Gender and theology

Question 1

patriarchalism of Christianity

Answer 1

1. Old Testament has numerous incidents that show women to be subordinate - For example, Abraham passing off Sarah (his wife) as his sister and offering her for sexual pleasure to foreign leaders to ensure his own safety
2. Paul taught that women were subordinate to their husbands
3. Aquinas called women
   ‘misbegotten males’.
4. women seen as lowest in society- in gospels: Once the hierarchy is reversed by the message of salvation, then ‘the last will be first’. They are “the oppressed of the oppressed”.

Question 2

example of patriarchalism in christianity today

Answer 2

1. evidence suggests that, among very first Christians, women in leadership roles were not uncommon, but as Christianity grew and the hierarchy of priests, bishops etc developed, women were excluded and marginalised. The episcopacy took over the “claims of apostolic authority” (Reuther)
2. CofE is moving forward + now ordaining women as priests + accepting them as bishops BUT Catholicism refuses to accept that women can take on these leadership positions and refuses to allow women to be ordained.

Question 3

Reuther: The maleness of Christ in Chr

Answer 3

• Christianity must move away from regarding white, wealthy males as the ‘norm’ and recognising all other humans as existing in ‘mutuality’
• 1976: Vatican: “there must be a physical resemblance between the priest and Christ”.
  –> Ruether: as all the other identifying features of Christ are not considered a necessity, then one must conclude that:
  “the possession of male genitalia becomes the essential prerequisite for representing Christ.”

Question 4

Reuther: The maleness of Christ. KEY POINTS on how to tackle the maleness of christ

Answer 4

• Ruether noted Jesus’ criticisms of the societal + religious hierarchy at the time are “remarkably parallel to feminist criticism”.
• we need to go beyond searching for the feminist attributes of Jesus (and God) bc will only lead to idea that Christ had a ‘feminine’ side, and does nothing to release Christ from the. patriarchalism of institutional Christianity
• She argues its not necessary to confine Christ to the historical Jesus. Christ’s identity can develop in the present, in a “dynamic rather than static relationship.” It is possible to see Christ in the “form of our sister”.

Question 5

Ruether: issue with language that represents god

Answer 5

1. needs to be change in the way God is named and understood: Currently understood as father, as king, male in art
2. language of humans fails to represent God: “God is both male and female and neither male nor female. One needs inclusive language for God”– suggested term ‘holy one/wisdom’ to overcome this.

Question 6

Ruether: God as the female wisdom principle EVIDENCE

Answer 6

1. Ruether studied the idea of female as a deity in the Ancient Near East- archaeological evidence suggested importance of females and equivalency from evidence of worship – no sense of complementarity, but of equal images of the divine.
   –> In early YHWH worship, Asherah maintained her importance among the rural population.
2. In Judaism, essence of God on earth is the shekinah (female noun) and in Ancient Greece, Sophia is wisdom (female). The title ‘Logos’ is equiv. to Sophia. Thus because in wisdom literature, wisdom is an essential part of God’s creative power, this shows that wisdom is a female attribute
   –> Ruther explains how wisdom as a female character was once an independent manifestation of the divine, but came, in Hebraism, to be a dependent attribute of a male God.

Question 7

Ruether: Jesus as the incarnation of wisdom

Answer 7

• idea of Wisdom as the ‘secondary persona of God’ can be adapted to explain the divine identity of Jesus- by changing the term from the Greek ‘sophia’ (female) to the male noun ‘logos’, the feminine nature was lost.
• Hierarchical society demanded a male deity/leader to validate the order of patriarchal society so Christ had to be male, as only a male can represent Christ.
  –> “The incarnation of the Logos of God into a male is not a historical accident but an ontological necessity.” (Reuther)

Question 8

Ruether: can a male saviour save women? YES

Answer 8

• possible if the more radical traditions are rediscovered.
• jesus’ roles as messiah deliberately challenged the expectations of the warrior king. his teaching was more about justice and dignity for the marginalised than worldly power. embodied female virtues/wisdom of self-sacrifice and non-violence (traits traditionally associated with femininity) – Jesus can therefore be seen as a gender-inclusive figure- a basis for reforming and redeeming the religion.
• Jesus did not fulfil the patriarchal view of a messiah/leader.

Question 9

Ruether: can a male saviour save women? NO

Answer 9

• jesus is not only historically male but as the Word he is the perfect example of being human, so being male. for a woman to be saved would be denying who she is and adapting to a male mindset.
• when christianity was adopted as the official religion of the roman empire, jesus was promoted as a triumphal king who would return to rule his kingdom, as the davidic messiah. the church thus justified only having male church officials to represent christ and women could only achieve salvation through men
• reuther’s conclusion is that traditional christianity is too sexist and cannot be a means of salvation or liberation for women.
• although Jesus’ actions and teachings can be interpreted in that positive way – the issue with Jesus is that he is a man – having a male spiritual leader of a religion is simply too legitimating of the patriarchal association between maleness and power.

Question 10

+ve of Reuther: 1: there IS biblical support for her view

Answer 10

1. Ruether’s solution was first to point out that there are positive pro-feminist parts of the Bible- thinks Jesus was pro-feminist in his actions and teachings.
   –> Jesus healed the woman who had been menstrually bleeding for 12 years – (went against patriarchal view at time that women should not be touched or enter a place of worship – they were unclean etc.)
   –> Jesus’ criticism of the established religious views that serve to justify and sanctify the dominant, unjust social order– e.g. stopping a women from beign stoned for adultery.
2. Reuther’s view of Jesus as servant messiah and champion of the oppressed (women) is strongly evidenced in the Gospels: description Ruether offers of Jesus as servant king rather than warrior messiah is strongly supported by evidence from the synoptic Gospels. Jesus rejects all claims of king/messiah. He washes disciples’ feet, mixes with societal outcasts etc
   –> THEREFORE, her view that Christianiy has been distorted by centuries of patriachalism is convincing.
3. More evidence: Galatians. Probably the most significant pro-liberation & feminist Bible verse is from St Paul:
   –> “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ”.
4. At his trial, Jesus said ‘My kingdom is not of this world’, which seems to suggest that the kingdom of God is unrelated to the politics of kingdoms in this world. e.g. the fact Jesus is in the earthly wprld to change these politics, e.g. that women are the “oppressed of the oppressed” implies everyone is equal in his kingdom
5. Ruther’s point is that the Bible has some pro-feminist passages and some sexist patriarchal passages - BUT she points out that these passages are inconsistent with each other and therefore could not all be the word of God – so the sexist ones must have been the result of the patriarchal culture of the time and the pro-liberation passages must be God’s genuine authentic revelation.
6. Ruether recommends getting rid of sexist parts of Bible.

Question 11

+ve of Reuther: her reinterpretation of Jesus has strong support

Answer 11

• Ruether’s reinterpretation of Jesus as servant messiah and champion of the oppressed (women being the most oppressed) is strongly evidenced in the gospels- Thus, her detailed explanation of how Christianity has been distorted by centuries of patriarchalism is convincing.
  –>The description Ruether offers of Jesus as servant king rather than warrior messiah is strongly supported by evidence from the synoptic Gospels. Jesus rejects all claims of king/messiah. He washes disciples’ feet, mixes with societal outcasts etc

–> She gives clear evidence from the gospels that demonstrates how Jesus has a ‘feminist’ attitude to women – haemorrhaging woman, woman caught in adultery, poor widows, prostitutes are all portrayed as representatives of the oppressed for whom he has come to offer repentance.

–> Her arguments demonstrating Jesus’ unique attitudes to gender roles are rooted in the gospels –Martha and Mary.

Question 12

-ve of Reuther: 1: bible/evidence that chr does not think women of equal

Answer 12

1. Ruether’s argument depends on the claim that Jesus’ actions are best interpreted as pro-liberation, however there are many passages where Jesus seems to be apolitical.
2. For example, many interpret the stor where Jesus asked a Samaratina women for a drink- unheard of at the time as they were seen as unclean, HOWEVER, Just because Jesus thought Samaritan women should not be seen as unclean however does not necessarily go any further than that and therefore doesn’t justify Christian liberal feminism.
3. aslo, story of women who jesus stopped from being stoned for adultery, could be onterpreted as Jesus just against capital punishment, not necessarily pro - fem. He still tells the woman not to sin again and therefore Jesus is still in favour of what anti-Christian feminists regard as a patriarchally constructed conception of ‘sin’.
4. It is noted that the aspects of the gospels (and the Bible as a whole) that treat women as autonomous humans and with respect and understanding are extremely limited. It’s stretching a point to use them as a basis for claiming Jesus fully accepted and appreciated women for themselves and can be acknowledged as a saviour for women.
   - The overwhelming treatment of women in the Bible is deeply entrenched in the androcentric attitudes that dominated the societies in which it was written and reflect the exclusively male authors.
   –> Paul: women should ‘submit’ to their husbands
   –> even Ruether acknowledges there is no clear answer in the Bible.

*note: although there is some evidence for pro-feminist parts, these are often subject to interpretation, but the androcentric attitudes that oppress women and clearly anti-women : ‘submit’ to your huasbands or ‘he shall rule over you’

Question 13

+ve of Reuther: 2: support for her view on the female wisdom principle

Answer 13

1. Her explanation of the female wisdom principle is based on detailed scholarly study of the Ancient near Eastern religions. It is successful in showing how Judaism recognised YHWH as a complex God with female attributes.
2. In describing Christ as divine wisdom Ruether successfully links the figure of Christ to the female ‘sophia’, and demonstrates how this allows a gender inclusive understanding of the Holy Trinity
3. Ruether argues there is enough evidence to tackle sexism, esp w/ Jesus’ feminist attitude, in the church by reshaping thought and rethinking organisation.
4. even Chan: cites Isaiah 54: 5-7: the ‘deep compassion’ of God as an example of the male God possessing qualities not stereotypically male.
   – CA: despite biblical evidence, christianity has ignored the female aspect of god and promoted is male monotheism.

Question 14

-ve of Ruether: 2: arg is based upon her own interp which has limited appeal to most

Answer 14

• Her call to look closely at the female wisdom element of YHWH is based on her interpretation of archaeological evidence. It has limited appeal to the average, non-scholarly practising Christian. This is also true of her view of Christ as the female wisdom principle. It has not led to any change in the Church attituded and organisation.
• Her recognition that it is not necessary to confine one’s understanding of Christ to the historical figure is unconvincing as, in Chr, the historical Jesus and the Christ of faith are inextricably intertwined.
  –> Christ’s incarnation is a central element of Christian faith.
  –> Simon Chan explains the necessity of the male characters to Christianity.- You cannot rewrite the Christianity to give women more prominence because the story itself shapes Christian identity. The male identity of God features in central liturgy and prayer, so to downplay this “maleness” is wrong”.

Question 15

+ve of Ruether: 3: reasonable

Answer 15

• Jesus is not confined to history and should not be limited by a historical understanding. He can be ‘encountered as a sister’.
• The suggestions Ruether makes for changing the language are reasonable. ‘Holy One’ is an inclusive and practical suggestion.
• Regardless of whether Jesus died for everyone’s sins or not, having a male as the leader of the religion is too suggestive of the patriarchal view that men should lead and have power.
• also her idea to support women by giving them their own space, if men already have rhiers, isnt a bad idea

Question 16

-ve of R: 3: equally sexist

Answer 16

• Changing the male language is equally sexist and exclusive. Also, (Chan:) it is not the language that has led to patriarchalism, but patriarchal society that has resulted in male dominated language.
• Chan: Using female language does not make anything any less patriarchal. In fact, one can argue that it can reinforce gender stereotypes by underlining differences between male and female and thus reinforce the message held in society (both now and in the past) that female is inferior.
  –> This is in line with Mary Daly’s point that any attempt at ‘attacking’ the masculine is fruitless as it does nothing to combat the deep-rooted acceptance of female as inferior.
  –> the tendency is to use male language to emphasise god’s transcendence and female to emphasise his immanence. but it limits god to gendered terms.
• one can argue its better not to limit God to any gendered language at all

Question 17

-ve of R: her suggestions aren’t really valid

Answer 17

• In calling God ‘god/ess’ she is compromising monotheism
  · It is difficult to envisage that her suggestions for changing the language used for God would ever be applied to the Church as an institution. Simon Chan explains how this is unnecessary as the male language used does not have to be understood as excluding women.

Question 18

-ve of R: scriptural support against her

Answer 18

• Muelieris D; JP2 arguing that Christianity is not sexist, there’s no issue with a male saviour saving women, Daly is wrong that it’s irredeemable, Ruether is wrong that it needs reforming.
  JP2 says the Church can’t be sexist because there are many women that it likes, respects and even canonises – like Jesus’ mother Mary (and Joan of Arc).

Question 19

list of Ruether evals

Answer 19

1 + there IS biblical support for her view
1 - bible/evidence that chr does not think women of equal
2 + support for her view on the female wisdom principle
2 - arg is based upon her own interp which has limited appeal to most
3 + reasonable
3 - equally sexist
+ her reinterpretation of Jesus has strong support
- her suggestions aren’t really valid
- scriptural support against her

Question 20

What does Daly mean by ‘if God is male then the male is God’

Answer 20

1. If divinity is associated with masculinity/men – then this suggests men are superior to women who are not associated with it. This will encourage patriarchy.
   –> “the divine patriarch castrates women”
2. This is the underlying problem of Christianity that cannot be overcome- whole of patriarchal society is maintained by this - validation of male dominance through the understanding that God is male, and the hierarchy with males at the top as representatives as God.

Question 21

how does Daly suggest to over come ‘if God is male then the male is God’

Answer 21

1. we need to get beyond traditional theism by “not attacking ‘him’, but leaving ‘him’ behind”.
2. Feminism, says Daly, does not need to look into the past of Christianity to find validation.
   –> “Women have the option of giving priority to what we find valid in our own experience without needing to look to the past for justification.”
3. there needs to be a Transvaluation – what she has in common with Frederich Nietzsche – a complete re-eval of all existing values. this new era will not be possible without the death of God and christinaity, to ensure the present culture is not overturned.

Question 22

Daly’s claim that ‘if God is male then the male is God’ and its implications for Christianity, including: Christianity’s ‘Unholy Trinity’ of rape, genocide and war- this flashcard: rape and genocide

Answer 22

1. “The most Unholy trinity of rape, genocide and war is a logical expression of phallocentric power” (phallocentric=androcentric)
2. Daly argues the mentality of rape is not limited to the physical act but to those who enjoy the mentality metaphorically through their use of pleasure in pornography
3. Daly sees rape as “expressive of group-think” and it is “group-think” that is the foundation of racial prejudice that leads to persecution and, finally, genocide.
4. “But women will be saved through childbearing” (bible)
   –> women ruined everything – and to make it up for it they must accept being the sexual property of men.

Question 23

Daly’s claim that ‘if God is male then the male is God’ and its implications for Christianity, including: Christianity’s ‘Unholy Trinity’ of rape, genocide and war- this flashcard: rape and genocide EVIDENCE

Answer 23

1. Rape is always a consequence of war that is usually unacknowledged; brushed aside and forgotten as quickly as possible. Often, rape is part of official policy to aid in the finishing of the victimised people.
   –> e.g. CW between East+West Pakistan=200,000 women raped
2. OT has stories of women being raped: Moses: “all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves”

Question 24

Daly’s claim that ‘if God is male then the male is God’ and its implications for Christianity, including: Christianity’s ‘Unholy Trinity’ of rape, genocide and war- this flashcard: war

Answer 24

• Daly argues most Christian societies have failed to see the connection between rape and war or rape and genocide.
  –> people justify war- using language to hide its true horrors: ‘collateral damage’ to disguise innocent deaths
  –> idea that innocent lives can be ‘justified’ and thus not murder, is utterly repellent.
  –> Daly argues there is an issue as these same people who saw war is ‘just’, argue that abortion is ‘unjust’ (Catholics+other chr)
• Daly argues that justification of war is the product of “phallic mentality”
• war is often viewed as an opportunity to celebrate the ‘manly and adventurous virtues’. But war is becoming more and more disguised within the modern world- we have become numbed to horrors of war
  –> “The horrors of a phallocentric world have simultaneously become more visible and more invisible.”

Question 25

LINKING CHRISTIANITY TO Daly’s claim that ‘if God is male then the male is God’ and its implications for Christianity, including: Christianity’s ‘Unholy Trinity’ of rape, genocide and war- this flashcard: war

Answer 25

• Christianity lies behind the treatment of women as passive objects for the use of men.
• The Catholic Church, in its support of war, condones rape and genocide.
• Daly argues the justification of war, and, thus, the killing of innocent civilians, is morally reprehensible (disgraceful) in the light of the Church’s campaigns against forms of killing such as abortion and euthanasia, that are carried out in compassion and empathy.
• Many Catholic Christians might suggest that there is an appropriate female role model - Mary (mother of God, virgin), an aspirational figure for women, the perfect example of womanhood. And yet, Mary and all the ideas that surround her are tied up with patriarchalism.
  –> She passively accepts her pregnancy, inflicted upon her- ‘Total Rape Victim’
  –> For women to act as her, in the image of her as a virgin, is impossible. A woman’s role, says the Church, is to procreate, which obviously and unavoidably involves sexual intercourse. And thus, all women become Eve, slaves to their lustful desire for men.
• Daly argues women need to break away from the expectations that patriarchal society has laid upon them

Question 26

Daly and Sexual Freedom

Answer 26

• even now Daly feels women are not free to be defined by anything other than their sex.
• Daly is saying the church ‘likes’ Mary – in the same way slave owners ‘like’ their obedient slaves. Imagine if a slave owner said they really liked slaves – because they like a particular (very obedient) slave. Daly is saying JP2 only likes Mary because she submitted and accepted being the sexual property of a male God.
• until recently labels of homosexual and lesbian have been used as weapons- partners assume roles that are considered to be male or female because that is how society views relationships.
• to be liberated women need to reject all moral standards established and maintained by men
  –> “To be female is to be deviant…This is the equivalent to assuming the role of witch and mad woman.”

Question 27

Daly’s claim that ‘if God is male then the male is God’ and its implications for Christianity, including: spirituality experienced through nature- HOW

Answer 27

• a transvaluation (change of values) of all existing patriarchal values is necessary.
• This will involve a complete abandonment of ‘God’ and the associations that go with ‘God’.
• Daly replaces the idea of God with ‘Be-ing’ as spirituality is a continuous process
• refers to God as ‘the Verb’ – an idea of a spirituality that flows unceasingly and can be discovered (by women only). She uses the term ‘quintessence’ to mean the spirit that flows within the whole of nature, giving life and vitality to the whole universe.
• a covenant of sisterhood will enable: “our environment from a culture of rapism to a culture of reciprocity with the beauty of the earth, the other planets, the stars” … “One does not rape a sister”

Question 28

Daly’s claim that ‘if God is male then the male is God’ and its implications for Christianity, including: spirituality experienced through nature - WHY/THOUGHTS BEHIND

Answer 28

• Christianity can never overcome these obstacles. It must be abandoned and a new source of spirituality found.
• Those who have abandoned, or been abandoned by institutional religion retain a “fundamentally spiritual insight” and “It is one of the developing dimensions of sisterhood”
• The church buildings, dedicated to the maintenance of patriarchal hierarchy, are not places of spirituality. Spirituality is a moving, dynamic and continuous process that cannot operate in a closed-in space. Nature (the created universe) is its true place.
• Daly argues bc of the rape culture that is fundamentally part of men, they cant play a part in future spirituality that will take the place of the Church. The male already has his space, it is of dominion- Men have never had to confront ‘non-being’, as women have throughout history.

Question 29

+ve of Daly: recognises it is several things, not just the church?

Answer 29

• Daly recognises that the fundamental problem at the heart of Christianity continues to be reinforced by society. No amount of ‘feminising’ the faith will release it. It will remain bound by the gender stereotypes it recognises, promotes and maintains.

Question 30

+ve of Daly: 1: provides a good solution

Answer 30

• For many, a clean break from Christianity is the only solution. Any attempt to change it can only fail as it results in complicity with its beliefs, attitude and practices rooted in the patriarchy.
  -ALTHOUGH liberal christians assert that the Bible is not the perfect word of God and accept it’s written by humans and contains errors (would reject these sexist parts of the Bible, even the description of God as male in the Bible). Daly states reading the Bible can still subconsciously affect you and cause unconscious bias, even when reading it with a liberal attitude. NOTE: this is in direct contradiction to what Reuther argued.
  It is still a sexist document. The only solution is to just stop reading the Bible.
  –> supported by Hampson who agrees with Daly

Question 31

-ve of Daly: 1: equally exclusive and demonises men // too radical

Answer 31

• Her theology is equally exclusive - not only are men excluded but women who do not fit into her framework (white, lesbian). Other women from different ethnicities, classes and sexualities are alienated.
• Men are demonised and thus alienated, along with all the women who hold a different view of men that is not centred on ‘rape culture’.
• She is too radical. Most Christian women are not looking to renounce their belief in God but to find a way that allows them the same level of accessibility to salvation as men.
• Her ideas of spirituality are too obscure

Question 32

+ve of Daly: 2: strong biblical evidence

Answer 32

• Her exposing of the rape culture that exists in the Bible (and Christianity and society) has strong Biblical and other historical evidence.
• Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza agrees with Daly’s interp of Bible which supports women’s struggle against sexism bc some passages (in NT) show the clear challenge of patriarchal attitudes in society: haemorrhaging women+ woman(possibly prostitute) who anoints Jesus’ feet
• Daly was aware that she could be accused of using the Biblical texts selectively, but she argued that the Church has also used the Bible selectively and has used these ones to keep women in their place.

Question 33

-ve of Daly: 2: scriptural support to contradict Daly AND ignores Chr idea of fatherhood

Answer 33

• The Bible (particularly Jesus in the New Testament) undermines gender stereotypes and sees women as the representatives of the oppressed who will be redeemed, and thus supports women’s struggle.
• –> as women are the “oppressed of the oppressed” they will go first bc ‘the last will go first, and the first, last”
• Daly ignores the Christian idea of fatherhood, embracing the concept of both a universal heavenly relationship and creation. The ‘father’ image of a loving God is central and she does not give the fatherhood image the credit it deserves

Question 34

+ve of Daly: 3: provides a convincing argument that if “if God is male, then male is God”

Answer 34

1. Christianity uses male pronouns in reference to God, such as “Father”, males are seen as the greater gender.
2. Augustine claimed that “Eve and females” are not made in imago dei. Daly viewed this as further confirmation that due to sexism being so fundamentally injected into Christian thought, women will always be viewed as inferior to men who wrongly believe that it is only them that are made on imago dei.
   –> CA: Simon Chan unconvincingly argues against Daly, stating that 🙋‍♂️language in reference to God, such as “Father, son and Holy Spirit” is meant to be symbolic rather than a form of oppression.
3. support for Daly: Ephesians 5:21, “wives, be subject to your husband”, supports Daly’s view that because God is 🙋‍♂️, women and wives will always seen as subordinate to their husbands and men.
4. Dalys view that to reverse this would mean a transvaluation is supported by frederich nietzsche

Question 35

3-ve of Daly: her view on spirituality/ her view in general does not appreciate the depth+meaning of God

Answer 35

Daly only attacks God and its male language.
1. - Chan: her theology does not demonstrate a full appreciation of the depth of meaning of God as creator of all and heavenly father of all - Bible also expresses God as reflecting a non-stereotypical male image
–> “When Israel was a child I loved him…. I took them up in my arms

2. Jesus literally says “my kingdom is not of this world” which reinforces that God does not agree with these opreesive ideas, and will make sure women are saved and equal as he is the most just.
3. Chan: the use of the male language is a unique, identifying feature of Christianity that helps distinguish it from other religions, particularly older pagan, goddess worshipping cultures. To remove that male terminology would be wrong. The dynamic of the trinity is founded in the masculine identities.
   –> male lang doesnt = patriarchalism, as using female language does not relieve patriarchalism.

Question 36

similarities of R and D

Answer 36

• They both agree that merely changing the way God is addressed (using ‘she’) is totally inadequate and dies nothing to alter the patriarchal conception of the divine that exists in Christianity and culture.
• Both recognise and explain the link between feminism and ecology and only feminism is able to deal with the relationship between humanity and the environment, challenging the hierarchical dominance that patriarchalism has over nature.
• They both argue for a transformation of society and its relationship with nature and that this should be at the centre of feminist theology. It is a practical matter and women have a unique role in bringing this about

Question 37

diff between R+D

Answer 37

• Ruether maintains the existence of God and the relevance of the Christian understanding of the Holy Trinity and explains how it can be differently understood to be in line with feminism. Daly rejects the existence of God altogether and replaces God with a spirituality found through nature.
• Daly has a very separatist standpoint that calls for women to operate separately from men and only women are able to experience spirituality through nature. However, Ruether, although she agrees there is some merit and purpose in women operating separately from men, sees how male and female can exist together.
• Ruether accepts the idea of ‘neither male nor female’ in Christ and identifies the experience of both genders deeply embedded in the foundations of Christianity. Daly rejects this notion as she sees the patriarchalism of Christianity, its roots and society too entrenched for this to be possible.
• Ruether allows for the possibility that Christianity can be transformed (with particular reference to the Catholic Church) but Daly rejects Christianity utterly as too fundamentally sexist to ever be redeemed.

Question 38

weakness of both R and D

Answer 38

they both take this from the white middle class perspective- not v inclusive. also, some stereotypes, staying at home, looking after children- would be luxury for some women who have to balance both in more developing countries or different cultures to the western view.

Question 39

list of evals for Daly

Answer 39

1+ provides a good solution
1- equally exclusive and demonises men // too radical

2+ strong biblical evidence
2- scriptural support to contradict Daly AND ignores Chr idea of fatherhood

3+ provides a convincing argument that if “if God is male, then male is God”
3- her view on spirituality does not appreciate the depth+meaning of God

Question 40

Daly example of how the term ‘if God is male then the male is God’ has been used in Christianity

Answer 40

• Christianity has been behind the abuse of women for centuries. All its doctrines have been made by men, for the benefit of men, to ensure their continued power and authority.
• if God is considered a judge, and men are Gods ‘representatives on earth’ this has been a particularly damaging image for women as it has been used against them to prevent them from being liberated from orders such as ‘obey your husband’ and the Catholic insistence that birth control is wrong.