Gender And Theology Flashcards
Liberation theology
Movement in Christianity that focuses foremost on the the problems of injustice
Davidic messiah
The expected warrior messiah by people
Servant messiah
Ruethers idea of Jesus having female characteristics like self sacrifice and forgiveness, to show how Jesus could’ve been female
Which book in the Old Testament speaks about the wisdom as a female principle
The wisdom of Solomon
What did Paul describe Jesus as
The wisdom of God which suggests he is the incarnation of the female wisdom principle
Strengths of feminist inspiring change
- Jesus maleness isn’t essential to his nature so god may not essentially be male, women can relate to faith more
- priests don’t need to be male as Jesus didn’t need to be male, greater female presence in church
- Jesus spent a lot of time with women which shows women have a role in the church as they had a role with Jesus
Weakness of feminist thought inspiring change
- Theological exploration isn’t relevant for day to day believers
- CofE allowed women to be priests but it is declining
- Too many years of Christian patriarchy to overcome and change
Why does daly want to abandon Christianity
She believes the church is so inherently sexist and founded in patriarchy that it should be abandoned
How did daly change the word spinster
Used to be a derogatory word for women but she changed it to make women realise they must transform society to free it from Christian patriarchy, into an Amazonian age where women had to become superior to men
What Is Dalys famous quote
If god is male then male is god, shows that the idea of god as male comes from men to favour men
Transvaluation
Christianity should be radically changed with a new starting point
How did Nietzsche influence Daly
In Declaring god is dead there is a new way of thinking that can emerge
Dalys idea of a be-ing
Ongoing process of creativity in mother nature that only women can access which is her new starting point for society
Strengths of Dalys argument
- 2000 years of patriarchy is too inherent to reform so spirituality should be explore in other ways
- focus on nature demonstrates essential aspect of the world better than a deity like god
- use of language engages people into a shift in consciousness or see the state of the world.
Weaknesses of Dalys argument
- Doesn’t consider non educated, non lesbian or non western women. Alienates other women
- her thinking is based on a hatred of men and not Christianity itself so her call for abandonment is misinformed
- pronouns like He for god are simply linguistic devices and don’t define god as he is ineffable and genderless.
Ruethers Goddess theology
In early Judaism god suffers for people like a mother so a goddess, this can be applied in Christianity with Jesus as the female aspect of the trinity
Dalys examples of sexism in the bible
- Virgin Mary as a victim of rape as a passive figure and the total rape victim, the way the church reverences her supports the view of women as passive and abusable.
- Women are to blame for the fall of mankind as it is eve who first ate the fruit of the tree.
Dalys unholy trinity - Genocide
Idea that one group can have complete power over another group and destroy them, example of rape and all men are rapists so man commits genocide, church ban abortion so women must have unwanted children that are products of rape
Dalys unholy trinity - Rape
portraying women as passive they are raped literally and metaphorically as men commit armchair rape in enjoying pornography, rape is assumed as normal in the bible in genesis 19.
Dalys unholy trinity - War
War comes from male dominated aggressive approaches to life and phallic mentality, wars in the bible normalise this.
Why christianity is not sexist
- Biblical texts are products of their societies , so if 21st century society isn’t exist that christianity doesn’t have to be, warrior Jesus comes from warrior Roman times
- Jesus himself wasn’t sexist as he broke taboos of his day to interact with women so christianity isn’t sexist
Strengths of a male saviour
- Jesus gender wasn’t essential as he was god incarnate, he sacrificed himself for all people
- women’s ministry shows material equality so there can be spiritual equality.
Weakness of a male saviour
- Jesus dying on the cross is a symbol of male enjoyment of pain, sexual dominance over women as his death only saved men
- Jesus is perfect so men are perfect and women can’t be women
- salvation needs a pure relationship with god through prayer, this is too difficult to women to develop with a male
Strengths of women in genuine spirituality
- Daly has only women as accessing genuine spirituality as only they can access the creative aspect of human nature to join with be-ing.
- women tend to make deeper relationships so it is more likely they will develop more genuine spirituality
