Carol Patrice Christ (December 20, 1945[1] – July 14, 2021[2]) was a feminist historian, thealogian, author, and foremother of the Goddess movement.
Christ called herself a "thealogian" and as such, made important contributions to the discipline of theology, significantly helping to create a space for it to be far more inclusive of women than has historically been the case.
As director of the Ariadne Institute, she conducted pilgrimages to sacred sites in Greece containing artifacts of matriarchal religion.
According to Christ, the meaning of thealogy to her is the idea of religious symbols having influence on human beings but also the understanding of ethical decision making.
[10] Since her essay has been influential to many women in terms of opening the possibilities to understanding how religion has a great impact on our lives.
Christ also talks about how Religion that is focused solely on the male dominance representation of God impacts how the political and psychological aspects of human being work.
Religion that created a male representation of God aids the societal power of a man as well as in the political side as they are automatically given the privilege.
The essay also talks about other important figures in history to support the idea of needing a female representation of Goddesses like Philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, as she said "Man enjoys the great advantage of having a god endorse the code he write; and since man exercises a sovereign authority over women it is especially fortunate that this authority has been vested in him by the supreme being.
[11] According to scholarly source, Carol believed that "it is necessary to take the risk of writing personally because in that way we remain true to what we know at the deepest levels of our being and to the insights with which we create feminist theology".
[12] Christ's ideology is not neglecting or questioning religion, it is solely based on the authoritarian justice and worship of male figures which is demeaning to women.