“O Come, Christ-Sophia” Christmas Carol Video
Advent celebrates the coming of the Divine into the world. Christ-Sophia is a divine name and image, celebrating the sacred value of all people and all creation. Our world longs for the coming of Christ-Sophia, who embodies wisdom, justice, peace, equity, mutual relationship, and new life.
O come, Christ-Sophia, full of grace and wisdom;
come bless us, come challenge us to make life anew.
Come bring us power, beauty, hope, and harmony.
We long for your coming, labor for your birthing,
for you are our hope of peace, our power for change.
Come, Christ-Sophia, break down walls and free us.
Rejoice all you people, sisters, brothers, join now
to sing of a bright new day just dawning for all.
Sing now a new song; sing with jubilation.
REFRAIN
O come now, Christ-Sophia; O come, now Christ-Sophia;
O come now Christ-Sophia, Wisdom and peace.
Words © Jann Aldredge-Clanton ADESTE FIDELES
“O Come, Christ-Sophis” and other inclusive carols are on our Advent/Christmas CD, Sing of Peace.
It’s now free to listen on Spotify.
“Christ-Sophia” is a biblical symbol of the Divine, making equal connections between male and female, black and white, Jewish and Christian traditions, thus providing a foundation for communities based on partnership instead of domination. Christ-Sophia brings change to church and society by providing a theological foundation for gender and racial equality.
Sophia, the Greek word for Wisdom, is a biblical female divine image that opens new possibilities for justice, liberation, and new life. New Testament writers link Christ to Wisdom, a feminine symbol of God in the Hebrew Scriptures. Wisdom (Hokmah in Hebrew) symbolizes creative, redemptive, and healing power. In their efforts to describe this same power in Christ, the apostle Paul and other New Testament writers draw from the picture of Wisdom. The apostle Paul refers to Christ as the “power of God and the Wisdom (Sophia) of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24), and states that Christ “became for us Wisdom (Sophia) from God” (1 Corinthians 1:30). The book of Proverbs describes Wisdom as the “way,” the “life,” and the “path” (4:11,22,26). The Gospel of John refers to Christ as “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Bringing this biblical connection of Christ and Sophia to our worship can inspire partnerships that contribute to peace and justice in our world.
Christ-Sophia inspires continual new birth. Christ-Sophia empowers us to make the Gospel vision of the new creation a reality. Sing of peace and justice and new life! Sing and celebrate the coming of Christ-Sophia!
Video Credits
Performed by: Spiral Muse (formerly Devi Vaani)—Dionne Kohler, Kathleen Neville-Fritz, and Alison Newvine with Lana Dalberg on violin—from album Sing of Peace, recorded at Joe Hoffmann Studios, Occidental, CA
Lyrics: Jann Aldredge-Clanton
Visual Art:
Katie Ketchum: Sing of Peace album cover
Stacy Boorn: 4 Christ-Sophia paintings
2 photos from The Gathering: A Womanist Church
Alice Heimsoth: 2 photos in sanctuary of Ebenezer/herchurch Lutheran, San Francisco
Elaine Chan-Scherer: “Our Lady of Charity: La Caridad” & “Divine Child”
photo from Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
David Clanton: photo from Equity for Women in the Church event and 2 photos from Imagine God: A Children’s Musical Exploring and Expressing Images of God events
Mirta Toledo: “Saint Sophia”