Unit 1: What is feminist theology

In her book Sexism and God Talk Rosemary Radford Reuther states that "The critical principle of feminist theology is the promotion of the full humanity of women. Whatever  denies, diminishes, or distorts the full humanity of woman is, therefore,  appraised as not redemptive. Theologically speaking, whatever diminishes or  denies the full humanity of women must be presumed not to reflect the divine or  an authentic relation to the divine, or to reflect the authentic nature of  things, or to be the message or work of an authentic redeemer or a community of redemption." pages 18-19. 

Our General Chapter asked that renewal of our own  commitment to renewal be undertaken in the light of the new dimensions of theology and spirituality that have arisen from studies in feminist theology.  The objectives of the course are to introduce you to an overview of feminist  theologies, and to enable you to share responses to the issues raised  for the  ongoing integration of our lives as religious women. The following readings introduce you to the history of feminist theology and feminism.

As you read them you may like to consider the  following questions for community/individual reflection:

		What were the major motivations giving rise to feminist consciousness and its critique of "traditional values"? Would you want to include other factors which are not mentioned?
		If you have/are interested in feminist theology  and action in the church, what kind of help and what kind of resistance have you  encountered?
		In your own experience, what are the sexual  stereotypes that exist in theology and liturgy     Click on a link below to read document.

Suggested Readings:

Loades, Ann, ed. Feminist Theology: A Reader. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1990.

Ruether, Rosemary Radford. Sexism and God-Talk: Toward a Feminist Theology. Boston: Beacon Press, 1983.

Unit 2:  Feminism and Christology 

The issue between women  and the church is nowhere more sharply focused than in Christology. It may be possible to think of God as essentially beyond gender specifications. It may be possible to conceive of a theological anthropology that genuinely affirms women  as made in the image of God. It may even be possible to imagine a community of religious faith in which women share equally in leadership, authority and sacramental power with men. But struggle occurs once the central affirmation of Christianity is framed - namely that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ of God.  Though all else about him may be in dispute, this is agreed by everybody: Jesus was a male. Post Christian feminists would argue, as Naomi Goldenberg has done  (Changing of the Gods: Feminism and the end of traditional religions,  Beacon Press, Boston, 1979 p. 22), that "Jesus Christ cannot symbolize the  liberation of women". Somewhat ironically, the stance of such post-Christian feminists shares some fundamental propositions with the most conservative of  masculine Christians. For them, the maleness of Christ is neither incidental nor accidental, but an order of creation.

However, all liberation theologies are agreed on this: "To know God is to do justice". Feminist theology, as a theology of liberation, impels many to turn to the historical Jesus as the touchstone of  their Christology. They try to demonstrate that for all the patriarchal  interpretation of Christ in the tradition of the Church, Jesus of Nazareth, in  his concrete historical evidence was, as Anne Carr has pointed out "amazingly free from the restrictions of the patriarchal culture in which he lived". Such historical work is part of the "recovery of the lost history of women in the Christian tradition". It does not solve all the Christological problems, but it  is an important - indeed necessary - start.

From the seminal work done by Elizabeth Schussler  Fiorenza, women have learnt to approach the scripture with "a hermeneutic of suspicion"; they are learning to read the scripture with a critical socio-historical-political and theological eye. This does not seek to  distort the message of scripture, but to render it more available. Fiorenza, Trible, Carr, among others, by their patient, historically critical and  systematically detailed study of the origins of the Christian faith and its Jewish context, reveal the anti-patriarchal forces in the stories of both women and men, especially those who came into the orbit of Jesus of Nazareth. They do  not seek to destroy the tradition. Far from it, for their work seeks to  transform the religious tradition away from sexist injustice by critical  confrontation with elements that are already in the heart of the tradition, but which have been blunted or disguised by the androcentric culture and history  from which it emerged. Scripture does reflect the times of its writing. It could not be otherwise, but Scripture also enshrines - as great prophetic traditions do - a powerful and mysterious "word of God" which continues to critically  confront the context with a judgment and an invitation to  transformation.

The feminist literature on this subject is vast. What is offered to you here is some few articles from a variety of perspectives,  which will hopefully add to what you already know of the search - both experiential and intellectual - of the historical Jesus and what he reveals to women and about women in God.

As you read the articles, you may like to consider the following questions:

		What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the word "Father" for God?
		What examples do the readings give of Jesus  attitude to and treatment of women as recorded in the Gospels?
		What is your experience of Jesus?
		Women seem to have been the first and most faithful witnesses of Christ's death and resurrection. In the churches today,  women make up well over half the worshipping congregations of Christians. Why is  this so? What theological interpretation would you give of it?
		Are there tensions between faith and feminism?

Suggested Readings:

		FIORENZA, Elisabeth Schussler, In Memory of Her: A  Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins (New York:  Crossroad, 1983). Excellent.
		JOHNSON, Elizabeth She who is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological  Discourse(New York: Crossroad, 1992
		WEEMS, Renita J. Just a Sister Away: A Womanist Vision of Women's Relationships in the Bible (San Diego: LuraMedia, 1988). African-American women's spirituality in the style of midrash, fruitful for  all.
		TRIBLE Phyllis  Texts of Terror: literary-feminist readings of Biblical narratives. Philadelphia, Pa. : Fortress, 1984. - 128p.  - (Overtures to Biblical theology, 13).
		MURPHY  Cullen The Word According to Eve: Women and the Bible in Ancient Times and Our Own, Houghton Mifflin Co. 1998
		SOUGA Therese and TAPPA Louise "The Christ-Event from the  Viewpoint of African Women," in With Passion and Compassion, ed. Virginia Fabella and Mercy Amba Oduyoye (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1988

Unit 3: Anthropology

One of the major issues facing feminist theologians within the Catholic tradition rest within a "new  anthropology" which reflects the reality that woman and man are both made in the  image and likeness of God. When Pope John Paul II published Mulieres Dignitatem, there was a hope that the crisis in imagery which pervades the church would somehow be overcome. This was not to be the case. The anthropology put forward in this statement on the dignity of women did not address the issues feminists had been raising.

Feminist theologians have been exploring the dimensions of a new Christian anthropology which would The following readings explore some of the dimensions of the discussion. 

In reading the articles you may like to consider the following: 

		What is your understanding of women  as made in the image of God?Â
		How would your life have been shaped differently if women had been celebrated as created in God's own image?
		How does a Trinitarian anthropological model assist in defining women's identity in God?
		How does Mulieres Dignitatem convey a "new anthropology"? What is the meaning of the term "complimentarity"  in terms of the relationships between men and women in the church? Do you agree with it? Why? Why not?
		How does a theological anthropology that present women as "the second sex" devalue women, women's experience and their  relationship to God and humanity?

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