007), 10.
26
The Shan Human Rights Foundation and the Shan Women’s Action Network, “License to Rape: The
Burmese Military Regime’s Use of Sexual Violence in the Ongoing War in Shan State” May 2002, accessed
November 29, 2013. http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/reports/License_to_rape.pdf
27
Letty M. Russell, Human Liberation in a Feminist Perspective--a Theology (Philadelphia: Westminster
Press, 1974), 34.
 A Feminist Image of Christ for Burma 13
Saw Solomon Opehtoo

feminist reality. Russell continues to point out the true humanity that we should gain for

in terms of getting standard truly human beings that created humanity must be restored

and new form of humanity must be represented.28 Mercy Amba Oduyoye states the

relation among Christological studies, feminist studies and anthropological studies as a

means of human liberation that “women’s suffering, sacrifice and spirituality, resisting

evil and death should remind us of the nature of God and not of the sin and inferiority

that has become associated with the humanity of women”29 I accept that this is the

absolute reality in relating Christological occurrence in the Context of Burma and the

women experience of humanity. In this occurrence, Burmese women gain truly humanity

as the image of Christ by their suffering and their commitments for other humanity.

For Burmese Christians, true worship should be identical with struggling of

liberation for the enslaved divine image. I believe that learning feminist Christological

image for Burma is not only giving the relevant message to know the relevant image of

Christ but also giving the people the true way of worshipping God. Especially for me, I

would like to assert that feminist theologies that discuss about poor women also show

people how to worship in their daily experiences. B. K. Sen points out that “woman in

Burma are struggling under the military regime. There is no policy, law or programme for

the development of women. Instead, women are often the target of particular abuse. Rape

by soldiers is common. Military officers are even involved in the trafficking of Burmese

women into prostitution in Thailand.”30 True worship to God in the context of oppression

28
Ibid., 133-135.
29
Mercy Amba Oduyoye. 72.
30
B. K. Sen, “Women and Law in Burma,” Burma Lawyers’ Council Legal Issues on Burma Journal Nov. 9,
August 2001, Accessed November 27, 2013. http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/LIOB09-
women_and_law_in_burma.htm
 A Feminist Image of Christ for Burma 14
Saw Solomon Opehtoo

must be interpreted in the sense of liberation. I would like to discuss that while

Christological image is being enslaved under injustice, oppression, and exploitation,

redeeming this image must be understood instituting true worship to this name of Jesus.

Christological tradition is essential to redeem not only from tradition from patriarchy but

also from the oppressive situations. I want to say that constructing feminist image of

Christ is also a redeeming the oppressed image of Christ in Burma that is understood in

saving Burmese from the oppressed situations.

Worshipping the Savior is major proponent in Christian religious institutions. I

would like to urge that women life and experience in sufferings in Burma give the people

to survive thus these suffering experiences must be interpreted as the occurrences of

savior. In the Christological studies in liberation theologies, Roger Haight states that “the

genre of Jesus as savior or liberator is proposed here as one that has been continually

applied to Jesus after his death and in the light of an Easter experience, right up to the

present. The term “liberator’ is used as a rough equivalent of Savior.”31 In that to be true

worshippers, Christians in Burma should find the way to save women in terms of true

worship. In Chung Hyun “In God’s image is the important biblical phrase Asian women

have adopted to define their perspectives on humanity, Human beings, men and women,

were created in God’s image. Who we are as humans is defined by Who God is.”32

Instituting true worship to God is saving the women who are being in injustice and

oppression. Women in Burma had been representative for the image because they have

chosen these sufferings to save the people. To be true worship, we need to give our

recognition to our mothers who have been faithful in their love and concerns to us. For
31
Roger Haight, Jesus, Symbol of God (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1999), 75.
32
Chung Hyun Kung, 47.
 A Feminist Image of Christ for Burma 15
Saw Solomon Opehtoo

true worship, we need to effort for the liberation of enslaved women who had sacrificed

themselves for the families.

Conclusion

To communicate Jesus Christ to Burma, I strongly believe that the Christological

image must be reformulated in feminist image. Since feminist feature of mothering is the

only symbol to represent the care-giving power of Jesus to the people, Christological

image of mothering should be developed to fully convince people to know true love of

Christ. Christological image about suffering servant also can be exemplified only the

form of women’s suffering for their choosing to sacrifice for the people. Since male

humanity is represented fallen nature of humanity, only female humanity is the best way

to understand the fully humanity to present the gospel about Jesus Christ as fully

humanity. Since the image of Christ, women lives in Burma, has been bandaged under

oppression and new slavery, saving women lives and women dignity must be understood

as doing true worship to Christ.

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 A Feminist Image of Christ for Burma 16
Saw Solomon Opehtoo

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