gender and theology - mary Flashcards
two main examples of church being anti women in bible
fall, spare rib
two main points mary daly makes about roman catholic church oppressing women
- illusion of equality
- idolises theoretical women
what does mary daly compare to the kkk
a woman asking for equality in the church is comparable to a black man asking for equality inthe kkk
is church and the second sex reformist or post christian
r
‘phallocentric power celebration’
penis centred power encourages links to unholy trinity and male entitlement
unholy trinity
rape genocide and war naturally exist in a phallocentric power celebration
what is a quote about divinity being associated with maleness
‘if god is male then the male is god’
‘if god is male then the male is god’
- explain what daly means by this
divinity is associated with masculinity/men so suggests men are superior to women
- encourage patriarchy.
quote about women not being able to have authority over men
“I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.”
why do liberal christians not care about the sexist parts of bible - how can this be evaluated
accept that it is not word of god and so must contain errors
- but it is still a sexist document so why read and worship it? can also affect ppl subconsciously
daly on jesus being a feminist
it doesnt matter whether he was or is
- even if he is a feminist his maleness is what will perpetuate, rather than counter, this patriarchal view
why does ruether see jesus as having female traits
- was not traditional idea of messiah who was a warlord
- embodied wisdom and self-sacrifice (traditionally female attributes)
so is gender inclusive
why is jesus, regardless of being feminist, seen as upholding patriarchy
- jesus died for everyones sins - the idea comes from women needing a saviour
- jesus is a man - male spiritual leader of religion is simply too patriarchal
what is the main thing ruether looks at in the bible (and if it doesnt follow this it has less authoirty)
golden thread of bible is liberation
what did ruether call the passages where jesus helped women
she called these passages the prophetic liberating tradition/theme in the bible
how does ruether explain the sexist passages in the bible and how must we fix this
as being influenced by patriarchal culture
- we need to get rid of them and reform it
hermeneutical aim def
- the way a scripture is interpeted academically
ruethers hermeneutical aim
read the bible with a feminist agenda and to question how texts have been trad used by patriarchy
- she sees the bible as the word of humans not god
- understand the context of it being written by and for men
do catholic church think jesus intended for women to lead
no
inter insigniores - jesus had male disciples and actively chose them to lead instead
Fiorenze on womens place in bible
it has a mixture of timeless truth and also reflections of the culture it was written in
- jesus let mary M sit at his feet which is where disciples sat
- but also says 3 womems testimonys is equal to a mans
Ricci on why women are allowed to lead
women are disciples in the bible too
- they are key witnesses (ressurection), and break social norms
- mary annoints jesus with her hair for burial - jesus criticises disciples for only focusing on her modesty
why is mary m annointing jesus so crazy
- she annointed him for burial before it was ever revealed
- even her being in that room breaks social norms so jesus must have thought highly of her
- sitting at his feet is a symbol of importance
how does ruether justify women leading in church services
- she examines early church and found egalitarian sects such as montanism
‘your sons and daughters shall prophecy’
How does Chan criticise ruether
selects and cherrypicks texts to suit her agenda.
hypocritical for accusing church of doing that too
- look at mainstream church not cultic secys that popped up as dogma was being developed
‘ruether selects and cherrypicks texts to suit her agenda.
hypocritical for accusing church of doing that too
- look at mainstream church not cultic secys that popped up as dogma was being developed’ who says this
Chan
what does the church thin about jesus’ maleness
that is was purposeful
- inter insigniorius say priests have to act in persona christ which means they have to play that role of a man
- jesus also acts as second adam
Ricci on Jesus’ maleness
- essential
- as a radical feminst he had to be male so men would respect him and follow his way
- he couldn’t breakdown patriarchal values as a woman
Chan on jesus’ maleness (4)
- in ancient times christianity was unique in calling god father
- god is described with both male and female characteristics but shouldn’t downplay maleness
- ruether is trying to rewrite christianity
- there was patriarchy even with female godesses
who says that there was patriarchy even with female godesses
chan
what does ruther think about the maleness of christ
four
it is accidental and not essential
- his maleness has been used to reinforce views that men are closer to god (aquinas)
- maleness of gods form is nit consistent with golden thread of liberation
- gender is physical and god is not - anthropomorphising
how does ruether say god as a reconstruction theologist
God/ess
what does daly call god - why
Being
- as a verb not noun
significance of origional term for wisdom and what it was replaced by
sophia - female term in old testament
got replaced by logos - for the word which is masculine
what female way was god depicted in
- a mother going through pains of childbirth ‘ i will cry out like a woman in labour’
what does daly mean by biophillia
women must seek connections and liberation through nature so that they can come closer to being
- only women
why does daly say spirituality is not open to men
their evil and defective natures
what does daly mean by transvaluation
needs to be a complete re-evaluation of all existing values - inspired by Nietzsche
- this new era is only possible with overturn of existing culture
- christianity is inherently sexist so cannot be reinterpreted
how does christianity present an illusion of equality according to daly
by idolising theoretical women such as virgin mary
what does mary daly mean by castrate god
de masculinise him and see god as be-ing
why does daly think god cannot be a noun
encourages human attriubutes
and as a verb it can now focus on what we do not what we believe in
what does daly say about women and seeing themselves as victims
- women have some responsibility for it
- they need to abolish feeling ‘other’
- salvation is achieved when they recognise they arent other
daly says women need to reject idea of being a ‘good woman’ and be
hags and crones
why does daly say there is patriarchy in all cultures
men have natural inclination to oppress
what is suttee
old indian practice where widows would light themselves on fire at their husbands funeral pyre to show devotion and loyalty
