For those of you who follow contemporary feminist theology, you might find a recent article in The Christian Century quite interesting. The July 26 issue’s cover story features “Women’s Work: Feminist theology for a new generation” by Joy Ann McDougall. The article dealt with new theological trends that, rather than shunning Christian symbolism and tradition, reincorporate and reinterpret them for relevance in the modern global context.

McDougall profiles cutting-edge theologians who exemplify this reclaiming of traditional Christian doctrine in order to apply it to global realities. Serene Jones, in Feminist Theory and Christian Theology: Cartographies of Grace, apparently finds an empowering message even in John Calvin’s doctrine of sin. For those of you who don’t know, in the 16th century Calvin (the guy who kind of came up with the whole Presbyterian thing) said that sin is essentially “unfaithfulness” that prevents us from “living according to God’s purposes by accepting God’s grace.” Calvin was also big on the idea of total depravity—humans are completely corrupt and cannot help themselves without God’s grace because of original sin (Adam and Eve in the Garden). Past feminist theologians haven’t been too keen on this, mainly because our good ol’ Christian patriarchs have used Eve to essentially blame women for sin’s existence. This blame game often forms the keystone in men’s oppression of women in Judeo-Christian cultures.

Yet in Jones’ view, according to the article, “no aspect of Christian theology has a deeper resonance with feminist analyses of oppression than the doctrine of sin. Feminist theologians are wise to call upon this doctrine to denounce the structures of domination and injustice that human beings perpetrate against one another” (21). She identifies with Calvin’s assertion of the ever-changing guises of sin in our lives, while still insisting that sin happens on the institutional as well as the individual level. Moreover, Jones argues that total depravity accurately depicts the ways in which sin eats away at our humanity as women. We become less of the empowered, self-confident women God created us to be, in part because of the power of patriarchal structures in our lives.

For me, the concept of reclaiming the heart of our faith holds great promise. The male theologians who have written about Christianity for the past 2000 years aren’t complete jerks—their teachings hold inspired wisdom, even through the corrupted carnage of their more oppressive interpretations of scripture. I’m excited about the prospect of struggling with our own heritage, wrestling “a feminist blessing” from the past that has relevance to the new challenges of contemporary culture.

Because personally, perhaps due to my Pentecostal upbringing, I have difficulties outright discarding or dismissing parts of the Bible and the confessions. The crucifixion and resurrection stories, for instance, mean something to me. I see clearly where the doctrine of a self-sacrificing God can be problematic as a tool the patriarchy has used against women. At the same time, I do believe that it provides us with a powerful and life-affirming alternative to selfish, consumer-driven global capitalism. The new lenses that women’s theologies (womanist and mujerista, as well as feminist) bring are necessary to uphold the continuing witness of Scripture to modern problems.

Our God does not change. But the contexts in which we live do. And it will be our generation of young women that opens the door to see even more insights into the eternal, infinite Divine.

“Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day is breaking.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go, unless you bless me.’” --Genesis 32:26

Kelsey

Hi Kelsey,
I have been trying to get out a response to your for the last two bolgs and couldn't do it till now. Although I am an older woman as you know, I just received my Masters ten years ago. It was in history with a concentration in the humanities. Because of that I could have a field day with my thesis, and I did. The thesis was about feminist's ethics and a proper validation for those ethics which I liked. I chose the Bible as the "good foundation." I am saying all of this to say my first chapter was a history of early feminism and I found three kinds of early feminism. Cultural, Enlightenment and Christian (in this case the Christian feminism was very orthodox and Evangelical. One of the other chapters covered contemporary feminist who I consider radical in their religious views. They are Mary Daly, Rosemary Radford Ruether and Sharon Welch. Then I looked at two contemporary feminist who are orthodox/Evangelical. Here I looked at Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen and Catherine Clark Kroeger. (The first and last chapters of my thesis are on my web site.) My point is one does not have to reinterpret scripture to agree that woman should have full equality. The last two women hold that line. Are you aware that the Salvation Army has always had women preachers and leaders as did the early Methodist. I am very bothered by the kind of feminism that wants to do away with Jesus death on the cross as our salvation. Etc. I wish the Women's Ministry Area did not have such radical books recommended such as "Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and the Search for What Saves Us." I do hope you will get more discussions on this.
Blessings,
Viola Larson