gender and theology (10) Flashcards
who is the leading person in this section (messiah bit)
Rosemary Radford Ruether
Old beliefs on the Messiah
Jews thought the Messiah had to be a warrior and therefore a man.
Ruether and Messiah
She thought it wasnt being a warrior, but being virtous. Jesus was not like the messiah they expected (Semon on the Mount) so why should it be a man?
Old Testament and wisdom
Proverbs 8 refers to God’s wisdom as female and both Herbew/Greek words for wisdom are feminine. Wisdom is linked to divine knowledge and therefore God.
‘Wisdom of Solomon’
A part of the Catholic Old Testament. Wisdom seen as feminine.
New Testament and Femininity
Hebrew word for spirit is feminine (Holy Spirit) and Paul described Jesus as wisdom of God 1 Corinthians 24
3 reasons Feminism could change Christianity
- a key part of Jesus’ character is not his maleness, therefore he does not have to be a male
- Ruether says Catholic priests do not have to be men as Jesus didnt have to be.
- Allow far greater relationship with women and understanding
Who believes christianity should be abandoned
Mary Daly, a radical lesbian feminist
church reforms
Daly initially wanted to change the church but thought that there was far too much patriarchal history in the church for it to be reformed
Daly and language
Daly thought language needed to be reclaimed and re evaluted- this would allow women to look objectivley at current culture
Spinster
Daly example of langauge. Used to mean a woman who span cloth but men made it derogatory. Women must re evaluate such language (and christianity) and look again at true meaning
Daly famous quote
“If God is male then the male is God”
Daly quote meaning
the image of God was created by men, to benefit men and to just think og God as female would be wrong because its still teh same male imagined God
Transvalued
Daly thought Christianity needed to be transvalued, meaning a radical change of values using a new starting point
Nietzsche
Who Daly took inspiration from. In claiming God is Dead he refocused us on man. This allowed for new forms of thinking and creativity to flourish, Daly thought only women were able to access such creativity.
Be-ing
Daly reality which is beyond male image of God, an aim of life which is a being and not a verb. This can only be established through creativity.
Castrating God
Daly said needed to transvaluate every phallic value and that sorts with castrating God- removing use of word is ‘God’
Christianity should be abandoned
- 2000 year old religion is too patriarchal and unable to change
- Daly focus on nature shows essential aspect of the world
- Daly’s language makes people shift in consiouness and tries to shock people into seeing need for change