christianity and gender Flashcards by 7R Julia De Cecco

what was the status of women in the new testament

Jesus clearly regarded women highly and taught them in the same way that he taught his disciples
Jesus was accompanied by women throughout his ministry - however feminists would object to their role, as they cared for his needs rather than were preaching.
In Paul’s letter to the Galatians he stated that because everyone was now in christ, racial/social/gender distinctions didn’t apply

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describe women in the church before the nineteenth century

NT shows women had positions of authority in the church: Phoebe as a ‘deacon and patron of many’
However, sexist passages. Became more prevalent between the 2nd-5th centuries in the writings of church leaders. Augustine and others saw the world as damned because of the sin of Adam and Eve, and in the western part of the Roman Empire, Christianity developed a sense of loathing for the physical body and everything to do with it. Women were regarded as to use an expression of Tertullian - ‘the devil’s gateway’.
However, by the fifth century women must already have been playing a significant role within the organisation of the Church, and one which Church authorities had come to see as a threat, since a number of Church councils forbade the ordination of women as deacons.
Once Christian monasticism became established, celibacy offered similar opportunities for men and women. From the fifth century, convents offered the opportunity for women to escape the male-dominated life in society or the demands of motherhood. This offered the opportunity for study and the arts, and some rose to positions of great responsibility.
So, although it is true that from the early days through the Mediaeval period and into the upheavals of the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation, the Church and society were generally dominated by men, with women playing supplementary roles, there were many exceptions to that rule.

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describe women in the nineteenth century

women had a passive role in society, no property, dependent. Nineteenth century = time of radical change, women entered the workforce. Following the enlightenment period there was also a general emphasis on reason and evidence to understand humankind.
this however didn’t immediately correlate into equality for genders.
spread of education: women could train to be teachers, more education opportunities.
start of the movement for women’s rights, suffrage movement, women gained some respect act - but still not equal, couldn’t vote, own property.
1859: Catherine booth published Female Ministry: Women’s right to preach the gosoel - argued that women who speak under the influence of the Holy Spirit are not claiming any authority for themselves, but are no more than vehicles for delivering the gospel.

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describe the pre-reformation church

all under jurisdiction of Rome
few could read the bible, learnt about faith from teachings in mass from the clergy
## following the reformation christians were able to study the bible themselves allowing them to develop their own interpretations about its meaning ec.t

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give the background to the interpretation of scripture

authority of church challenged in the 16th century by reformers
protestants saw the bible as more important than church interpretation
‘Liberal theology’ was the attempt to show the relevance of religious ideas to modern life. It also sought to rationalise and present the Christian faith in a way that was compatible with science and with modern thought
## Part of this was the development of biblical criticism– the systematic and crucial examination of the biblical text.

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describe biblical criticism

Part of this was the development of biblical criticism– the systematic and crucial examination of the biblical text.
liberal biblical criticism argues that the bible should be studied like any other document - uses ‘higher’ criticism, examining in detail the concept, language and meaning of individual passages to identify the precise meaning of the original words

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give some key features of biblical criticism

1) it examines the original languages in which scripture was written to make sure that the translated words reflect the meaning that their authors intended it to
2) It looks at the form of each piece of writing in order to fin the context in which it should be understood
3) it examines the background to each piece of scripture
Ultimately, it aimed to find the truth expressed through the scriptures, without assuming that a straightforward acceptance of the translated text would be enough.

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give the challenges to biblical criticism

Although biblical criticism was widely accepted as a legitimate tool for theologians, there were those who felt that treating the Bible as an ordinary text that could be analysed was wrong
One academic theologian who challenged this was Karl Barth, but also christian fundamentalist groups
First challenge:
The message in the bible is not a development of the enlightenment values.
Its role was to challenge ordinary human assumptions. It is wrong to say that human reason can be used to judge scripture, rather, scirpture is the judge of human reason.
Second challenge:
everyone inspired by the holy spirit should be able to read, understand and interpret the scriptures - God’s word is clear and straightforward.
It is wrong to study it critically, as this would undermine its meaning. The bible does not need to conform to modern scholarship/attitudes

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give 1 Timothy 2:8-15:

key passage on the equality of women
‘I also want the women to dress modestly….a woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet’’
such texts are widely used against the ordination of women, and against women holding other teaching roles in churches - applied both in the Catholic Church, but also within the conservative evangelical protestant churches

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give a critical examination of 1 Timothy 2:8-15

original use and context: there may have been a particular issue with the church is Ephesus that the letter was. trying to correct - therefore it advice is specific and may not be universally applicable.
Women at the time had no formal education, so were more likely to be led astray by teachings they may not have understood - therefore if it was right fr these women to not have a leading role in the church, this doesn’t apply today
it is a letter - we dont know what it was replying to
the fact that the writer opposes women speaking in church shows it was already happened - it suggests there were arguments between men and women which threatened the habitual power exercised by men over women.

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what causes the debate around female ordination

the debate centres around the Catholic view of the apostolic succession
the role of bishop as overseer of a large number of church congregations includes the ordination of priests and the sacrament of confirmation for those who have been prepared to become full members.
traditionalists consider tat any ordinatio/confirmation carried out by woman would not be valid because she couldn’t continue the tradition of male ordination and consecration going back to the apostles
for this reason, some conservative churches in the tradition refused to accept the oversight of female bishops - the were instead cared for by ‘provincial episcopal visitors’, and other clergy asked to be opposed to be received into Catholicism

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describe the history of ordination of women in the Anglican Church

-1920 - first attempt to discuss women’s ordination at the Lambeth conference in 1920. Archbishop’s commission set up to consider the matter, but rule it out
-Florence Li Tim-Oi (1907-92) Florence Li Tim-Oi was a deaconess in China, who was ordained priest in 1944 because there were too few men available to minister to Anglicans in China during the war with Japan.

The next step was taken in the Far East to meet a particularly urgent need In 1944, in response to a shortage of men in the Church following the e Japanese invasion, Florence Li Tim-Oi was ordained in China. This was temporary, and she resigned her licence after the war. However, when the Synod of Hong Kong and Macao ordained two other women as priests in 1971, she was again officially recognised as a priest.

In the Church of England, the General Synod (the Church’s governing body) discussed the ordination of women in 1975 and again in 1978. In 1975it was agreed that there were no ‘fundamental objections’ to women being ordained. In 1978it was proposed that barriers to the ordination of women should be removed by changes to Church law. The motion was passed by the House of Bishops and the House of Laity, but lost in the House of Clergy. Since all three houses have to approve changes to Church laws, this effectively blocked progress.

Those opposed to the ordination of women argued that the Church of England did not have the authority to overturn the tradition of male-only ordained ministry in the Apostolic succession. Some felt that it would damage the relationship between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church, which is opposed to female ordination. Others argued based on a conservative reading of the biblical references.

In 1981, the Synod agreed that women could be ordained as deacons. Legislation was passed in 1985 and the first ordinations of women deacons took place in 1987. At that time, men who were deacons would normally then go on to be ordained as priests but this option was not available for women. In 1988, the proposal to ordain women to the priesthood finally received the required majority in all three houses of Synod in 1992, and on 12 March 1994, the first 32 women were ordained as priests in the Church of England

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describe the continuing debate about female ordination today

ComE accepts it as a whole
‘alternative episcopal oversight’ provided for parishes who refuse
number of bishops who opposed ordination of women has become the subject of criticsm - eg Philip North
2017, the parish of Jesmond invited a bishop from a conservative Church in South Africa to consecrate their curate Jonathan Pryke as a bishop totally rejecting the authority of their diocesan Bishop of Durham

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describe different responses to the new testament texts on the issue of gender

Christian egalitarians argue that there should be no distinction between men and women when it comes to their roles within the church - applying also to racial groups. All are equal before chirist.
Christian complementarians - men and women are of equal importance in the sight of god but they have different and complementary roles

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describe the catholic complementation view

Natural law suggests people should live in a way that reflects their inherent nature - if men and women have different natures they should take different roles in life - not more valuable, but just different.
tradition of the earl church: we dont know the extent of female ministry in the early church apart from oppsioiton to it. Eg Timothy
Apostolic succession: the catholic and anglo-catholic view of the ordained ministry also points to the fact that Jesus only appointed men as his apostles - apostolic succession means ministry can only be passed on from men to men,
1976: Vatican issued a declaration condemning ordination. Inter Insigniores makes an important point about biblical criticism. Although the Church is founded upon the example and teachings of Jesus as found in the New Testament, it is the Church that decides how those texts should be interpreted.

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describe the protestant view: the priesthood of all believers

reformation theology: the priesthood of all believers’ - all are equal before god, there is no need for god’s grace to be mediated through a priest. all ehistians are called to serve god - no one is more scared than the other.
for Protestants, the secular roles of wife and mother were regarded as equal in importance to those of the monastic life. As a result of this, there is no need for a special priestly role in mediating between the two. Ordination as practised by the Catholic Church was not necessary for men, so the question of female ordination did not arise.
## Protestant Churches today have varying views on the ministry of women, but these focus on whether or not women may hold a position of leadership rather than on the Catholic view (shared by Orthodox and Anglican Churches) of a specially holy priesthood.

describe feminist theology

began prominently 1950s onwards against the rise of second wave feminism. it can be seen as part of a wider cultural phenomenon
feminist theologians argue that the church is patriarchal and oppresses women - they therefore seek to counter patriarchal structure within the church and emphasise the value and place of women

describe the 3 different strands of feminist theology with regard to christians

1) liberal strand - presents patriarchy as illogical, denying women the right to fundamental equality with men
2)biblical - looks at the idea of god as loving and caring - qualities which are associated with women. it also points to the importance of women within the life/teaching of Jesus
3) radical strand which has moved. beyond christianity seeking ways to speak to god which are gender inclusive

give Hampson’s view that Christianity is irredeemably sexist

she takes a post-Christian theological perspective, yet acknowledges the christian tradition from which theology stems
she argues christianity is a historical religion, looking to past revelation to the male dominated society of 1st century Palestine
if chrisitnaity accepts that what was ‘true’ then is necessarily true now, all it’d ‘patriarchal baggage’ has to be accepted now’ - its patriarchal iamgeryy/presuppositions are transported into the present, affecting people even at a subconscious level
she holds that christianity is not true - defines christianity as a position that there was a uniqueness about Jesus. Since the enlightenment, we can know this isn’t possible - there could be no violation of the laws of nature in this way. The idea of one person who has a different relationship to god from all others doesn’t make sense
christianity is not moral - believing that people must take responsibility for themselves, she doesn’t think that people should be referring to a revelation in history/transcendent god.
the consequence of a historical religion like this 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 posits male as the norm and women as the other - it is therefore FASCIST
however she 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
there is no reason for such a religious outlook to be gendered
feminism and christianity are therefore a CONTRADICTION -

Give Rosemary Radford Reuther’s ideas about the androgynous Christ and her view that the female nature is more Christlike than the male

Reuther focuses on the message of christianity as one of liberation, arguing christianity is a religious culture which can be restated in feminist terms.
she considers that all past events/present experience/future hopes contribute to an understanding of christianity. She describes Jesus as a proclaimer of liberation in his own time, and sees a parallel between feminist critiques of society and Jesus’s teachings. Jesus is described as siding with the oppressed and outcasts of society, eg women, and was critical of oppressive authority. Eg he criticised the way rules were used to forbid acts of charity on the Sabbath - ‘the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath’
Jesus understands the needs and stregfnths of women and exemplifies female traits of healing and caring as well as male traits of power and authority - Jesus therefore embodies both male and female aspects of human nature - ‘androgynous christology’
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 - she argues that christianity today is in the process of recognising the female qualities as weak as male ones in God - this is so that through the work of the spirit, christianity can become a religion of emancipation from patriarchy. This isn’t its original context, but when the christian gospel stories are interpreted today in the context of female experience they can be helpful in developing a feminist culture of emancipation
therefore Reuther implies that the female nature is more christ-like than the male nature. Women aren’t driven by power/authority/rules unlike men - they are welcoming and inclusive and the female nature is caring, healing and forgiving - these are the qualities that make Jesus different.
women are closer to nature than men by childbirth act so it is natural to look to women to develop a more pure, ecologically inspired ethics - nature could even be seen as inherently female. eco-feminism

describe the history of celibacy in the church

in contrast to first century Judaism, the church seems to have had a more mixed view on marriage - if the world was to end soon, preparing for that should be the focus rather than marriage, however by the time of the pastoral epistles, church leaders were expected to be married with children
as the church developed and attitudes to women sex and married life became more negative, a monastic tradition developed - men could give themselves up to a higher calling and devoting themselves to god. all catholic priests are to be celibate
after the reformation many protestant priests abandoned clerical celibacy outside of the monastic tradition

give the roman Catholic view on homosexuality n

it not a sin to BE homosexual, but it is a sin to ACT on those feelings
people don’t choose to be homosexual and we are created imago dei
this is a belief held due to the idea that our purpose is to procreate - homosexuals cannot therefore it must be wrong

give the traditional christian view of homosexuality

‘you shall not lie with a man as a woman, that is an abomination’ (Leviticus) - therefore it is sinful
curing homosexuals

describe the liberal christian view of homosexuality

they believe that homosexuality is not a major moral issue
if god did make humans in his likeness, he made them both equal regardless of seuxaity
if they have good, loving relationships like some heterosexuals do it is nit an issue

what did Paul say about judging people

'you therefore have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself' - we shoudltn judge others because all deserve condemnation and all can receive forgiveness - however this isn't the same a s claim for equality of sexual preference

give christian arguments AGAINST allowing change of gender

- if all people are created by god, it could be argued that god, who does not make mistakes, gave transgender people their bodes they should be content with the gender god gave them - the early church was strongly opposed to surgery tampering with sex identity - castrated men were not premitted to be ordained as priests. - all the passages that relate to homosexuality relate to transgender - a surgical gender transition cannot change the sexual nature a person is born with. if a transgender female sleeps with a man, it is the same as if two men engage in a homosexual act, and therefore it is condemned.

give christian arguments in FAVOUR of transgender

- the first creation story says that when God created humankind 'in the image of god he created them, male and female, he created them' can be interpreted to mean that god's nature and by extension the nature of all humankind created in god's image contains both male and female - if this is the case, changing gender is merely a case of emphasising one aspect of god's image over another - Pau;'s letter to the valuations says that 'there is neither....male and female, for you are all one in Jesus Christ' - for christians, gender identity has no importance, and if that is the case, changing one's gender is of no significance in terms of salvation. - alternatively a transgender person could claim that god created them as a whole with the nature of one gender and the body of another, giving them the responsibility of choice about how to live their life.

give the church of England's pragmatic approach to ordination

- for many years it was acknowledged that many of those ordained to the Core priesthood were homosexual but it was judged that as long as their homosexual activity was contained within stable relationships and didn't interfere with their pastoral ministry, the qualities displayed by the male homosexuals (sensitivity and acceptance) made them particularly good pastors. this was a pragmatic approach - however it became more problematic with the ordination of those who were openly gay/lesbian. The general view was that gay or lesbian candidates could be ordained, but would be required to remain celibate. Homosexual Christians argue that this goes against their personal integrity. - The general principle in the Church of England is that openly homosexual people may be ordained, provided that they are and intend to remain within a stable relationship and engage though acknowledging homosexual feelings - they do not actually engage in homosexual sexual acts. In 2005, after a long period of discussion and consultation, the General Synod of the Church of England agreed that people in same-sex civil partnerships could be ordained to the priesthood provided that they remain celibate.

give the importance of marriage in christianity

- from the time of the early church there were only two options - celibacy/marriage. by the time of the letter to Timothy, it is clear that being married and taking care of a family shows that person to be suitable to lead the local Christian congregation. - marriage became a sacrament in Catholicism and raising a Christina family a vocation - but inferior to celibacy. - the reformation shifted the balance against celibacy in favour of marriage - a family was seen as god's blessing upon the union of husband and wife. - roman teaching focuses on the sacramental nature of marriage - a physical act causing a profound change to the souls of the people involved - since the two individuals become 'one flesh' in marriage, divorce is not possible. the relationship cannot be dissolved in the eyes of the church/god/ - protestant churches dont see marriage as a sacrament - so it can be dissolved - but the end of a marriage is seen yo show that the couple have failed to live up to god's high standards for personal life. Jesus allows divorce only as a result of marital unfaithfulness

give the issues of christianity putting historical views into the context of modern western societies

1)n marriage is often seen primarily as a relationship offering satisfaction to the partners who enter into it, rather than a saceament whose purpose is to establish a family 2) since legal registration of marriages doesn't now require a religious ceremony, the christian element of marriage is now often seen as optional over the legal/financial commitment 3) christian marriage ceremony states that it is a commitment for life - what about divorce.