Christianity And Gender Flashcards
Daphne Hampson beliefs about Christianity and resurrection
-Hampson holds that Christianity is not true.
-She defines Christian’ as a position as the belief that there was a uniqueness about the events surrounding Jesus of Nazareth: Christians have believed that either Jesus was resurrected from the dead, or that Jesus was related to God in a different way to anyone else, or both.
-Hampson thinks that, since the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, we have known that this is not possible.
-There could not be a one-off event which breaks the laws of nature, like a resurrection. The idea of one person who has a different kind of relationship to God from all other people does not make sense.
Hampson revealation
-Hampson finds Christianity not moral.
-Believing that people must take responsibility for themselves, she does not think that people should be referring to a revelation in history, or a transcendent God.
-Ideas about revelation and God arise because Christianity is the type of religion it is.
-Christians believe in a revelation in history, and in a God who is wholly different from human beings, so they obey God instead of exercising moral choices freely.
-Christians cannot just start from the present because they believe in a transcendent God who has revealed Godself in history, and so they must always take what they think to be God’s word into consideration.
Hampson - consequences of Christianity being so historical
-The consequence of such a ‘historical’ religion which looks to a past revelation is that the outlook and imagery of a past patriarchal age is brought into the present, affecting people at a subconscious level.
-In other words, Christianity is irredeemably sexist.
-It comes to look only natural that being male should be seen as the norm for humankind, while woman is seen as different, secondary and the other’.
-Any thought system which attempts to make it look as if one part of humanity is the norm can be described as fascist. Insofar as this is the case, Hampson thinks that Christianity is fascist.
What does Hampson say about myth of Christianity
-Hampson credits that the Christian myth has served as a vehicle which has carried people’s love of God in the West.
-She thinks that people should now express that awareness of God in terms appropriate for the present day and age.
-God should not be seen as ‘out there’ and anthropomorphic: rather, God is a dimension of the one reality to which humanity also belongs.
-It then makes sense to speak of ‘drawing on God, or ‘being open to God’. There is no reason for such a religious outlook to be gendered.
Reuthers main beliefs
-Ruether considers that past events, present experience and future hopes all contribute to an understanding of Christianity.
-She describes Jesus as a proclaimer of liberation in his own time.
-She sees a parallel between and feminist critiques of Jesus injustice and religious hierarchies at the time of Jesus were the Result of male domination.
-Jesus is described as siding with the oppressed and outcasts of society, including women, and was critical of oppressive authority, including the use of religious rules to limit what people do, rather than to liberate them.
Example of what Reuther meant
An example of this is Jesus’ criticisms of the way rules were used to forbid acts of charity on the Sabbath. He concludes ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath’ (Mark 2:27).
Reuther on Jesus traits in the bible
-Jesus is often presented as understanding both the needs and the strengths of women.
-Ruether sees Jesus exemplifying female traits of healing and caring, as well as male traits of power and authority.
-In this sense, Jesus embodies both male and female aspects of human nature.
-In her book Sexism and God Talk she describes this idea as ‘androgynous’ Christology Jesus is seen as struggling to help others, not as an impassive and distant authority figure.
Traditional theology - Jesus
-Traditional theology sees Jesus carrying the punishment for sin, as part of a scheme based on authority, rules and punishment in a patriarchal society dominated by a male view of God.
-Ruether argues that Christianity today is in the process of recognising the female qualities as well as the male qualities in God, so that through the work of the Spirit, Christianity can become a religion of emancipation from patriarchy.
-She does not claim that this was its original context, but argues that when the Christian gospel stories are interpreted today in the context of women’s experience, they can be helpful in developing a feminist culture of emancipation.
Reuther implying women are more like Christ
-Ruether thus implies that in some ways, the female nature is more Christ- like than male nature.
-According to Ruether, many women are not driven by power, authority, rules and punishment, unlike many men.
-They do not exclude those who are different, but instead are welcoming and inclusive.
-Ruether believes that female nature is caring, healing and forgiving, and it is these qualities that make Jesus different from leaders in history In her book To Change the World: Christology and Cultural Criticism, Ruether says: ‘The emergence of women points to a messianic future that will transform the male world of war, conflict and exploitation into the woman’s world of peace and reconciliation.’
Reuther - woman closer to nature
-Ruether also argues that women, by their biological nature and their role in childbearing, are closer to nature than men, and therefore it is natural to look to women to develop a more pure, ecologically-inspired ethics.
-Nature itself, constantly giving birth and nurturing, may be seen as inherently female in the way it works.
-Such ideas are expressed as eco-feminism, and bring feminist ideas in line with the basic need for humankind to modify the male- dominated exploitation of the planet.
