Topic 10 - Gender + Theology Flashcards
what is the feminist issue with slaves?
creates a master-slave relationship, reinforcing the patriarchal mindset of a male (master) female (slave) hierarchy
who was rosemary radford reuther?
1936 - present
american
roman catholic
what does rosemary r reuther mean by the idea of a goddess?
roots of judaism from which christianity developed were not strictly monotheistic and god was far less male orientated
e.g. passage from prophest isiah god is depicted as the mother goddess
what does rosemary r reuther mean by god as the female wisdom principle?
believe another strand of monotheism where the femaleness of god is retained is wisdom
hebrew word for wisdom is hokham and greek its sophia - both feminine words
what does rosemary r reuther mean by new anti patriarchal communities?
her argument is that jesus’ relationship to god was based on trust as he called god “abba” which means daddy. Thus, she thinks christianity should be based on respect rather than commander roles
Reuther said the basic christian command should be ‘obey god, not men’
what does rosemary r reuther mean by the apophatic path and inclusive language?
one claim made against feminist theology is that it is sexist just reversed
Reuther insists god based language needs to be based on the ‘apophatic assumption’ that god is beyond language and gender and so in the words of reuther “image of god must be transformative”
how does reuther argue a male saviour cannot save women?
first, jesus is not only historically male but as the word of god he is the perfect example of what it means to be human and therefore god, in the eyes of reuther the church is therefore suggesting having a male mindset is necessary
thus, its sexist and cannot save women
how does reuther argue a male saviour can save women?
traditional christianity needs to first be discovered
first, reuther said the idea of jesus’ role as a messiah and teaching on the kingdom of god was not about having worldly power but gaining justice for the materialised
second, reuther suggests the holy spirit continues the work continued by jesus in his life by challenging intuitiions with too much power
e.g. story of pentecost described after jesus’ ascension the holy spirit was poured on to both men and women as a new period of history
what did rosemary r reuther mean by christ as a liberator?
in conclusion, rather says that the maleness of jesus is not relevent but what is that jesus stood up for the marginalised of his era and is representative of what should occur today.
“jesus as liberator calls for a dissolution of the web of stats relationships by which societies have defined privilege”
who was mary daly?
originally a roman catholic theologian but later abandoned christianity
1928-2010
“the church and second sex” (1968) built on the work of simone de beauvoir
what does daly mean by transvaluation?
links to nietzsche’s concern that to deliver humans from their self-imposed cultural imprisonment requires transvaluation (a complete re-evaluation of existing values)
both nietzsche and daly envisage the new era without god and religion
what aspects of nietzsche on transvaluation does daly use? TWO ASPECTS OF HUMAN NATURE
two conflicting sides are the apollonian or passive self and the dionysian or the energetic and creative self, daly thinks only women can be dionysian
what aspects of nietzsche on transvaluation does daly use? THE APOLLONIAN VEIL
created when humans falsely create ideas that they then believe are true which alienate them from their natural selves
what aspects of nietzsche on transvaluation does daly use? BECOMING AND BE-ING
being human is a creative and on going process, there is no perfect end point. Daly argues that only women understand the process of “be-ing”, this process of living replaces any idea of an objective god in daly’s philosophy
what does daly mean by beyond god the father?
disagree’s with nietzsche on his transvaluation of god as he merely substtitued god the father with man the god
daly used this as evidence for apollonian veil that such a great theologian as nietszche could be blindly patriarchal
instead, daly wants god abolished as he castrates women
“if god is male then the male is god. The divine patriarch castrates women as long as he is allowed to live on in the human imagination”
what does daly mean by new language and “be-ing”?
process of transvaluation required transformation of old language
daly categories the “archaic world” (the current sexist one) in two forms -
FOREGROUND = the world dominated by apollonian values BACKGROUND = women being used to living in the background shadows of men
what does daly consider the primary cause of abuse of women ?
christianity, she sees jesus crucifixion as an example of men enjoying pain and suffering