Gender and Theology

Question 1

What is the views of Mary Daly on men/women, approach to Christianity and God?

Answer 1

men/women- Supports a women-centred approach to society. Women need to be in control of the change as they have more spirituality than men

Approach to Christianity- accuses Christianity of being fundamentally sexist and beyond reform and must be abandoned entirely, is not an atheist, wants to move away from this entirely towards Be-ing
God- God can never be understood with gender-language

Question 2

What are the view of Rosemary Radford Ruether in relation to men/women, approach to Christianity and God?

Answer 2

men/women- doesnt believe it is right to side-line men, both men and women can make positive changes
approach to Christianity- works to encourage the church to develop and reform, arguing that change can come from within

God- God can be understood as both male and female

Question 3

What type of Feminists are Mary Daly and Rosemary Radford Ruether?

Answer 3

Daly- Radical Feminist Theologian
Ruether- Reform Feminist Theologian

Question 4

What views do Daly and Ruether share?

Answer 4

That tradditional Christianity is a source of sexism, but there is a spirituality that Feminism draws attention to

Ecology- both thinkers believe that only women can save teh enviroment and that a side affect of teh Patriarchy is the false assumption that men have power and domination over nature

Praxis- both argue that the purpose of Feminist theology should be to transform society and its relationship with nature

Question 5

What is the unholy trinity?

Answer 5

three male symbols of power which Christianity has promoted, Rape, Genocide and war

Question 6

What are the two main Mary Daly quotes?

Answer 6

“if God is male then the male is God”
“The liberation of language is rootd in the liberation of ourselves”

Question 7

What examples of theologians does Daly use to support her argument that Christianity is Sexist?

Answer 7

Tertullian- argued that woman are “the devils gateway”, who are responsible for the fall and the reason that God needed to send Jesus to die to save everyone

Augustine- suggested women were not made in the image of God

Aquinas- suggested women were misbegotten males

Question 8

What modern Theologians can be used to supports Dalys view of Christianity as sexist?

Answer 8

Bonhoeffer- believed woemn should be subject to their husbands

Barth- claimed women are subordinate to men

Pope Pius XII- said the vocation of women is to become a mother

Question 9

What does Daly use Transvaluation and the Castration of God for?

Answer 9

Transvaluation- borrowed from Nietzsche, to refer to a complete re-evaluation of all existing values, which Daly uses to refer to the need for a re-evaluation for all “phallic values”

Castration of God- argues transvaluation of phallic values begins with a complete “castration of God”, as Daly , means to abolish teh word “God” and all associated ideas as even a female God would be male in essence, so Daly wants a rediscovery of pagan nature religions

Question 10

Why does Daly want to reclaim Archaic Language?

Answer 10

Daly wanted to use archaic words to uncover the hidden relationship with nature. Daly argued that women need to use new language as old language is androcentric (man-centred), as she believed women needed a new spirituality, that could be found through re-claiming archaic language

Question 11

What is Dalys views on mother nature religions and be-ing?

Answer 11

Daly argues that the only way that women could be truly liberated from the oppression of patriarchy was to abandon Christianity entirely in favour of Goddess/mother nature religions, she argued that Christianity simply “ripped off, reversed, reduced” this

Be-ing- Daly believed taht teh goal of life is to become your authenitc self not to connect with “God”, as Be-ing is used to refer to a spiritual process of the continual discovery of the richness of nature

Question 12

What does Daly use the term “quintessence” for?

Answer 12

Quintessence, originates from ancient and medieval philosophy, which was to mean another element, higher than water, earth, air, fire, whcih was meant to be PURE

Daly uses it as a metaphor for the process of women connecting with their true selves

Question 13

What is Dalys stance on gender equality?

Answer 13

Dalys goal was not the equality of men and women, believed that women are superior as only women can fully access spirituality in nature, men are corrupted and drawn towards power, there must learn to be silent and listen to women as Dalys argues only true friendship can only be lesbian

Question 14

What link does Daly create between men and rape?

Answer 14

all men are rapists, whetehr in a literal or metphorical sense
Men commit “armchair rape” when they enjoy pornography
Patriarchy and by extension Christianity is harmful to women as rape is assumed as “normal” in Biblical writings

Question 15

What Biblical examples does Daly use to support the normalisation of rape within Christianity?

Answer 15

Genersis 19- Lot offering his two virgin daughters and tells the group of men that they can “do what you like with them”

Judges 19- “Wicked men”, arrived at a house, demanding to abuse a guest, the host offers concubine, that he visitors then rape to death through the night

Question 16

What is Dalys view on teh Virgin Mary?

Answer 16

Daly claims that Mary is the “Total Rape Victim”, a passive “hollow eggshell”, who had been forcefully impregnated by God to bear teh son of God

Question 17

What is Dalys view of Genocide in the Unholy Trinity?

Answer 17

Dalys believes that Genocide comes from a group of people (men), feeling power over others, it is teh deliberate killing of a large group of people, that is the result of a worldwide “sexual caste system”

Question 18

What is Dalys understanding of War within teh Unholy Trinity?

Answer 18

According to Daly, war is a symbol of male dominance, as it is a violent act, that comes from a “phallic morality” and a “phallic mentality”, as the Bible normalises war and the Church is inconsistent and hypocritical as it accepts war as just, yet condems other compassionate killings such as “euthanasia” and “abortion”

Question 19

What is an aspect of the Christian idea of fatherhood that Simon Chan challenges?

Answer 19

The idea that God is a heavenly father for all, that the Christian God is in a relationship with all human beings and the concept of universal fatherhood expresses that relationship

Question 20

How does Isaiah 54:5-7 support the view that using male language for God does not create masculine qualities for God?

Answer 20

The description of God as the husband who acts with “deep compassion”, can be used dissuade masculine qualities for God as a baseline, as compassion is not a quality typically associated with men

Question 21

What does Ruether mean when she says that Jesus is not “essentially male”?

Answer 21

The fact that Jesus was biologically a man is insignificant as he did not need to be a male to be the Messiah as he was only born male, to be taken seriously to the culture he was born in”

Question 22

What are two key Ruether quotes?

Answer 22

Theologically speaking, then, we might say that teh Maleness of Jesus has no ultimate Significance”

” We do not have thousands of years to unlearn the wrong patterns that were established over thousands of years”

Question 23

What is the link that Ruether notes between wisdom within Christianity and Feminism?

Answer 23

Ruether notes that early Christians refer to Gods wisdom with the terms “hokmah or teh green term “sophia”, which are both feminine terms as in Proverbs 8 God is portrayed as female “ wisdom is more precious than rubies and nothing you desire can compare to her”

Question 24

What is teh Feminist aspect within the Holy trinity?

Answer 24

teh aspect of God to do with relationships is the Holy spirit, which is depicted in Sophia/wisdom terms or is given female qualities

Question 25

What is the difference between the words “logos” and Sophia”?

Answer 25

Sophia- Feminine Greek word for Wisdom, Holy Spirit is presented in wisdom/ sophia terms

Logos- Masculine Greek equivalent of Sophia
God the Father and God the Son are presented in wisdom/logos terms

Question 26

What is Ruethers claim of the Trinity being a gender inclusive, spiritual experience?

Answer 26

The female wisdom principle of early Christianity, has been lost due to the male-focused view of the incarnation

As she argues that Jesus was as much an incarnation of the feminine wisdom principle as anything else, as according to Ruether his”maleness” was not essential

Question 27

What is the difference between the Warrior Messiah and the challenges Jesus brought to it?

Answer 27

The jews expected a warrior messiah, to liberate them from the romans and as a Davidic Messiah, as it was believed taht the Messiah would come from the Line of David

Jesus, was not a military man and spoke of the kingdom of God as a place of harmony, not one of power

He addressed God as “abba” meaning Daddy, which is a familiar relationship

Question 28

Where can Egalitarianism be found in the early church?

Answer 28

The relationship between Jesus and God was based on trust and respect.

He called God Abba, which is the Hebrew for Father or Daddy, instead of Sir or Lord, which should be used by Christians to model their relationship with God

Question 29

What are three criticisms that can be levelled at Reuther’s theology?

Answer 29

Church traddition- many consider taht despite Ruether being a Catholic, she goes too far as she makes Jesus appear too political and revolutionary and is selective about the Bible verses she uses

Gods sovereignty- by inclusing “Goddess” language and religions outside Christianity, she has compromised the unity and sovereignty of God

Male/female differences- Catholic teaching is that Men and women are equal but different, the N.T teaches the natural and God-orderd relationship of men and women is different