Gender and Theology/Society Flashcards
Why do traditionalists oppose feminism?
Traditionalists see feminists as irrationally attempting to deny the reality of their own nature regarding what would make them happy.
Why do feminists oppose traditionalists?
Feminists see traditionalism as a man-made ideology which manipulates women into accepting the social role that it serves the interests of men for them to have.
How does Genesis support a traditional approach?
In Genesis, Adam is created first and Eve is created from a part of Adam. It also says Eve was created to be Adam’s ‘helper’.
How does Augustine interpret Genesis?
Augustine interprets this as meaning that a man by himself contains the imagio dei, but a woman does not. Only when combined with husband as his helper can a woman be in the image of God.
What does Genesis 3:16 explicitly say?
Eve’s was the first to fall into sin. Her punishment was pain in childbirth and that her husband will “rule over you”.
What interpretations does St Paul suggest from Genesis?
“I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one who was deceived, it was the woman … But women will be saved through childbearing”.
What does St Paul say wives should do within Ephesians 5:22-33
“Wives, submit to your own husbands as you do the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church … Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the world”
Why does Aquinas agree with the submission of women to their husbands?
Aquinas said that this submission of wives to husbands is actually for their “own benefit and good” and required for “good order” in the family, since men are wiser and more rational than women.
What is feminist Biblical criticism?
Feminist biblical criticism is the feminist approach to the Bible. It typically takes the liberal view of biblical inspiration.
What is the Bible patriarchy?
It is the idea that the Bible is man-made for the purpose of subjugating women. If a man tells a woman to submit to a certain gender role, that’s not persuasive, but if that man tells the woman that the creator of the universe wants her to, that is quite persuasive, especially if both the man and woman actually believe in that God.
What does Hume say which is suggestive when discussing Biblical patriarchy?
As Hume points out, reason is a slave of the passions. Men will therefore be subconsciously drawn to ideology that serves their interests. The view that men’s rightful place is being active in the world while women support them by being passive in the home, appeals to the self-interest of men. They therefore tend to support it, just as any group of humans would tend to support something which benefits them.
How would traditional Christians respond to Feminist criticisms?
Traditional Christians might respond that that the Bible is God’s inspired word. If God wants men and women to be different, then that’s what God wants.
What may some Christians compare feminists who reject the Bible to?
They might argue that women who reject these bible passages are essentially acting like Eve did when she disobeyed God. All humans are called to a high standard by God, but many prefer to disobey and disbelieve rather than submit to it.
What is the liberal approach to the Bible?
The liberal approach to the Bible views it as a product of the human mind, not the perfect word of God. It began during the enlightenment period where scientific, historical and literary critique began of the Bible.
What do liberals believe the Bible reflects?
The bible thus reflects the cultural and historical context of its human authors and requires interpretation and continual re-interpretation to ensure its relevance. It is not the perfect word of God. Liberal Christians will point out that Jesus himself seemed to be progressive . Christians should follow this example and continually update and improve Christian theology and ethics.
What is Ruether’s Feminist theology?
Ruether would respond that the Bible contains patriarchal verses, but also verses that are in favour of equality. The Bible is therefore inconsistent on this issue and cannot itself coherently support the traditional patriarchal view of gender roles.
What do post-Christian Feminist theologies argue?
Post-Christian feminist theologians would regard the patriarchy in the Bible as evidence that the Christian God doesn’t exist because it’s man-made, which you can tell by the fact that the Bible gives men what is in their view a superior position to women. God did not make man, men made God.
What does Pope John Paul II’s ‘Mulieris Dignitatum’ try to resolve?
In 1988 Pope John Paul II wrote an open letter called ‘Mulieris Dignitatum’ – on the dignity of women – to defend Christianity against the accusation of sexism.
What does John Paul II ‘Mulieris Dignitatum’ argue?
Men and women have different but complementary qualities and abilities due to the nature God designed them with. So, while men and women are different, they are both equally valuable. This is a defence of Gender Traditionalism and a divinely designed biological essentialism. This suggests that Christianity and the Church is not sexist and that a male savior can save women.
What does John Paul II argue a woman’s telos is?
John Paul II argued that women are ‘naturally disposed to motherhood’. Both physically in that they have a womb and also psychologically in that motherhood creates a ‘special openness’ in a mother to their child such that mothers develop their self-giving abilities and compassion. So, the fulfilment and purpose of the female personality, especially that of compassion, comes from virginity and motherhood.
How do feminists respond to John Paul II’s argument for a woman’s telos?
It is an attempt to embed gender roles in telos is no different to biblical patriarchy. Just as the sexist parts of the Bible were either consciously or unconsciously invented by men for the perpetuation of male dominance, so too is the idea that God designed the telos of males and females to have different goals/inclinations
What does anthropology suggest against the idea of a woman’s telos and natural law?
As evidence, feminists point to anthropological study of different human civilisations, where it is found that there is a large degree of variation regarding gender roles between different cultures. If we had a telos that gave us a natural inclination to behave along particular gender roles, we should not expect to find diversity.
What do feminists argue religious arguments are a cultural attempt to do?
The Christian attempt to insist that God created women with a telos for motherhood is just a cultural invention by men in order to encourage women to adopt the passive social role of childrearing in the home so men can be active in the world and thus perpetuate their overrepresentation in important roles of power in our society
How does John Paul II ‘Mulieris Dignitatum’ show there are women within Christianity who are valued?
John Paul II also pointed out that there are many female European saints and that Jesus coming to earth was only possible because of a woman, Mary, which he suggests shows the important place of women in Christian theology. The claim is that Christianity can’t be sexist since there are women it holds in high regard.
Why does Sartre argue against telos?
Being an existentialist, Sartre argued that there was no objective telos because “existence precedes essence” meaning humans exist before they have a defined purpose and so have to subjectively define their purpose for themselves. Sartre’s argument was a psychological one, that people cling to fabricated notions of objective purpose like telos because they are afraid of the intensity of the freedom involved in having to create their own purpose,
How does Beauvoir argue that Christianity does not value women like John Paul II claims?
Simone de Beauvoir argues that the Christian valuing of Mary shows that it is only through being a man’s “docile servant that she will be also a blessed saint” in Christianity.
How does Mary Daly present the Virgin Mary within Christianity?
Daly argues Mary is portrayed as a passive empty ‘void waiting to be made by the male’. She argues that Mary is a ‘rape victim’ because ‘physical rape is not necessary when the mind/will/spirit has already been invaded’. The idea that God raped Mary might seem like a startling claim, however consider that there was no consent asked for, and even if there was consent consider the power difference between God and Mary, which would make God difficult to refuse and devalue any given consent.
What does Simone De Beauvoir say?
Simone de Beauvoir is a radical feminist. She makes a Marxist style argument that religion is merely a tool of the male oppressor group which keeps women under control in their oppressed place with false promises that they will go to heaven if they obey and claiming that women are associated with sin and temptation for men due to the story of The Fall.
How does Simone De Beauvoir argue we can combat patriarchy?
She argued that to truly combat patriarchy requires people to “destroy the concept of motherhood”.
What does Friedrich Nietzsche say, relating to gender and theology?
“whenever a man has thought it necessary to create a memory of himself, his effort has been attended with torture, blood, sacrifice”
Why did Mary Daly believe the maleness of God should be removed?
‘God the Father’ is inadequate, and the maleness of God should be removed: God should be castrated. She argued that women needed to use language in a new language as the old language is androcentric.
What does Daly say Christianity sustains?
Christianity sustains and shapes moral and social standards of rape, genocide and war. The incarnation of Christ is the ‘symbolic legitimisation of the rape of all women and all matter’, therefore the underlying culture of rape, genocide and war is impregnated in Christianity.
What is Daly’s ‘quintessence’?
Quintessence is the highest essence, giving life and vitality to the whole universe. It can be partly damaged through violence, pornography and poverty, but can be rediscovered in nature.
Why does Simon Chan argue against Daly’s reinterpretation of religion?
Simon Chan argues that the Christian idea of fatherhood, as it is embodied in the Trinity, is unique. The relational concept of God is very different from a ‘God is male’ idea.
What does Apostles’ Creed claim about God in masculine terms?
‘I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the maker of heaven and Earth and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord’.
What does Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza argue?
The Bible supports women’s struggle against patriarchal biblical sexism because it contains examples that directly challenge patriarchal norms, such as the passages where Jesus breaks sexist customs.
How does Ruether challenge the male warrior-Messiah expectation?
Ruether argues that Jesus is not the traditional Messiah that was expected, instead promotes a divine redeemer who forgives sins. The future that Jesus brings is therefore not the military victory of which was expected by a Davidic Messiah.
What does Ruether argue about the Greek word for wisdom ‘Sophia’?
Ruether argues that early Christians refer to ‘Sophia’ as divine wisdom. In scripture, divine wisdom was referred to in female terms , God is associated with wisdom, and wisdom is female.
How has Christianity adopted divine wisdom?
Christianity has merged the notion of a divine wisdom, that unites the cosmos with the divine, into the notion of a messianic king whc brings a new age of redemption.
Why does Chan argue that using feminine language cannot remove patriarchal values from society?
Many Goddess worshipping cultures are patriarchal, rather than equal or matriarchal. Chan argues that using female language for God does not make a society less patriarchal, and using male language for God does not cause a society to become patriarchal.
How does Ruether differ from Daly?
Ruether argues that Christianity is not intrinsically patriarchal and can be changed.
What are Ruether’s alternatives to the male-centric view of Christianity?
The origins of of traditional Christianity where wisdom is female, and also the practices of some mystical traditions that have maintained conceptions of God as the female.
