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Religious Studies: Christianity > 2Ai: Is God Male? > Flashcards

2Ai: Is God Male? Flashcards

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1
Q

What is an ecofeminist?

A

someone who is interested in both the environment and women’s rights

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2
Q

What is a metaphor?

A

something that represents or is a symbol for something else

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3
Q

What is panentheism?

A

the belief that the universe is the visible part of God

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4
Q

What does “partial but illuminating” mean?

A
  • show us a lot but not the whole thing/nature
  • helps us to see parts of god
  • essential to throw some light on why god might be, but each is only part of the picture
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5
Q

Why might people think that god is male?

A
  • we use masculine pronouns when making statements about god
  • we accept god as “father”
  • we attribute male characteristics to god
  • Jesus is male, and the Holy Spirit is traditionally spoken of as ‘he’
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6
Q

How might god be seen as formless (neither male or female)?

A
  • Jesus was male during his 33 years on earth but before and after he became incarnate: John 1:1 “he was with god and was god”, which means he was neither male or female
  • John 4:24: “god is spirit”
  • Genesis 1:27: “male and female he created them” in his own image
  • Paul’s epistle to the Galatians (3:28): “there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus”
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7
Q

How is the idea of god’s loving kindness exemplified?

A

through Jesus: calls god ‘father’ and encourages his followers to do the same
- this creates a personal and approachable relationship between god and his followers

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8
Q

What issues might there be in using consistently male language for god?

A
  • gives him a set identity. god might not approve
  • limiting
  • lacks representation: we’re made in ‘gods image’ yet if he’s a man then how can women fulfill his likeness?
  • makes him sound like an ordinary person: diminishes him to a human
  • continues to influence patriarchy: “if god is male then the male is god”
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9
Q

Arguments and evidence that god can be seen as male

A
  • the Holy foreskin; Jesus was male and God’s son
  • Psalm 103:13: “as father has compassion for his children, so the lord has compassion for those who fear him”
  • Bible refers to god as ‘father’ and uses the pronouns ‘he’
  • god is likened to a human father: provides discipline and loves his children
  • Jesus is the “son of man”
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10
Q

Arguments and evidence that god can be seen as female

A
  • Isaiah 66:13: “as a mother comforts her child, so will i comfort you”
  • Matthew 23:37: “I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings”
  • Luke 15:8: “‘rejoice with me, i have found my lost coin’ […] there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of god over one sinner who repents”
  • Hosea 13:8: “like a bear robbed of her cubs, i will attack them and rip them open”
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11
Q

What does McFague argue in a nutshell?

A
  • traditional metaphors for god have become fixed as a model
  • all language of god must be metaphorical as we will never know the true essence of the divine
  • metaphors are “partial but illuminating”
  • we need metaphors that encourage independence and helps us to deal with the nuclear age and environmental crisis
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12
Q

Who was Sallie McFague?

A

an American eco feminist theologian

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13
Q

What is the name of McFague’s work?

A

Metaphorical theology: models of god in religious language

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14
Q

What does Mcfague assert about god?

A

all language of him is metaphorical
- the words we use to identify god (father, king, shepherd) don’t tell us anything of his true nature, they’re just ways we THINK about god

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15
Q

What is the problem with metaphors according to McFague?

A
  • we end up worshipping the metaphor as an idol instead of god himself
  • metaphors are outdated with time and we must create new metaphors to understand god in a meaningful way
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16
Q

How does McFague’s panentheism relate to her view of god?

A
  • if god is called mother then it follows that the world is no longer ruled over god but instead is a part of gods body or womb
  • to harm nature is to harm god
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17
Q

Why does McFague reject the idea of imagining god in ‘feminine’ terms?

A
  • female refers to gender, feminine refers to qualities usually associated with women
  • the feminine side of god is taken to compromise the tender, nurturing, passive and healing aspects of divine activity
  • the masculine side is the activities in which god creates, redeems, establishes peace and administers justice
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18
Q

What does the metaphor of god as mother focus on, if not feminine traits?

A
  • focuses ‘on the most basic things that females (as mothers) do… give birth, feed and protect the young, want the young to flourish’
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19
Q

Why have some accepted McFague’s view and others rejected it?

A
  • ‘father’ and ‘mother’ are not interchangeable terms, because Jesus’ mother was clearly Mary
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20
Q

Why do we use metaphors for god?

A
  • the traditional concept refers to god as transcendent (beyond time and space) so therefore ineffable in some sense
  • since god is infinite, we cannot accurately describe the divine nature
  • we use metaphors because other language is not literally applicable to god
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21
Q

Are some metaphors more ‘healthy’ than others?

A
  • when Mount Everest was scaled the phrase most used to describe the feat was “the conquest of Everest”
  • an oriental writer deeply influenced by taoism remarked “we would speak of ‘the befriending of everest’”
  • to ‘befriend’ nurtures a friendly view to an ecological perspective
  • to ‘conquer’ nurtures a mentality of human domination and ruthlessness
22
Q

What is the problem with metaphors such as ‘god as king’?

A

we forget they are metaphors and that any statement about god always has an “is/is no quality
- McFague says our metaphors for god are partial but illuminating

23
Q

How is the metaphor of god as king helpful (illuminating)?

A
  • stresses power and authority of god
  • accord with feelings of awe in numinous experience so can make sense of religious experience
  • we can rely on god to rule justly
24
Q

How is the metaphor of god as king not helpful (partially illuminating)?

A
  • god can seem distant and/or tyrannical
  • we are subject to his power and will, reduces our autonomy
  • stresses the separation of god and man: he is over and above
25
Q

How is the metaphor of god as father helpful (illuminating)?

A
  • figure of authority and power
  • can emphasise loving and nurturing aspects of god
26
Q

What does McFague think has happened in the church with the language we use for god?

A

it has become a ‘model’
- the model of god as king and father means our model of god has become fixed as male

27
Q

Why is the model of god as male troubling?

A

it can exclude women and it may be that other models are more suited to the problems of the modern age

28
Q

God as almighty father

A
  • god referred to as father/heavenly father/almighty father
  • priests often referred to as father: title of the head of the Catholic church is Pope, Orthodox church is lead by the patriarch (father)
  • as father, god has a role in guiding and disciplining us when we do wrong
29
Q

What metaphor of god does McFague propose that we use?

A

god as mother

30
Q

What characteristic of god does the metaphor of mother highlight?

A

love for the world

31
Q

What are McFague’s three metaphors that correspond to three Christian doctrines, three types of justice and three types of love?

A
  1. mother: like ‘father’. corresponds to doctrine of creation. ethical element of justice and agape (selfless) love which is the type of love god has for the world
  2. lover: like ‘son’. corresponds to doctrine of salvation. ethical element of healing and eros (desire) love - the way in which god’s love works in the world
  3. friend: like ‘spirit’. corresponds to doctrine of eschatology. ethical element of companionship and philia love which is the way in which humans should interact in the world
32
Q

What does McFague believe use of masculine language to talk about god’s sovereign rule has led to?

A

abuse of environment and patriarchal domination over women

33
Q

Why does McFague believe that to harm nature is to harm god?

A

because if god is called ‘mother’ then the world becomes part of gods body or womb (panentheism)

34
Q

Why does god as mother NOT mean that god is feminine?

A
  • ‘feminine’ related to qualities a society has decided are female: examples might include beauty, tenderness and nurturing
  • can be seen in ideas formed around Mary; held up in some traditions as a model for what women are supposed to be
  • McFague’s female image for god focuses on qualities that are not necessarily feminine because it is not helpful for women to only identify with the feminine
35
Q

Why should we change our image of god from a transcendent and separate god to seeing the world as god’s body?

A
  • to see the world as gods body helps us to move from viewing god as separate and distant to intricately related to all of life
  • the idea of the world as gods body doesn’t say that everything is god, but that god is in everything
  • this metaphor leads us in the direction of cherishing all life in the world
36
Q

Why does god as mother care for ALL life?

A
  • some theological approaches have treated creation of humans as superfluous creatures
  • in this view, god is complete in gods self, the trinity, and really does not need anything else and we should be thankful that we were even created
  • a loving mother would never see her children as superfluous
37
Q

Why is the metaphor of god as mother needed in a nuclear age?

A
  • takes us back to the possibility of extinction, which is the death of birth itself
  • we therefore need new images that point us to a view of god and the world that values the continuation of all life
  • the world as the body of god and god as mother can do this
38
Q

Why is it important to recognise that McFague is asserting that god should be imagined in female, NOT FEMININE, terms?

A

the first refers to gender whilst the second refers to qualities associated with women
- the feminine side of god is taken to compromise the tender, nurturing, passive, healing aspects of divine activity
- those activities in which god creates, redeems, establishes peace, administers justice are called masculine (this is a problem as it further reinforces traditional patriarchy)

39
Q

What are the three themes that McFague believes theology needs to address?

A
  1. interrelatedness
  2. todays issues - the nuclear age
  3. todays issues - worn out metaphors
40
Q

Interrelatedness

A
  • we are becoming more aware of the interrelationship of all things which contrasts to understanding the world as a machine composed of separate parts
  • we should not treat people and nature as “things” that can be used without understanding how doing so effects wider relationships
  • McFague was deeply concerned that humans were acting as if they are separate from nature and the ruler of it meaning that we failed to see the interconnectedness of our actions on the environment and how that would eventually kill us all
41
Q

The Nuclear Age

A
  • we have always been able to kill but now with new technological knowledge, we can prevent all birth from ever happening
  • we have come to the place where we can do something that nature cannot do; kill nature
  • McFague says that this fact is so frightening that we cling to metaphors from our childhood of a father god who will make everything better
  • there is powerful apocalyptic thought in some theological models: with the destruction of the world necessary for a triumphal battle of good and evil where god will win and save those who deserve it
  • McFague thinks this model is profoundly damaging in the modern era given our nuclear capability
42
Q

Worn out metaphors

A
  • some metaphors (eg god is king, almighty ruler) have been around so long that we think they must be fixed and binding
  • what we need today are new metaphors that
    1. de-stabilise worldly standards of money and power
    2. include strangers, outcasts, outsiders, the poor and oppressed
    3. are anti-hierarchical
43
Q

Metaphors for god are illuminating, but only partial

A
  • they don’t reveal all of his nature, but some of it
  • we cannot know gods true and full nature: infinite, transcendent, beyond human conception
  • problem: traditional metaphors have become fixed models and idols. worshipped in place of god. they ‘exclude other models’
44
Q

We need female images for god in the modern age (McFague was writing from 60s-2010s)

A
  • nuclear age: we need new images that point us to a view of god and the the world which values the continuation of all life
  • key concerns; nuclear age (immediate extinction) and environmental crisis
  • we need anti hierarchical models/metaphors
  • god as mother: world isn’t ruled over by god, instead we should see the world as gods body
  • harming faith = harming gods body
45
Q

God as mother can be powerfully illuminating

A
  • Biblically based (Hosea, Deuteronomy…)
  • highlights mankind’s complete reliance on god
  • traditional model: father/living in control, complete domination
  • maternal images: giving birth, nursing, comforting and caring. this image is female but not necessarily feminine, focuses on ‘the most basic things that females (as mothers) do’
46
Q

Reason why it IS valid to refer to god as mother

A
  • not specifically saying god is FEMALE: just has feminine traits ie being the mother of the earth
  • god as ‘father’ is too patriarchal
  • Bible is written and translated by men
    (middle view: epistemic distance. we’ll never know)
47
Q

Reasons why it is NOT valid to refer to god as mother

A
  • god is a spirit: no gender?
  • traditional views, upbringing
    (middle view: epistemic distance. we’ll never know)
48
Q

The model of god as father is illuminating and therefore god as mother is not needed

A
  • god as father expresses all characteristics of loving, kind, perfect god
  • fathers are as loving as mothers
  • god revealed the bible to us and chose to reveal his identity in masculine language which tells us about his nature and character
49
Q

The model of god is only partially illuminating and therefore god as mother is needed

A
  • father is too patriarchal
  • the father son relationship of god and Jesus excludes women and lacks inclusivity
  • fails to acknowledge gods mothering and nurturing characteristics
50
Q

God as mother is biblical

A
  • term ‘father’ is too patriarchal: Bible is written by men for men so male pronouns shape a male understanding of god and therefore our approach to other people
  • god as ‘mother’ reflects other characteristics of god
  • father son relationship between god and Jesus excludes women and fails to acknowledge the nurturing qualities of god
  • OT: Isaiah - god as comforting mother
51
Q

God as mother is unbiblical

A
  • god revealed his identity in biblical language
  • Jesus refers to god as ‘abba’ which means ‘daddy’
  • god as father conveys gods character and purpose for humankind, creator of everything that has life and founder of truth and life
  • similar to ancient near Eastern religions: focused on mother goddess, pagan idea so not Christian doctrine

Religious Studies: Christianity (25 decks)

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