Lois Roden
Encyclopedia
Branch Davidian
The Branch Davidians are a Protestant sect that originated in 1955 from a schism in the Davidian Seventh Day Adventists , a reform movement that began within the Seventh-day Adventist Church around 1930...
, an apocalyptic Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
sect
Sect
A sect is a group with distinctive religious, political or philosophical beliefs. Although in past it was mostly used to refer to religious groups, it has since expanded and in modern culture can refer to any organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and...
which her husband, Benjamin Roden
Benjamin Roden
Benjamin Lloyd Roden was an American religious leader and the prime organizer of the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association....
founded. The sect began in Texas in 1955 as a succession to the Shepherd's Rod
Shepherd's Rod
The Shepherd's Rod is a message believed and adopted by Davidian Seventh-day Adventists or Davidians, and authored by Victor T. Houteff . Davidians have claimed themselves a part of the Seventh Day Adventist Church but the majority were disfellowshipped because they follow the interpretations by...
movement led by Victor T. Houteff
Victor Houteff
Victor Tasho Houteff was a religious reformer and author.Houteff was born in Raicovo, Bulgaria, and as a child baptised as a member of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. As a young man, he was engaged in the mercantile trade...
, itself a secession from the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
.
Contemporaneous with the Feminist Movement
Feminist movement
The feminist movement refers to a series of campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment and sexual violence...
surge of the 1970s (and corresponding with the egalitarian teachings of many Adventist sects), Roden asserted that women, like men, were made in the image and likeness of God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
, and that they thereby hold a position of co-dominion with man in all things. She openly shared this concept with the members of her sect since 1973, despite some resistance within the sect. In 1977, a year before Benjamin Roden died, Lois said she had received a vision of the person of the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
symbolized as a feminine "shimmering silvery Angel." She asserted as proof her ideas that the Hebrew word for Spirit (ruach) is feminine, and that Jews regard the concept of "Holy Spirit" and the "Divine Presence" ("shekhinah
Shekhinah
Shekinah is the English spelling of a grammatically feminine Hebrew word that means the dwelling or settling, and is used to denote the dwelling or settling divine presence of God, especially in the Temple in Jerusalem.-Etymology:Shekinah is derived...
"...both of which are "feminine" words
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
in Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
) are one and the same. (Although Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
does not subscribe to any concept of "Her individual Personhood", the feminine aspect of the "Holy Spirit" is a prominent feature in Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
).
From 1977 until the time of her husband, Benjamin's, death in 1978 she was co-president of the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Church along with him. When Benjamin Roden died, Lois remained as the sole lawful president until her death in 1986. Early in her presidency her leadership was challenged by her son, George Roden
George Roden
George Roden was a leader of the Branch Davidian sect, a Seventh-day Adventist splinter group, and the former husband of Amo Bishop Roden. In 1987, he was evicted from the Mount Carmel Center near Waco, Texas by his rival David Koresh...
, and later (in late 1983) by Vernon Howell a.k.a. David Koresh
David Koresh
David Koresh , born Vernon Wayne Howell, was the leader of a Branch Davidian religious sect, believing himself to be its final prophet. Howell legally changed his name to David Koresh on May 15, 1990. A 1993 raid by the U.S...
. Both challengers drew away supporters from the congregation, scaring away others by their reliance on the force of arms to further their aims. Before Koresh challenged her leadership, he and Roden (who was then in her late seventies) had an affair, which Koresh justified by claiming that God had chosen him to father a child with her, who would be the Chosen One.
In 1979, along with publishing many related tracts, Roden began publishing a magazine entitled Shekinah. The magazine explored the issues of the feminine aspect of the Godhead
God in Christianity
In Christianity, God is the eternal being that created and preserves the universe. God is believed by most Christians to be immanent , while others believe the plan of redemption show he will be immanent later...
and women in the ministry of the Church. Shekinah magazine contained Lois' commentaries as well as reprints of news articles and excerpts of publications from a variety of Christian, Jewish, and other sources which addressed women's place in the world of religion. She received minor awards and commendations for the magazine from various religious groups and individuals. Among them were an Award of Excellence from Excellence in Media Angel Awards, and another from The Dove Foundation
Dove Foundation
rightThe Dove Foundation is a registered United States tax deductible non-profit organization based in Grand Rapids, Michigan known among other programs for its activities of rating, reviewing and endorsing films and for campaigning against the portrayal of sexual activity and violence in Hollywood...
.
Though Roden received some support for her work regarding women's position of equality on earth as it is in heaven, she also received heavy opposition from male-dominated ministries. Some of the strongest of this opposition came from those Church members who left her leadership to follow that of Howell/Koresh. One of his unique teachings was that Lois was no longer to publish her message of a feminine Holy Spirit. In early 1983, the Church's publishing building was destroyed by fire. Reportedly, Koresh later admitted that he had set the fire in order to stop her work. To this day, Koresh's followers abide by his teaching in this regard and refrain from republishing any of her teachings or distributing any of her remaining literature; the same is true with respect to the literature of Lois's husband.