Crossing the Divide: Luther, Feminism, and the Cross.

Crossing the Divide: Luther, Feminism, and the Cross. By Deanna A. Thompson. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2004. xv and 184 pages. Paper. $18.00.

"The Cross is our Theology" (Martin Luther). "No one was saved by the execution of Jesus" (Rebecca Parker). It is the divide between Lutheran and feminist theologies exemplified in these citations that Deanna Thompson seeks to cross. Thompson carefully delineates the problems and possibilities of each theology because she proposes that "to become a feminist theology of the cross is to adopt an appreciative yet critical stance toward both" (p. xiv). By doing so, Thompson has authored a clearly written, richly annotated, and valuable contribution to both theologies.

In the book's first part, Thompson offers a solid overview of Luther's career as a reformer. Chapter 1 lays out the sources behind Luther's, if not systematic, then certainly constructive, theology. In the second chapter, Thompson offers a clear account of how this two-kingdoms theology informed his handling of the peasant's revolt, such that "it becomes impossible to endorse the harsh, unforgiving tone he took with the peasants" (p. 54). In the third chapter, she notes how Luther's persistent anti-Judaism was the primary source for his later, now infamous, wrath toward Jews who did not convert.

Having exercised her "appreciative yet critical" stance toward Luther, Thompson clearly does the same with feminist theology. Next she adds parameters for dialogue and also constructs bridges for "a way forward" for each of her three areas of interrogation--sin, the male savior, and atonement. While she argues that Lutheran theology often confuses the sins of humanity with sins of men, she contends that some kinds of sin are indeed applicable to women. Thompson proposes that Christ today be located in "the crucified woman," but without thereby eclipsing narratives of the historical Jesus, "the Jewish man, who is also God" (p. 125). Mindful of atonement theologies' sometimes negative "effective history," Thompson reframes Luther's joyous exchange between God and a harlot as the joy of God's friendship with humanity.

Thompson's final chapter, "On Becoming a Feminist Theologian of the Cross," offers provocative suggestions for saying No to facile theology as well as Yes to the "real life of faith" (p. 139). Building off the research of Jewish feminist scholar Amy-Jill Levine, she offers a fascinating analysis of the ambiguities in the relationship between Sarah and Hagar that exemplify how women may be both victims and oppressors.

Thompson's work takes a step beyond Mary Solberg's worthy feminist theology of the cross by examining problems in Luther's theology identified by other feminist theologians as well as detailing problems within feminist theology itself. To be sure, the book may not move those fixated on either side of the divide. However, for those in between, it may provide ways to cross back and forth.

Leonard M. Hummel 

Vanderbilt University Divinity School 

Nashville, Tennessee