gender & theology

Reuther & Daly

male saviour & female God

Rosemary Radford Reuther

Mary Daly

feminist thinker and Catholic theologian. wrote a very influential book in 1983 called Sexism and God-talk

God as the female wisdom principle

challenge to the expectation

male warrior messiah expectation

Reuther's conclusions

`Jesus' maleness

she argues that there are more female interpretations of JC which have been ignored or marginalised by the Church

in book, she challenges the idea that the maleness of JC is basic to how we should understand him. she argues that his meleaness is not the most important factor in how he is viewed

JC's life and preaching focussed on the oppressed and marginalised and he is presented as being on the side of women on multiple occasions eg bleeding women or woman caught in act of adultery. this was not the norm and extremely liberal in such an Orthodox society

when JC was alive, many people were expecting a military style leader that could save them from Roman rule and oppression. JC was certainly not the type of Messiah that was expected

his desire to help the oppressed seems far away from the stereotypical male image of the powerful warrior

JC often with the poor and the downtrodden rather than with the rich and successful

when this happens, the wisdom of God is described and treated as a female - Greek word for wisdom is Sophia, a feminine word

in other words, instead of male language to talk about God, we find female language. God is 'feminised' rather than being seen as a man

God is wise. in the OT, God's wisdom is often personified

esp clear in Poverbs; 'Does not wisdom call put? / Does not understanding raise her voice? / At the highest point along the way, / where the paths meet, she takes her stand; / beside the gate leading into the city, / at the entrance, she cries aloud: / "To you, O people, I call out; / I raise my voice to all mankind."'

God can be seen as female as male

femininity, Reuther argues, has as much right to be seen as an aspect of God's identity as maleness. JC is said to be the incarnation of God and if God can be seen to be female or have female aspects, then surely JC must also

male image of God (as father, as King, as Warrior etc) should not be seen as defining who God is

radical American feminist theologian

can the Christian God be seen in Female Terms?

could a male saviour help women

beliefs about genocide, war and spirituality

beliefs about God and Rape

Daly: male-dominated language

Reuther's view

identify systematic acts of rape

beliefs about God

link: rape and war

the 'unholy trinity'

identified systematic acts of violence towards women: rape genital mutiliation, foot binding, widow burning and hysterectomy

Daly did not view rape only in theoretical terms

Daly believed Christianity had failed and God should be castrated because Christianity has reinforced rather than opposed male superiority, as can be seen in many Bible passages

suggested that the 'unholy trinity' of rape, genocide and war naturally exist in a world in which 'phallocentric power' is celebrated

argued that the idea of a patriacrchal, fatherly God is the foundation of a sexist culture of unfair criticism and violence towards towards women and an unholy trinity of rape, genocide and war

pointed to the link between rape and war in the Bible, where Moses is enraged after a campaign against Midian because the commanders had spared the lives of all women: 'Now kill all the boys. And every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man'

Daly argued there is a connection between the mentality od rape and phenomenon of war

female need for liberation

overturning maleness of God

beliefs about war

return to pagan nature religions

beliefs about genocide

D believes that the current hierarchal structures place men over women in the same way that genocide sets one group over another

genocide is the killing of a large group of people eg during holocaust, millions of Jews were executed. in rwanada, there was a mass genocide in the 90s

the horrors of war are associated with manly and adventurous virtues - men doing courageous and powerful acts of violence to defeat the enemy

lang of violence I hidden by technical language: phrases like 'collateral damage' used to cover up the fact that the lives of innocent people are expendable

D argues that war is an inevitable result of the male-dominated politics of the 19th and 20th centuries

war is defended by what D calls a 'phallic morality' and a 'phallic mentality' she argues that women need to seek liberation from this moral hypocrisy

traditional holy places were built were built and managed by men. for this reason, they should not be used anymore

believes that maleness of God needs to be overturned

these kinds of religions (which Christianity replaced in many cultures) had female deities as their centre

D wants a return to these ancient Goddess/Mother Nature religions since she believes that its not enough for men and women to be equal. m must learn to be silent and listen to w

D recommends a return to ancient pagan nature religions which centred on the female and and Mother Nature as the essence of true spirituality

Daly advocates a women-centred approach to society, but Reuther does not believe that is right to sideline men

Reuther on presentation of JC

Daly vs Ruether on sexism

Daly on male-dominated society

core of sexism

thinks that a male-dominated society promoted what she calls a phallic (penis-centered) morality, where values such as competition, rivalry, aggression, sexual virility, and ruthlessness are celebrated amongst men

D argues that this male-dominated imagery is clear in the OT

think that male-dominated Christian imagery has violent results. she thinks it is responsible for what she calls the 'unholy trinity' of rape, genocide and war

R argues that JC is presented in the Bible as being on the side of the marginalised and oppressed. JC is often with the poor and the downtrodden rather than with the rich and successful

this emphasis on the less fortunate and the oppressed seems far away from the stereotypical male image of the powerful warrior

D argues that much of a Christianity is deeply and inherently sexist. she argues that Christian images and language about God are male-dominated and serve the interests of patriarchy

Reuther argues that there are female directions in the interior

according to R, change must come from within

D accuses Christianity of being fundamentally sexist, meaning it needs to be abandoned

for

against

patriarchal roots

maleness of God

biblical examples

Galations

therefore, women will always be seen as second-class citizens and unable to be saved to the same extent as men

the foundations of Christianity were developed in a patriarchal society (the Roman Empire). so its rooted will forever be male-dominated

R argues that JC/Christianity cannot save women because JC is historically male, as is the Word/Logos of God, and JC is deemed the perfect example of what it means to be human

if JC is the perfect human and is male, then its implied that men are superior and only can be saved

salvation seems available to irrespective of their sex

St P's letter to them expresses importance of all being accepted in Church: 'there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus'

an important event in the Church's calendar is Pentecost. as described in the Bible, both men and women were present when the Holy Spirit visited JC's disciples and gave them the power to speak in tongues and evangelise

numerous biblical examples of JC engaging with women. at the resurrection, arguably the most important event in the Christian story, JC first appeared to 2 women

Daly's view

catholic view

C Church talks about how God is genderless because God is presented in both male and female ways

she refers to Proverbs 8 and the lang that refers to God as wisdom, which is personified as female

R argues that the image of God is far more feminine than many people actually knowledge

when we talk about God, we also use male imagery: He is the King. he is the Lord. he is traditionally seen as 'Our Father in Heaven'

biblical and popular image of God as a great patriarch in heaven has dominated the imagination of millions over thousands of years

we habitually use male pronouns: 'He' 'Him' and 'His'

surely, says Daly, this is the very epitome of sexist ideology. It is not enough then to just reform the Church - women must stand against the Church and form an 'Anti church' which is also 'Anti-christ'

D argues that Christianity is inherently male-dominated for many reasons. some of these are:

the main idea in christianity is of God becoming Man. christianity insists that God was incarnated into a male body

in christianity, women are blamed for the fall

rape = oppression of women, via violence, pornography

genocide = results from rape culture (one group -men- dominate another)

war = symbols of male values, the church advocates for 'Just War' yet won't allows abortion/euthansia