abundance, 65, 67, 69-71, 77, 82
            overabundance, 25, 40, 47n44, 72, 73, 89
            superabundance, 71
            and ethics, 80
AIDS, 42
agency, vi, 2, 15, 74
            moral and political, 38
            epistemic, 38, 43 also knowledge of the mother, virgin, whore
Ali, Lorraine, 47n47, 50n1
alterity, 65, 93n1
Althaus-Reid, Marcella, 5n2, 55, 64n10
anthropogony, 8, 9
Arendt, Hannah, 46n40-41, 54, 64n3, 78n18,27, 85n9

Barthes, Roland, 15-16, 16n1,7, 52-53, 60, 63n1, 64n4-6,17-18
Bauman, Zygmunt, 90, 94n9
Beauvoir, Simone de, 28-31, 38, 45n4, 8,10-11,13,15-21, 46n22-30, 65, 77n1, 94n3
becoming/s, 5n3, 54, 57, 73, 80, 83
being, 15, 23-24n4, 25, 28, 30, 31, 37, 38, 54, 58, 60, 65, 67, 68, 71, 75, 76, 80-82, 84, 85n6, 89, 93, 94n2
Benjamin, Walter, 78n11-13,21
Berger, Peter, 45n5
blasphemy, 5, 17, 22, 23, 93
Bleicher, Josef, 77n7, 78n15
blood, 17-19, 21, 25, 27, 32, 33, 38, 43, 45n4, 60, 68, 74, 81, 84, 85, 87, 91, 93
body, 1, 9, 20, 21, 26-29, 33, 37, 55, 68, 72, 76, 79, 87-89, 91-93
Braidotti, Rosi, 65, 77n2
Buber, Martin, 17, 23n4, 79, 85n1,6,8, 86n11, 94n2
Bultmann, Rudolph, 77n7

chora, 20-21
Cixous, Helene, 78n10
class, 14, 15, 38, 49
Clément, Catherine, 5n1, 16n5, 24n6, 32, 46n32, 78n10,17, 86n12, 94n12
control, 13, 18, 37, 71, 74, 89
corporeality, 2, 5, 21, 51, 61, 87, 88, 90-93
cosmogony, 8, 9
            imaginary, vi, 2-4, 20, 32, 41-43, 49

Daly, Mary, 18
Derrida, Jacques, 19, 20, 24n8, 33-37, 46n37, 78n24, 94n11
Dickey Young, Pamela, 54, 55, 64n9
Douglas, Mary, 16n6, 18

Eco, Umberto, 46n34, 94n10
economy of the gift, 71
Eliade, Mircea, 17, 18, 23n2,3, 45n1,12, 47n49, 94n8
epistemic agency, 38, 43 see also
            knowledge of the mother, virgin, whore
epistemology, 4, 31, 66, 67 see also
            knowledge
eros, 83
essentialism, 14
ethics, 2, 69, 70, 76, 80-83, 85, 90
Eugenides, Jeffrey, 47n45

fascinans, 88 see also
            mysterium tremendum et fascinans
father, 37, 40, 41, 46n39, 47n43, 59, 61, 62, 64n19, 90
            law of the, 20-22, 32, 90
feminine, 4, 22, 23, 25, 29, 32, 34, 35, 41, 45n4, 50, 57-61, 63, 64n12,14, 74, 89, 90
            philosophy in the, 5
            femininity of immanence and transcendence, 51, 57, 58, 93n1
            feminine trinity, 74, 76
figuration, 2
figure, see virgin, mother, whore
flesh, 1, 18, 22, 23, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 37, 46n39, 61, 62, 66, 68, 69, 81-85, 87, 88, 91-93
Foucault, Michel, 4, 18, 65, 67, 70, 74, 77n3
Freud, Sigmund, 41

Gadamer, Hans-Georg, 16n2
gender, vi, 1, 4, 14, 15, 18, 28, 31, 51, 59, 65
Girard, René, 17, 24n5, 45n2,14, 94n6
god, 9, 31, 37, 38, 40, 41, 47n43,44, 62, 63, 90-92
Goldenberg, Naomi, 64n12
Graham, Elaine, 54, 64n8
Grosz, Elizabeth, 24n13,22, 46n33

Haraway, Donna, 2, 5n4
Hartouni, Valerie, 47n50
Heidegger, Martin, 47n44, 85n5
holy, 1, 17-19, 25, 27, 28, 31-33, 39, 41, 45, 46n35, 51, 52, 60, 88, 93
            see also mysterium tremendum et fascinans, numinous, sacred
homo faber, 52, 64n3

immanence, 2, 4, 27-31, 38, 40, 41, 47n44, 51, 54-60, 62, 63, 66, 67, 70-73, 88
information technology, 22
innocence, 13, 26, 27
ethics of non-innocence, 81, 85
Irigaray, Luce, 5, 32, 46n39, 59, 64n11,13,16, 65, 77n4, 78n14,22, 85n2,3,10

Jantzen, Grace, 2, 3, 5n5, 32, 45n5, 46n31

Keller, Catherine, 5n3, 46n42, 54, 64n7,19
kenosis, 42
knowledge, vi, 2, 4, 13, 15, 18, 26, 31, 37, 43, 44, 47n49, 49, 53, 65, 66, 75, 77, 91
            of the mother, 71-74
            of the virgin, 66-67
            of the whore, 67-70
            see also epistemology
Kristeva, Julia, 1, 4, 5n1, 16n5, 20-22, 24n6,9,10-12,14-23, 46n32, 78n17,20,25, 81, 83, 85n4, 86n12, 94n12

Lacan, Jacques, 20
law of the father, 20-22, 32
Levinas, Emmanuel, 47n43, 57-59, 64n14,15, 93-94n1
life abundant, 3, 39, 44, 45, 74
Linafelt, Tod, 77n6
logic, 18, 19, 22, 30, 31, 36, 38, 41, 47n44, 75, 89, 92
            of immanence, 31
            of transcendence, 30
            of the sacred, 18, 39, 40, 46n40, 65, 71
            of superabundance, 71
logos, 83
Lorde, Audre, 85n7
lover, 26, 35, 39-42, 46n39,42, 57-59, 61, 92

Mary Magdalene, 4, 5n6, 37, 44
masculine, 31, 57, 58, 60, 62, 63, 90
masculine birth of time, 12
McIntyre, John, 52, 64n2
Mead, Margaret, 78n19
metaphysics, see ontology
milk and honey, 33, 35
monotheism, 19, 31-33, 41, 44
moral authority, 15, 49 see also agency
mother, 2-4, 14-16, 23-24n4, 25, 27, 28, 31, 35-42, 44, 45n13, 46n42, 47n43, 49, 50, 61, 63, 65, 66, 68, 71-74, 76, 77, 78n14, 81, 82, 85, 85n6, 89, 92, 93, 94n2,3
            knowledge of the, 71-74
Mary, 4, 5n6, 37
mucus, 33, 35, 36, 59
Murdoch, Iris, 46n38
mysterium, 52, 87
mysterium tremendum et fascinans, 17, 25, 44, 51, 59, 60, 63, 88, 93
            see also holy, numinous, sacred
myth, 2-4, 7-16, 51-54, 56-63, 63n1
            of the sacred, 4, 20, 23, 59, 91, 92

Nancy, Jean-Luc, 16n4
natality, 54
Nietzsche, Friedrich, 47n44
numinous, 1, 17, 18, 25-28, 32, 38, 39, 44, 45, 51, 60, 71, 88, 89, 92, 93
            see also holy, mysterium tremendum et fascinans, sacred

O’Farrell, John, 50n1
onto-ethics, 76
ontology, 25, 30, 66, 76, 82 see also being
other/Other, 10, 12, 13, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24n12, 26-28, 30, 34, 36, 37, 39-42, 45, 46n39, 51-54, 56-61, 65, 67-76, 79-84, 85n3, 87-93, 94n1
Otto, Rudolph, 1, 17, 23n1, 25, 45n3,5,7-9, 52, 88, 94n4,5

Paden, William, 18
perichoresis, 65, 77, 77n5
poetry, 22, 24n22
pollution, 89
power, vi, 13-15, 17, 18, 26, 32, 37, 40, 41, 43, 45n4, 49, 62, 72, 73, 85n7, 87, 90, 91, 93
            of the sacred, 22, 25, 36, 42, 44, 60, 74, 89
promised land, 34, 35 see also milk and honey
Protestant Reformation, 38
purity, 13, 14, 26, 89

race, 14, 38, 49, 50, 74
reality, 25, 30, 47n44, 59, 60, 65, 78n27, 81, 82
reason, 19, 34, 36, 51, 69, 74, 90, 91
religion, 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 16-20, 22, 23, 28, 32, 33, 36, 37, 40, 41, 44, 74, 92
religious studies, 8
responsibility with the other, 80
Ricoeur, Paul, 71, 77n8, 78n16
ritual, 2, 18, 31
Rosenberg, Debra, 50n1
Ruether, Rosemary Radford, 5n6

sacred, vi, 28, 31, 45, 50, 58, 59, 74, 77, 83, 87, 93
            definition of the, 1, 17, 18, 23n2, 24n5,6, 25, 51, 82-83, 88, 89
            logic of the, 39-41, 46n40, 65, 71
            power of the, 22, 25, 36, 42, 44, 60, 74, 89
            qualities of the mother, 2, 15, 25, 27-28, 37, 38, 44, 76, 87-89, 92
            qualities of the virgin, 2, 15, 25, 26, 37, 38, 42, 76, 87-89, 92
            qualities of the whore, 2, 15, 25, 27, 37, 38, 43, 76, 88, 89, 92
            relation to myth, 4, 23, 60-63, 91
            relation to religion, 4, 5, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 32, 33, 36-38, 41, 44, 74
            see also holy, numinous, mysterium tremendum et fascinans
sacrifice, 15, 31, 42
Saiving, Valerie, 78n19
Scelfo, Julie, 47n47, 50n1
Schleiermacher, Friedrich, 78n15
science, 8, 9, 11, 12
semiotic, 20-22, 24n9,18,19,21,22
sex, 1, 13, 14, 38-42, 47n43, 49, 58,
sexuality, 1, 14, 47n49
signifier, 18, 20, 22, 89
Smart, Ninian, 18
son, 40, 41, 46n39,42, 59, 62
Song of Songs, 35
space, 7, 9-11, 20, 24n17, 46n39, 56, 57, 68, 73, 78n27
stranger, 13, 16n5, 26, 27, 39, 46n40, 51, 74, 79, 81, 84
subject, 21, 24n11, 26, 27, 30, 38, 46n39, 52, 66-68, 71, 83, 85n6
subjectivity, 4, 30, 65
symbolic, vi, 2, 3, 17, 20-22, 24n9,11,12,21,22, 26, 31, 32, 38

Tatman, Lucy, 16n3
Taylor, Mark, 46n36
technology, 74
theology, 1, 5n2,3, 10, 51, 55, 64n19
Tillich, Paul, 17, 19, 24n7, 46n35
time/temporality, 7, 9, 10-12, 22, 29, 30, 42, 46n39, 47n44, 56, 57, 68, 73, 76, 88
transcendence, 2, 4, 16n5, 26-31, 38, 40, 41, 47n44, 51-60, 63, 64n12, 66, 67, 71, 87, 93n1
translation, 52, 68-70, 72-74, 76, 87
tremendum, 87 see also mysterium tremendum et fascinans
trinity, 22, 37, 41, 65, 71, 74, 76, 77n5, 78n14

virgin, 2-4, 12-16, 16n5, 25-28, 31, 36, 38, 40-43, 45n4, 47n47, 49, 50, 50n1, 57, 58, 61, 63, 65, 76, 77, 78n14, 79, 82, 85, 87, 89, 92, 93
            knowledge of the, 66-73
Virgin Mary, 4, 5n6, 37
Virgin Suicides, The, 41, 47n45
Von Ruhland, Catherine, 50n1

Walsh, Lisa, 46n39, 47n43
war against terror, 22, 89
Warner, Marina, 5n6, 45n6
western culture, vi, vii, 1-4, 8, 11, 13, 15, 19, 31, 44, 47n47
Whitford, Margaret, 5n7
wholly other, 12, 13, 17, 26, 27, 30, 37, 52, 54, 60, 87, 88
whore, 2-4, 12-16, 25, 27, 28, 31, 36-38, 43, 44, 49, 50, 58, 61, 63, 65, 66, 76, 77, 78n14, 83, 85, 88, 89, 92, 93
            knowledge of the, 67-73
wife, 26-27, 38
woman, 22, 26-30, 34, 35, 38, 43, 44, 45n13, 49, 51, 60, 65, 87, 88, 91, 94n3
            masculine fantasy of, 57
womb, 15, 18, 23-24n4, 36, 81, 85n6, 94n2
            as tomb, 58, 89
wonder, 2, 26, 49, 50, 71, 73-77, 78n23, 91, 93