Feminist theology is a movement found in severalreligions, includingBuddhism,Hinduism,Zoroastrianism,Sikhism,Jainism,Neopaganism,Baháʼí Faith,Judaism,Islam,Christianity, andNew Thought, to reconsider the traditions, practices, scriptures, and theologies of those religions from afeminist perspective. Some of the goals of feministtheology include increasing the role of women amongclergy and religious authorities, reinterpretingpatriarchal (male-dominated) imagery and language aboutGod, determining women's place in relation to career andmotherhood, studying images of women in the religions'sacred texts, andmatriarchal religion.[1]
While there is no specific date to pinpoint the beginning of this movement, its origins can be traced back to the 1960s article, "The Human Situation: A Feminine View", written byValerie Saiving (Goldstein).[2] Her piece of work questioned theologies written by men for men in a modern perspective to then dismantle what it had created over the years: patriarchal systems that oppress women. After Saiving's work was published, many scholars took up her ideas and elaborated upon them, which built the feminist theology movement further. Grenz and Olson view the steps of feminist theology in threes: first, feminist theologians critique the treatment of women in the past, second, they determine alternative biblical/religious texts that support feminist ideologies, and third, they claim the theology that adheres to such standards, through reclamation, abolishment, and/or revision.[3] Grenz and Olson also mention that while all feminists agree there is a flaw in the system, there is disagreement over how far outside of the Bible and the Christian tradition women are willing to go to seek support for their ideals.[4] This concept is also important when feminist theology is relating to other religions or spiritual connections outside of Christianity.
The primacy of a monotheistic or near-monotheistic "Great Goddess" is advocated by some modernmatriarchists as a female version of, preceding, or analogue to, theAbrahamic God associated with the historical rise ofmonotheism in the MediterraneanAxis Age.
Mother Nature (sometimes known asMother Earth) is a common representation ofnature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing features of nature by embodying it in the form of the mother. Images of women representing mother earth, and mother nature, are timeless. In prehistoric times,goddesses were worshipped for their association withfertility,fecundity, and agricultural bounty. Priestesses held dominion over aspects ofIncan,Assyrian,Babylonian,Slavonic,Roman,Greek,Indian, andIroquoian religions in the millennia prior to the inception ofpatriarchy.
Others who practice feminist spirituality may instead adhere to a feminist re-interpretation of Western monotheistic traditions. In those cases, the notion ofGod as having a male gender is rejected, and God is not referred to using male pronouns. Feminist spirituality may also object to images of God that they perceive as authoritarian, parental, or disciplinarian, instead emphasizing "maternal" attributes such as nurturing, acceptance, and creativity.[5]
Carol P. Christ is the author of the widely reprinted essay "Why Women Need the Goddess",[6] which argues in favor of the concept of there having been an ancient religion of a supremegoddess. This essay was presented as the keynote address to an audience of over 500 at the "Great Goddess Re-emerging" conference at theUniversity of California at Santa Cruz in the spring of 1978, and was first published inHeresies: The Great Goddess Issue (1978), pgs. 8–13.[7] Carol P. Christ also co-edited the classic feminist religion anthologiesWeaving the Visions: New Patterns in Feminist Spirituality (1989) andWomanspirit Rising (1979/1989); the latter included her essayWhy Women Need the Goddess.[7]
TheLatter-Day Saint movement is unique among Christian denominations in that it affirms the existence of a Divine Feminine as a part of its core doctrine. The Latter-Day Saint Divine Feminine is called"Heavenly Mother". While Latter-day Saints do not pray to Heavenly Mother, she is considered to be the wife of Heavenly Father and therefore His equal in heaven, according to "The Family: A Proclamation to the World"'s description of husbands and wives as equal partners.[8]
New Thought as a movement had no single origin, but was rather propelled along by a number of spiritual thinkers and philosophers and emerged through a variety of religious denominations and churches, particularly theUnity Church,Religious Science, andChurch of Divine Science.[9] It was afeminist movement in that most of its teachers and students were women; notable among the founders of the movement wereEmma Curtis Hopkins, known as the "teacher of teachers"Myrtle Fillmore,Malinda Cramer, andNona L. Brooks;[9] with its churches and community centers mostly led by women, from the 1880s to today.[10][11]
Jewish feminism is a movement that seeks to make the religious, political, and social status of Jewish women equal to that of Jewish men. Feminist movements, with varying approaches and successes, have opened up within all major denominations of Judaism.
There are different approaches and versions of feminist theology that exist within the Jewish community.
Some of these theologies promote the idea that it is important to have a feminine characterization of God within thesiddur (Jewish prayerbook) and service. They challenge the male rabbi teachings that only emphasize God as a man with masculine traits only.
In 1976,Rita Gross published the article "Female God Language in a Jewish Context" (Davka Magazine 17), which Jewish scholar and feministJudith Plaskow considers "probably the first article to deal theoretically with the issue of female God-language in a Jewish context".[12][13] Gross was Jewish herself at this time.[14]
ReconstructionistRabbiRebecca Alpert (Reform Judaism, Winter 1991) comments:
The experience of praying withSiddur Nashim [the first Jewish prayer book to refer to God using female pronouns and imagery, written byMargaret Wenig andNaomi Janowitz in 1976[15]] ... transformed my relationship with God. For the first time, I understood what it meant to be made in God's image. To think of God as a woman like myself, to see Her as both powerful and nurturing, to see Her imaged with a woman's body, with womb, with breasts – this was an experience of ultimate significance. Was this the relationship that men have had with God for all these millennia? How wonderful to gain access to those feelings and perceptions.
In 1990 RabbiMargaret Wenig wrote the sermon, "God Is a Woman and She Is Growing Older", which as of 2011 has been published ten times (three times in German) and preached by rabbis from Australia to California.[16]
RabbiPaula Reimers ("Feminism, Judaism, and God the Mother",Conservative Judaism46 (1993)) comments:
Those who want to use God/She language want to affirm womanhood and the feminine aspect of the deity. They do this by emphasizing that which most clearly distinguishes the female experience from the male. A male or female deity can create through speech or through action, but the metaphor for creation which is uniquely feminine is birth. Once God is called female, then, the metaphor of birth and the identification of the deity with nature and its processes become inevitable
Ahuva Zache affirms that using both masculine and feminine language for God can be a positive thing, but reminds her Reform Jewish readership that God is beyond gender (Is God male, female, both or neither? How should we phrase our prayers in response to God's gender?, in theUnion for Reform Judaism's iTorah,[2]):
Feminine imagery of God does not in any way threaten Judaism. On the contrary, it enhances the Jewish understanding of God, which should not be limited to masculine metaphors. All language that humans use to describe God is only a metaphor. Using masculine and feminine metaphors for God is one way to remind ourselves that gendered descriptions of God are just metaphors. God is beyond gender.
These views are highly controversial even within liberal Jewish movements.[17]Orthodox Jews and manyConservative Jewshold that it is wrong to use English female pronouns for God, viewing such usage as an intrusion of modern, western feminist ideology into Jewish tradition.[citation needed] Liberal prayer books tend increasingly to also avoid male-specific words and pronouns, seeking that all references to God in translations be made in gender-neutral language. For example, theUK Liberal movement'sSiddur Lev Chadash (1995) does so, as does theUK Reform Movement'sForms of Prayer (2008).[18][19] InMishkan T'filah, the American Reform Jewish prayer book released in 2007, references to God as "He" have been removed, and whenever Jewish patriarchs are named (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), so also are the matriarchs (Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah.)[20] In 2015 the Reform JewishHigh Holy Days prayer bookMishkan HaNefesh was released; it is intended as a companion to Mishkan T'filah.[21] It includes a version of the High Holy Days prayerAvinu Malkeinu that refers to God as both "Loving Father" and "Compassionate Mother".[21] Other notable changes are replacing a line from the Reform movement's earlier prayerbook, "Gates of Repentance", that mentioned the joy of a bride and groom specifically, with the line "rejoicing with couples under the chuppah [wedding canopy]", and adding a third, non-gendered option to the way worshippers are called to the Torah, offering "mibeit", Hebrew for "from the house of", in addition to the traditional "son of" or "daughter of".[21]
In 2003The Female Face of God in Auschwitz: A Jewish Feminist Theology of the Holocaust, the first full-length feminist theology of the Holocaust, written by Melissa Raphael, was published.[22]Judith Plaskow'sStanding Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective (1991), andRachel Adler'sEngendering Judaism: An Inclusive Theology and Ethics (1999) are the only two full-length Jewish feminist works to focus entirely on theology in general (rather than specific aspects such as Holocaust theology.)[23] This work of feminist theology in regards to Judaism, also contextualizes the other goals of this movement, to re frame historical texts and how they are being taught. It is in addition to how God is being viewed but also the role of women historically and how they are being treated today in a new feminist light. While there is some opposition faced, Jewish communities believing feminism is too Western and does not validate Judaism, there is also the approval of an insider feminist perspective that takes into consideration traditions and modern thought.[24]
Christian feminism is an aspect of feminist theology which seeks to advance and understand theequality of men and women morally, socially, spiritually, and in leadership from a Christian perspective. This is through reformation to be along the lines of feminist thought in regards to their religion.[25] Christianfeminists argue that contributions by women in that direction are necessary for a complete understanding of Christianity.[26]
These theologians believe thatGod does notdiscriminate on the basis of biologically determined characteristics, such as sex and race.[27] Their major issues include theordination of women, male dominance in Christian marriage, recognition of equal spiritual and moral abilities, reproductive rights, and the search for a feminine or gender-transcendent divine.[28][29][30][31][32] Christian feminists often draw on the teachings of more historical texts that reinforce that feminism does not go against Christianity but has always been in its texts.[33]
Mary Daly grew up an Irish Catholic and all of her education was received through Catholic schools. She has three doctorate degrees, one from St. Mary's College in sacred theology then two from University of Fribourg, Switzerland in theology and philosophy. While in her early works Daly expressed a desire to reform Christianity from the inside, she would later come to the conclusion that Christianity is not able to enact the necessary changes as it is. According to Ford's The Modern Theologians, "Mary Daly has done more than anyone to clarify the problems women have concerning the central core symbolism of Christianity, and its effects on their self-understanding and their relationship to God."[34][failed verification –see discussion] Daly is a prime example of how some feminist theologians come to the conclusion that reclamation and reform are no longer a viable option, that condemnation is the only way out.[25]
Rosemary Radford Ruether writes about crucial additional interpretations of how Christian feminist theology is impacted by the world. Ruether grew up Roman Catholic and attended Catholic schools through her sophomore year of high school. She was a classics major atScripps College, worked for the Delta Ministry in 1965 and taught at Howard University School of Religion from 1966 to 1976.[35] "Rosemary Ruether has written on the question of Christian credibility, with particular attention to ecclesiology and its engagement with church-world conflicts; Jewish-Christian relations...; politics and religion in America; and Feminism".[36] Ruether is said to be one of the major Christian feminist theologians of our time.[37] Her bookSexism and God-Talk is the earliest feminist theological assessment of Christian theology.[38]
In the 1970sPhyllis Trible pioneered aChristian feminist approach tobiblical scholarship, using the approach ofrhetorical criticism developed by her dissertation advisor,James Muilenburg.[39]: 158–159 [40][41]
Christian feminist theology has consistently been critiqued as being focused on primarily white women. This has resulted in the development of movements such aswomanist theology, focusing on African American women coined by the works of Alice Walker,Asian feminist theology, and mujerista theology, introduced byAda Maria Isasi-Diaz concerning Latinas.
The termChristian egalitarianism is sometimes preferred by those advocating gender equality and equity among Christians who do not wish to associate themselves with the feminist movement.Women apologists have become more visible in Christian academia. Their defense of the faith is differentiated by a more personal, cultural and listening approach "driven by love".[42]
To learn more about feminism in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, go tothis article.
Some advocates of liberation theology will refer to God as "she". This is particularly true of many of the faculty at Union Theological seminary which is a hub of liberation theology and even Senator Rafael Warnock referred to God as "she' in his exegiesis of John 3.[43]
See also:Unity Church,Christian Science,Christian theological praxis andPostmodern Christianity.
Islamic feminism is a form of feminism concerned with the role ofwomen in Islam. It aims for the full equality of allMuslims, regardless of gender, in public and private life. Islamic feminists advocatewomen's rights,gender equality, andsocial justice grounded in an Islamic framework. Although rooted inIslam, the movement's pioneers have also utilizedsecular and non-Muslim feminist discourses and recognize the role of Islamic feminism as part of an integrated global feminist movement.[44] Advocates of the movement seek to highlight the deeply rooted teachings of equality in theQuran and encourage a questioning of thepatriarchal interpretation ofIslamic teaching through the Qur'an (holy book),hadith (sayings ofMuhammad) andsharia (law) towards the creation of a more equal and just society.[45] This is done through the advocation of the female autonomy in line with the guideline of the Qur'an. Feminist theologians like Azizah al-Hibri, professor of law at University of Richmond, founded KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights.[46] Feminist theology and Islam is also used to strengthen the spiritual connection to the women of Islam when they undergo severe trauma, to promote human rights especially those of women.[47]Fatima Mernissi's book,The Forgotten Queens of Islam, is a crucial piece in feminist theology for Islam and how it relates to a non western state.[48]Other theologists includeRiffat Hassan,Amina Wadud, andAsma Barlas. This theology has been used to educate, re-frame religion, pose as a building block for peace, and the advancement of women's rights, in legislation and in society.[49]
InSikhism women are equal to men. The verse from the Sikh scripture theGuru Granth Sahib states that:
From woman, man is born; within woman, man is conceived; to woman he is engaged and married. Woman becomes his friend; through woman, the future generations come. When his woman dies, he seeks another woman; to woman he is bound. So why call her bad? From her, kings are born. From woman, woman is born; without woman, there would be no one at all.
— Guru Nanak, Guru Granth Sahib
According to scholars such as Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, feminist theology in Sikhism is also the feminization of rituals such as the ceremonial rite of who lights a funeral pyre. Singh further states that this is the reclamation of religion to inspire "personal and social renewal of change" and that these theologians are seen as gurus rather than simply women or scholars. The teachings ofGuru Nanak focus on the singularity between men and women, with anything that differs denounced. He cites the example that origins and traditions stem from women as supervisors and in control, as well as engaged in history, such asMai Bhago, who rallied men to fight against imperial forces alongside her in the battle at Muktsar in 1705.[50]
Within Ancient Hinduism, women have been held in equal honour as men. TheManusmriti for example states:The society that provides respect and dignity to women flourishes with nobility and prosperity. And a society that does not put women on such a high pedestal has to face miseries and failures regardless of how so much noble deeds they perform otherwise. Manusmriti Chapter 3 Verse 56.
Within theVedas the Hindu holy texts, women were given the highest possible respect and equality. TheVedic period was glorified by this tradition. Manyrishis were women, indeed so that several of them authored many of the slokas, a poem, proverb or hymn, in the Vedas. For instance, in the Rigveda there is a list of women rishis. Some of them are:Ghosha,Godha,Gargi, Vishwawra, Apala, Upanishad, Brahmjaya,Aditi,Indrani, Sarma, Romsha,Maitreyi,Kathyayini,Urvashi,Lopamudra, Yami,Shashwati, Sri, Laksha and many others. In the Vedic period women were free to enter intobrahmacharya just like men, and attainsalvation.
DuringHindu wedding ceremonies, the following slokas are uttered by the grooms, yet in recent years their importance is understood less frequently with no active desire to analyze them in depth to come to the conclusions that was being portrayed:
"O bride! I accept your hand to enhance our joint good fortune. I pray to you to accept me as your husband and live with me until our old age. ..."Rigveda Samhita Part -4, sukta 85, sloka 9702
"O bride! May you be like the empress of your mother-in-law, father-in-law, sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law (sisters and brothers of the groom). May your writ run in your house."Rigveda Samhita Part -4, sukta 85, sloka 9712
This sloka from the Atharvaveda clearly states that the woman leads and the man follows: "The Sun God follows the first illuminated and enlightened goddess Usha (dawn) in the same manner as men emulate and follow women."Athravaveda Samhita, Part 2, Kanda 27, sukta 107, sloka 5705.
Women were considered to be the embodiment of great virtue and wisdom. Thus we have: "O bride! May the knowledge of the Vedas be in front of you and behind you, in your center and in your ends. May you conduct your life after attaining the knowledge of the Vedas. May you be benevolent, the harbinger of good fortune and health and live in great dignity and indeed illuminate your husband's home."Atharva Veda 14-1-64. Women were allowed full freedom of worship. "The wife should do agnihotra (yagna), sandhya (puja) and all other daily religious rituals. If, for some reason, her husband is not present, the woman alone has full rights to do yagna".Rigveda Samhita, part 1, sukta 79, sloka 872.
Moving on towards the Monotheistic era of Hinduism when such ideals such asShaivism andVaishnavism, a specific deity for feministic worship was brought about under theShaktism branch. From a Hinduism point of view women are equal in all measures to men in comparison, historical texts have stated this and is the basis of Hinduism, recognizing women as valuable and interconnected between men and women. Shakti, the name meaning power and referring to the female counterpart of Shiva, possesses connected powers that do not belong to just male or female but rather works together, equally dependent upon the other. Hindu feminist scholars also go beyond the reconstruction of texts but also the reestablishment of society and Hinduism in practice.[51]
Some currents ofNeopaganism, in particularWicca, have aditheistic concept of a single goddess and a single god, who inhieros gamos represent a united whole.Polytheistic reconstructionists focus on reconstructing polytheistic religions, including the various goddesses and figures associated with indigenous cultures.
Wicca is a duo theistic belief system. Members of Wicca will work individually with both a God, the son and partner of the Mother Earth, and the Goddess herself.[52] The Goddess is commonly referred to as the Triple Goddess in Wicca. She is also commonly addressed as the Mother Goddess or the Mother Earth.[53] The Goddess represents creation, strength, destruction and the Earth at once. Wicca's common theme across its beliefs is the feminist movement of the Female Goddess, which honours the importance of the female body.[53]
Wiccan Feminism demonstrates the strength of women within the faith. Wicca's history of leading women begins with examples of members such as Zsuzsanna Budapest (1940), who founded one of Wicca's first feminist covens, has formed further feminist traditions within the faith over time.[54] Wicca encourages a balance in power between men and women, regardless of gender and does not favour one gender over the other.[54] Wicca does not shame femininity, but rather embraces and uplifts the female body.[54] Members of the practice acknowledge the menstrual cycle as a powerful form of creation and life.[52] Women are not shamed for being open about their sexuality and individualism, as Wicca considers menstruation, pregnancy and menopause to be manifestations of the divine feminine and a source of creation. The faith's feminist approach and emphasis of a female deity creates an appeal to women, which has led to the majority of the Wiccan population being primarily female over the years. Wicca has a feminist approach to life as it encourages a theme of balance in power between men and women, highlighting the importance of equality in the faith.[55][52]
The termthealogy is sometimes used in the context of the Neopagan Goddess movement, a pun ontheology andthea θεά "goddess" intended to suggest afeminist approach totheism.
The Goddess movement is a loose grouping of social and religious phenomena that grew out ofsecond-wave feminism, predominantly in North America, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand in the 1970s, and the metaphysical community as well. Spurred by the perception that women were not treated equitably in many religions, some women turned to a Female Deity as more in tune with their spiritual needs. Education in the Arts became a vehicle for the study of humanitarian philosophers likeDavid Hume at that time. A unifying theme of this diverse movement is the femaleness ofDeity (as opposed and contrasted to apatriarchalGod).
Goddess beliefs take many forms: some people in the Goddess movement recognize multiple goddesses, some also include gods, while others honour what they refer to as "the Goddess", which is not necessarily seen as monotheistic, but is often understood to be an inclusive, encompassing term incorporating many goddesses in many different cultures. The term "the Goddess" may also be understood to include a multiplicity of ways to view deity personified as female, or as a metaphor, or as a process. (Christ 1997, 2003) The term "The Goddess" may also refer to the concept of The One Divine Power, or the traditionally worshiped "Great Goddess" of ancient times.
In the latter part of the 20th century, feminism was influential in the rise ofNeopaganism in theUnited States, and particularly theDianic tradition. Some feminists find the worship of agoddess, rather than agod, to be consonant with their views. Others are polytheists, and worship a number of goddesses. The collective set of beliefs associated with this is sometimes known asthealogy and sometimes referred to as theGoddess movement. See alsoDianic Wicca.
Buddhist feminism seeks to advance and understand the equality of men and women morally, socially, spiritually, and in leadership from a Buddhist perspective and withinBuddhism. While some core beliefs in Buddhism may cause friction with Western feminism, Buddhist feminist theology strives to find the common ground and balance between tradition and the goals of this movement. In carrying the teachings of Buddhism, feminist theologians critique the common feminist ideology as "other-ing" males. This idea is in conflict with Buddhist beliefs of interconnections between all. The enemy is not the "other" but the idea that there is not a singular connection and being the same.[56] Buddhist feminist theologies take into consideration religious ideologies, challenge Western feminist views, and reclaim what Buddhism is at its core, interconnected and accepting.[56]
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