Rosemary Redford Reuther (OCR A-Level Religious Studies): Revision Notes

Rosemary Redford Reuther

Ruether argues that the bible can be interpreted in a feminist way for patriarchy in Christianity to be reformed.

Ways in which Christianity can be seen as feminist in the Bible

• Men and women were both created equal - "imago dei"
• Divine wisdom mentioned in the bible is described through a female lens.
• 'Sophia' in the bible means wisdom (proverbs) and is personified in the female form of goodness.
• In the Hebrew Bible, God has no gender
• "The Father" is a Christian intervention
• Early Christians had women leaders.
• Women who had direct experiences of God, caused Paul to state that women should be silent in the church.
• Feminist voice - God had no gender.

Ruether's Christology:

• Reuther argues women can be saved by Christ but it requires a re-envisioning of the image of Christ.
• Male warrior messiah was expected of Jesus however he defied these stereotypes. Jesus suffered and did it humbly.

• Ruether - Jesus is better seen as a non-dominator Messiah involves female wisdom

Gender-inclusive:

• This view has been marked by the patriarchal misrepresentation of Jesus.

Daly's response:

• The gender-inclusive Jesus is unrealistic and cannot save women spiritually

• Jesus remains a patriarchal man who has been used as a tool of patriarchal stereotypes and male domination. However:

• Jesus is not responsible for how his image and status has been taken, it is patriarchal society that allowed for Jesus to be used as a tool of male superiority.

• It does not mean that Jesus himself embodied these beliefs or roles.

The golden thread

• There is a theme of liberation within the bible which Ruether calls the "Golden thread."
• The argument is justified through Jesus' actions aiming at liberating women from just social order.
• It is these passages and stories that Christians need to focus on to diminish patriarchal attitudes within the religion and the bible.
• It is this "golden thread" which is God's true revelation.
• The rest of the bible has been contaminated by the patriarchal attitudes of society at the time.
• Patriarchy: idolising the men as if they represent the divine, which then must be condemned as idolatry.

• The story of the adulterous women: Jesus prevents the women from not being stoned, telling others they can only punish those for sin when they are free from sin themselves. However: Jesus tells her not to sin after, Jesus' actions can be interpreted as political. Arguably, he wasn't challenging gender roles but was simply advocating against violence.

Mulleres Dignitiatum

Pope John Paul II wrote a letter on the "dignity of women" to try and defend the Christian name against the accusation of sexism.

In the letter, he argued:

• Women and men have different but complimentary qualities and abilities

• Men and women are different but equal, we are all made in the eyes of God.

• Motherhood is a women's telos and natural purpose as it allows women to develop compassion and fulfilment. However:

• This is not part of the golden thread

• This are just beliefs based on repressive social attitudes of the time and are not representative of the values that Jesus stood for. QQaa

• These beliefs and attitudes serve to persuade women into taking on passive roles, it becomes convincing when you think it is a higher power telling you to do so.

Objections to Ruether:

Tolbert: In the Old Testament, prophets didn't speak about the liberation of women.

Ruether would respond that they were limited by the world view which clouded their judgement and ability to speak up on women's issues.

Mary Daley: Christianity is inherently patriarchal and beyond recovery.

Fundamentalist Protestants: Ruether uses the bible selectively to reinforce her argument, alternatively you could pick out the sexist passages in the Bible and just as easily claim that this is the true word of God

As humans, we will never be able to know what the true word of God is, therefore all we have to go on is the Bible, Chuch, and our reason.