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Nature does establish limits which cannot be transgressed. The laws of Gaia are binding because they convey truths about global flourishing.
In reviewing how her mind has changed from a Barthian position in the 1950's through the feminist and liberation theology emphases to a more wholistic and cosmic focus, Sallie McFague has experienced a deconstruction of the central symbol of God as patriarchal, hierarchical and militaristic, and a reconstruction of God as creator and sustainer of everything in his universe.
Some of us evangelical feminists would argue that if one Creator is indeed responsible for all the tremendous variety of the creation, then radical monotheism of necessity must be pluralistic, receiving one God’s pluriform manifestations with gratitude and joy.
The author discusses her intellectual development in the following areas: (1) the relation of Christianity to other religions; (2) the relation of Roman Catholic Christianity to other Christian bodies; (3) the relation of American identity to anti-American criticism; and (4) the relation of feminism to male-dominated culture and institutions.
Feminine theology calls for an end to all authoritarian models of truth -- including the model of the ordained minister or priest, for "ordination" means accepting the authority of the traditional Christian framework and being licensed to carry on that tradition.
Why should half the population risk their lives while the other half supports them from the sidelines? Of course, a nuclear war would make this whole matter moot. Except for the childbearing function, there is no biological or psychological basis for distinguishing between the roles of men and women.
By facing feminismís challenge to tradition, the church stands to gain much more than it conceivably could lose. Feminism opens the door for the most serious and radical rethinking of the nature of religious experience that the West has known since the inception of Christianity.
The tension between black churchmen and the women’s movement, seems to represent the defensive perspective of the black, middle-class, patriarchal church. It concentrates on confronting the racism of its counterparts in the white church. But it has not yet opened itself up to the disturbing countertrends in the lower-class black community that not only conflict with bourgeois male and female stereotypes but also are alienated from middle-class values and the Christian identity as well.
How is it possible to alter the discourse centering on male theological authorities in such a fashion that women's intellectual participation in it can matter? Although patriarchy as a complete sociopolitical system has been modified in the course of history, the classical politics of patriarchal domination has decisively shaped -- and still does so today -- modern Euro-American forms of democracy.
Radical or countercultural feminist religion offers a rejection of biblical faith and the creation of a new faith to respond to a vision of the equality of men and women; Christianity could offer an even more comprehensive and profound vision.
In our contemporary context, church reform as understood in historic Lutheranism is less urgent than the reform of political, social, and economic systems of domination, which today is exacerbated greatly by the economic globalization.
By describing our gardens – our personal histories – we can begin to understand our differences.
We cannot understand the human/divine relationship until we understand and transform the human/nonhuman relationship. The ways of thinking that have led to a destruction of the earth and an exploitation of animals are often the very ways of thinking that have led to an exploitation of women. To overcome male-centeredness is also to overcome human-centeredness.
It must be clear that we are children of one mother, the earth, part of one interdependent community of life. On this basis we must oppose all social systems that create wealth and privilege for some by impoverishing, degrading or eliminating other people, whether they be the systems of domination that repress or assault women, or the systems that plan nuclear annihilation in a futile search for security based on competitive world power.
In various and sundry ways feminist hermeneutics is challenging interpretations old and new. In time, perhaps, it will yield a biblical theology of womanhood with roots in the goodness of creation female and male.
Dr. McDougall reviews suggests several books on feminist theology with emphasis on Serene Jonesís Feminist Theory and Christian Theology: Cartographies of Grace and Mary Greyís Sacred Longings: The Ecological Spirit and Global Culture.
Feminist theology’s call to other liberation theologies is for them to take seriously the oppression of all women -- especially the double oppression of poor, minority and Third World women. In Christ there is neither…male nor female….all persons are created in the image of God and therefore have a right to develop their full potentials of personhood.
The best way to create such a feminist spirituality is not by means of separatism and rejection, but by means of synthesis and transformation. We need to work through, with great breadth and depth, what our actual experience has been, both in the dominant culture shaped by males and in the suppressed experiences of women.
If one envisions the deity as female, it motivates one to find new ways to speak of God.
Pregnancy and birth can be a faithing experience, one that makes women aware of what they hold in common with the greater human family. Childbirth and pregnancy confront us with the Otherness we so easily explain away in other situations. It causes us to examine who we are as unique human individuals, and it shows us how we are like God.
The new role of women in today's society is one of the most important signs of the time. What is the significance of Jesus' action in choosing and commissioning only men as members of the Twelve, and then after Easter sending women as the first witnesses and messengers of his resurrection? The question cannot be decided on the basis of either historical exegesis or church tradition. We have to consider Jesus' true intention afresh.
The Books of Ruth and Esther testify that we are not trapped helplessly in a destructive global fate, for with bold faith, each of these women took events into her own hands to secure the future of the covenant.
Sarah Coakley offers a feminist corrective to feminism: power which can come from submission to God.
A review of a book about the mystery of human suffering, especially as it relates to Christ's suffering.
The movement to correct the injustices of sexism can reach deep enough to effect changes in racial and political areas of our common life. But it will do so only if the cultural transformation is genuinely profound -- that is, if structures of hierarchy and authoritarian leadership are transformed into structures of partnership and collegial agreement.
(ENTIRE BOOK) A selection of writings by a varied group of feminist scholars that reveals many of the central issues being addressed in feminist theology.
Bishop Spong recounts the "Mary story," and concludes that she was both de-sexed and de-humanized by a condescending and patriarchal hierarchy. The clear message was that both the body and the sexuality of a woman were evil. The ideal woman was not a flesh and blood woman, but sweet, passive, docile, compliant, obedient, virginal, and unreal, And the Christian Church today is still one of the most sexist institutions in Western civilization.
The author shows how the doctrine of the Trinity, understood as revealing community within Godself, is consistent with women's experience.
In India, as in other parts of the world, equality is not available to all. Its societies have built walls whose invisible bricks of discrimination grant privileges and power to some and poverty and injustice to others. In the canonical gospels, Jesus stood firm with the women to empower them.
Womanist theology, a vision in its infancy, is emerging among Afro-American Christian women. Ultimately many sources -- biblical, theological, ecclesiastical, social, anthropological, economic, and material from other religious traditions will inform the development of this theology. As a contribution to this process, the author demonstrates how the concept of womanist provides some significant clues for the work of womanist theologians.