I am a Christian. I had never heard of the Black Nativity, and I loved reading about it. It sounds amazing.

The thing with Christianity which many churches do not teach — women were central to Christ’s life and mission. He was born of a woman. Only the woman contributed genetic material — she was the source of His humanity. He was first acknowledged by a woman — Elizabeth, who greeted her cousin Mary and whose own baby kicked in her womb. He was comforted by a woman when he faced His hardest times — Mary Magdalene who anointed his feet with oil. On the cross, He asked someone to care for His mother. And when He rose from the dead, the first people who saw him were women.

Throughout His life, He gave dignity and respect to women. He allowed them to be His disciples — prior Jewish law did not allow women to learn at a teacher’s feet. By doing this, He acknowledged that women are also intelligent and desire to learn. He talked to a Samaritan woman at the well — this would be like a white South African inviting a black woman to tea because that is how ostracized the Samaritans were. This woman was His first preacher to the gentile — she went and told everyone about Him. In many of His parables, He uses women — for example, He lifts up a poor beggar woman above the rich and important. He also saved an adulteress from being stoned, and told men that the sin of lust was on them. (He didn’t blame the woman).

The problem is that churches are formed by people and men in power have wanted to hold on to their power. One thing that made me angry when I learned of it — in many cases, the original text was translated in such a way as to remove references to women’s roles that did not fit with male power structure. So for example, women were deaconesses but that was omitted in some translations…

Anyway, I found your article really well written and thought provoking.