November 6, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Hill resident is honored for religious scholarship
by JON CAROULIS

Chestnut Hill resident Gail Ramshaw, a professor of religion at La Salle University, is seen after being honored by La Salle with its Faculty Distinguished Scholarship Award.

As a sophomore at Valparaiso University in Indiana, Gail Ramshaw attended a service held in the school’s chapel. Something about the intercession aroused her critical mind (she can’t remember what it was), so she mentioned it to the college’s chaplain. He invited her to write the intercession for the following week’s service. After she turned it in, the chaplain arranged for her to work for the chapel, writing intercessions.

Eventually, seeking to make scripture and liturgies more accessible became the benchmark of Ramshaw’s career as a scholar. La Salle University, where she is a professor of religion, recently honored the Chestnut Hill resident with its Faculty Distinguished Scholarship Award. In presenting her with the award, La Salle University Provost Dr. Richard Nigro said, “A colleague noted that her scholarship reaches more than the small numbers who work in her particular sub-discipline of religious studies, (but are works) meant to be read by all men and women of faith.”

One aspect of Ramshaw’s work is “inclusion,” which seeks to make liturgical passages relevant to all groups of people.

“When an English translation of the Bible says ‘man,’ we need to ask: what did the Hebrews and Greeks say? Was the original text referring to humans, or to males? If an ancient writer meant everybody but said ‘males,’ how should we translate that into contemporary American English?” said Ramshaw, who has taught at La Salle since 1989.

On a more controversial topic, Ramshaw says, “If an ancient writer called God ‘Father’ because the writer lived in a male-dominated culture, does that mean that Christians in the 21st century should call God ‘Father’? All the time? What other metaphors are good ones to use in our prayers?” She acknowledges that practicing Christians do not agree on the answers to these questions.

Ramshaw’s writings have ranged from scholarly tomes to three children’s books. “I am not sure (why I did the children’s books). I assume I began writing them because I knew how many things I had taught my own daughters in and about church, and that most other parents wouldn’t know enough to do the same.” Her children’s books, which are illustrated, discuss and explain the sacraments and religious symbols.

A few years ago she taught a course that was titled “Worship, Art and Life.” A student, who’s now a Franciscan Friar, told her, “You should write a textbook on worship.” That book, Christian Worship: 100,000 Sundays of Symbols and Rituals, will be published next year.

Ramshaw has lectured at theological seminaries, divinity schools and universities around the world, from Iceland to Japan. Her husband, Gordon Lathrop, is a Lutheran pastor and  is a professor of liturgy, currently teaching at Yale Divinity School. The couple have two adult daughters.

Jon Caroulis is director of public relations at La Salle University.