Gender and Theology Flashcards
What is patriarchy?
Patriarchy refers to a system of male-cantered rule, describing societies and cultures where men and male values are given priority.
How might the Bible be seen as a cause of female oppression?
If taken as a whole, the Bible regards women as the weaker sex and the cause of social problems, reinforcing patriarchy.
How might belief in God be seen as a cause of female oppression?
Some argue that belief in a transcendent creator creates a master - slave relationship, which in turn reinforces the patriarchal master/male - slave/female relationship. The role of the institutionalised Church is to reinforce this relationship.
What is The Handmaid’s Tale and how does it relate to real life?
The Handmaid’s Tale is a novel by Margaret Atwood that tells the story of a patriarchal society reinforced by state religion. It serves as a warning for what happens when a fundamentalist religious ideology is allowed to remain unchecked.
How does the post-Christian feminist Mary Daly summarise the view of many feminists?
Mary Daly states that ‘It might be interesting to speculate upon the probable length of a depatriarchalised Bible. Perhaps there would be enough salvageable material to comprise an interesting pamphlet’.
Who is Rosemary Radford Reuther?
Rosemary Radford Reuther is a Roman Catholic feminist liberation theologian. Her argument was that feminism provides the necessary means for reinvigorating Christian spirituality.
What does Rosemary Radford Reuther consider to be the flaws with strict monotheism?
Reuther believes that polytheistic religions are less sexist and patriarchial than monotheistic religions, as monotheism reinforces a patriarchial hierarchy in which a single (male) God exerts authority over nature and the world, which in turn justifies male superiority over women.
What was Reuthers’ argument for the Goddess?
Reuther argued that Judaism, which Christianity developed from, was not strictly monotheistic, and God was less male oriented.
An example of this is Isaiah 42:14 where God is depicted as the mother Goddess going through the pain of childbirth:
‘I have kept still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labour’.
How does wisdom retain the femaleness of God?
In the ancient world, wisdom was universally understood to be the divine source of knowledge and life, which was presented in female terms; hokhmah in Hebrew and sophia in Greek.
What is the Wisdom of Solomon and how does it describe God’s wisdom?
The Wisdom of Solomon is a book in the Greek version of the Old Testament.
This book develops wisdom with an importance, including as the bride of King Solomon.
‘For wisdom is more mobile than any motion, she pervades and penetrates all things’.
What does Reuther argue about Christianity preserving the feminine aspect of God in the incarnation?
Incarnation refers to God as logos taking on human form as Jesus. Reuther argues that early Christians saw a connection between sophia (wisdom) and Jesus Christ. Examples of this can be found in the Bible, where Christ is presented as ‘the wisdom of God’ and ‘eternal wisdom’.
What does Reuther argue about Christianity preserving the feminine aspect of God in the trinity?
Reuther argues that within the trinity, the Son is wisdom/logos (male) and the Holy Spirit is wisdom/sophia (female), therefore, the Trinitiy is a relational and gender-inclusive spiritual experience.
