Christianity, gender and sexuality Flashcards
What is liberation theology?
An approach to theological thinking that aimed to analyse the Bible and Christianity using modern thought reformed by reason and science
What are the three key features of biblical criticism?
- Examines original languages in which scripture was written to ensure translations are correct
- Looks at the form of each passage (eg, 1 Corinthians is a letter) in order to find the context in which it should be understood
- Examines the background to each passage, including the commonly held views of the day
What is Karl Barth’s challenge to biblical criticism?
- Challenged the liberal approach
- He argued that it was wrong to use reason to judge scripture, in fact scripture is the judge of human reason
- He lies in a similar camp as conservative Evangelicals
What is a fundamentalist challenge to biblical criticism?
- Straightforward and literal interpretation of scripture
- Claimed that everyone, inspired by the Holy Spirit, should be able to read and interpret the scriptures because God’s word was clear and straightforward in its meaning
- Rules that applied in 1st century Palestine should continue to apply today
- The role of women has been a contentious issue since the early church
- Important part in the New Testament narrative
What does Daphne Hampson say about the treatment of women in Christianity?
- Post-Christian theologian
- She argues that the uniqueness of the Christ event has been fundamental to Christian belief
- Therefore, to understand Christianity, we must look back to 1st century Palestine, ad with that the patriarchal imagery is transported to the 21st century
- This affects people not least at the subconscious level
- She believes that Christianity is not true and is not moral
- Due to her belief that people should take responsibility for themselves, she doesn’t think people should refer to a transcendent God
- Believes that Christianity is irredeemably sexist
What does Rosemary Radford Reuther say about the treatment of women in Christianity?
- Feminist and liberation theologian
- Believes that Christianity can be restated in feminist terms
- She sees parallels between Jesus’ teachings and feminist critiques of society today
- He is described as siding with the oppressed and outcasts of society, including women
- She sees Jesus as exemplifying female traits of healing and caring, as well as male traits of power and authority
- She describes Jesus as androgynous
What are Christian teachings about celibacy?
- Celibacy and marriage are not related to each other, as in Christianity sex is closely related with marriage
- In the Christian tradition, celibacy is not simply living without sex, but living a singular existence in order to devote oneself to God
- Early Christians believed that the world was ending, so marriage and procreation were not a priority
- But since sex outside marriage is a sin, Paul advised Christians to marry if they can’t control their urges, but that celibacy was the better option
- As time passed a monastic tradition grew, celebrating a total dedication of life to God, so celibacy was seen as some higher calling
- Today, it is widely practised by monks, nuns and by clergy in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches
What are Christian teachings about marriage?
- Marriage is a sacrament, a special means of receiving God’s grace
- For Catholics, marriage and raising a family is a vocation, but this is inferior to the vocation of celibacy
- Problems when Christianity tries to put historical views in the context of modern society:
1. Today marriage is a relationship offering satisfaction to both entering it, rather than a sacrament to establish a family
2. The Christian element of marriage is no longer mandatory
3. The Christian marriage ceremony states that it is for life, but the idea of divorce undercuts this and calls into question the place of divorcees in the church
What are some Bible quotes about homosexuality?
Leviticus: “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable”
Romans: “men committed with indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penny for their perversion”
What does Christianity teach about transgender issues?
Bible says nothing specific about transgender people as it wasn’t a possibility in the period when it was written
What are some arguments against allowing change of gender?
- If all people are created by God, it could be argued that as God makes no mistakes, they should be content with the body that God gave them
- Early church was against surgery that altered sex organs, eg. castrated men were not allowed to be ordained
- Those who believe it is wrong to change gender use passages against homosexuality to support their cause, as biological women having sex with a woman is still classed as homosexuality, in their eyes
What are some arguments for allowing change of gender?
Paul said that there is “no male or female, for you are all in one Jesus Christ”
