If you've read a good deal in theology you've heard the phrase "the church is a whore, but she is our mother. The quote is often attributed to St. Augustine though, as best I can tell, this is a mistaken attribution. The better source seems to be Dorothy Day.
Though she is a harlot at times, she is our Mother. Can anyone offer illumination on the source of the exact quote? Or should we assume the quote comes from Day, albeit modified? The whore imagery of the quote has some issues. I've written a bit about this imagery in the bible. My main problem with the image is that when sexual promiscuity is being discussed men are the better exemplars.
For example, in a recent meta-analysis examining gender differences in sexuality Peterson and Hyde noted that, while the genders aren't as different as we might think, men do tend to be more promiscuous. Their conclusion: Despite the small gender differences found in this meta-analysis, the results indicate that men typically report more sexual behaviors and more permissive sexual attitudes than women.
In particular, the current study indicated that men are more likely than women to report casual sex and permissive attitudes toward casual sex. On the one hand, the quote expresses harsh prophetic critique. The church has often been faithless, hypocritical, corrupt, unjust, abusive, intolerant, and violent. And yet, on the other hand, the church brought many of us to Jesus. And still does. And for that gift we are grateful. Petersen, J.
A meta-analytic review of research on gender differences in sexuality, โ Psychological Bulletin, , I am a whore I do confess, I put you on just like a wedding dress and run down the isle, run down the isle. I'm a prodigal with no way home. I put you on just like a ring of gold and run down the isle, run down the isle. I think the imagery that is used could also be looked at in another way than the sexual betrayal aspects. Obviously the church is most often female, viewed as the bride of Christ.
