Feminist Theology recent issues

Editorial

Wootton, J. — 2008-09-01

Crossroads: Women Priests in the Roman Catholic Church

Rue, V. — 2008-09-01

Since 2002 Catholic women have been ordained and are ministering to communities through the organization Roman Catholic womenpriests (RCWP). In this article, Victoria Rue, PhD, ordained a womanpriest in 2005, reflects on ecclesial structures and the theologies that underpin them. RCWP uses the titles deacon, priest, and bishop. At the same time they do not wish to replicate the hierarchical model those titles suggest. At this crossroads of the old and the new, how do the women of RCWP redefine these models and their attendant theologies and still stay within the Roman Catholic Church?

Should the Language and Legislation of Women's Rights be Implemented in the Arguments for Consecrating Women as Bishops in the Church of England?

Wood, R. — 2008-09-01

This article explores some of the benefits and pitfalls of applying rights language and legislation to the debate over whether to consecrate women as bishops in the Church of England. Secular feminists have pointed out tensions between the concept of women's rights and religious freedom which highlight conflicts in law between religious and gender identities. Women priests have not, as yet, used equal opportunities legislation as a tool to allow women to be consecrated as bishops and faith communities are exempt (by choice) from this legislation. Wood argues that this exemption is not entirely `safe' due to the established status of the Church of England but the question remains as to whether equal opportunities legislation is the best basis for consecrating women as bishops.

The Construction of Masculinities and Femininities in the Church of England: The Case of the Male Clergy Spouse

Page, S.-J. — 2008-09-01

The ordination of women to the priesthood in the Church of England in 1994 signified great change. The impact of the new priests was well documented, and their integration became the focus of much research in the following years. One important area of change was the altered dynamics of gender identity. New roles had opened up for women, but new identities had also emerged for men. While women priests were a new historical emergence, so too were clergy husbands. This paper will consider the historical construction of masculinities and femininities within the church and will go on to look at this in the context of clergy spouses, specifically focusing on men occupying this role. Some provisional findings, acting as work in progress, will be considered.

Because They're Worth It! Making Room for Female Students and Thealogy in Higher Education Contexts

Guest, D. — 2008-09-01

This paper is the result of teaching a thealogy module to a class of Honours level undergraduates. Critical reflection upon this experience and the students' evaluations of the module, raises intriguing questions concerning the value of women-only space, how one can establish a feminist classroom within a British Higher Education context, writing educational learning outcomes for a thealogy module which might include the hope of personal transformation, and ultimately reflection upon my role as an educator at the University of Birmingham.

Re-telling the Story of Jesus: The Concept of Embodiment and Recent Feminist Reflections on the Maleness of Christ

Baudzej, J. — 2008-09-01

This paper is an attempt to look at the concept of embodiment in relation to incarnation and the maleness of Christ. It explores how feminist authors continue a critical engagement with Christology trying to carry on the retelling of Jesus' story. It appears that embodiment might play a crucial role as feminist theology tries to theorize the maleness of Christ and to consider it positively. The paper suggests that engagement with the maleness of Christ as prophetic could be beneficial in a further search for symbolization of the divine through male and female bodies.

`Zakhar and neqevah He created them': Sexual and Gender Identities in the Bible

Pazeraite, A. — 2008-09-01

The Vatican's Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Collaboration of Men and Women in the Church and in the World, issued in 2004 to reinterpret biblical creation accounts, were not as successful as they might have been. Instead of focusing attention on social structures of gender domination, the document criticizes feminist theories, which, supposedly, lead to tensions between sexes or tend to destroy family values. I have tried to reinterpret the same cardinal biblical creation accounts by means of an historical-critical approach, etymological interpretation and hermeneutics, and to show how sexual and gender identities are unintentionally constructed by the authors of these accounts and how structures, appearing in these accounts as `structures of (primordial) sin' have affected the interpretation of these identities in the same Bible and in the world of formation of the New Testament. The story of `primordial sin' in this case is a metaphor of socialization, for the metaphor of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, is to be understood as the tree of knowledge of opinions, rooted in society, tradition, culture, concerning what is good and what is evil, acceptable and unacceptable.

Infinite Potential

O'Loughlin, K. — 2008-09-01

This piece was written for performance and might be best enjoyed read aloud. It was an imaginative exercise based on a kind of intertextuality— combining my own story with the story of the God of the Genesis creation stories. Thus God became a Mother who was experiencing some of the things that mothers of teenage children might experience. It is a sort of poem, following the style of the first creation story (Genesis 1) but also provides an explanation of why things are as they are, like the second creation story (Genesis 2—3). It was first read at a weekend conference on Ethics.

Thinking of the World as a Household: Questioning Myself about a Philosophical Experiment

Praetorius, I. — 2008-09-01

This article takes the form of an interview, in which the dialogue is internal. It is based on the author's experiment with the idea of the world as a household, which involves restoring household activities as free and independent activities. The author recollects earlier feminism's tendency to despise activities such as cooking and cleaning, because of their patriarchal inclusion in the stereotype of female dependency. She considers the household to be a fundamental human concept, which underlies lives and relationships, and is capable of providing viable alternatives to the independency/dependency structures of patriarchy, embodied in secondary models such as the market place.

Book Review: RILEY, Ferzanna, Unbroken Spirit: How a Young Muslim Refused to be Enslaved by Her Culture (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2007). ISBN 9780340943489, 224pp. {pound}12.99

Michell, D. — 2008-09-01

Book Review: DAVIS, Claire Henderson, After the Church: Divine Encounter in a Sexual Age (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2007), ISBN 9781853117367. 79 pp. {pound}8.99

Radford Ruether, R. — 2008-09-01

Editorial: Women Re-Imagining Religions

Clague, J. — 2008-04-24

Is the Glass Half-Empty or Half-Full? A Feminist Assessment of Buddhism at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century

Gross, R. M. — 2008-04-24

Doctrinally, Buddhism is free of the myths and symbols that make some other religions so intractable to feminist reforms. In its philosophical views and its meditation practices, Buddhism has tremendous potential for deconstructing gender. In less than thirty years, we have gone from a situation in which almost nothing had been written about Buddhist women to a situation in which books and articles appear regularly. There is now a worldwide Buddhist women's movement, many women Buddhist teachers—at least in North America—and a growing consensus that the traditional male dominance of Buddhism is a problem. Yet, despite the advances made in the last thirty years, Buddhism still privileges men above women. So is the glass half full? Are we well on the way to recasting Buddhism in ways that make it more adequate for its female followers? Or is the glass half empty? Is Buddhism still a religion that works better for men than for women, despite the changes of the past thirty years? In looking at the half-full, half-empty glass, I will consider three topics: first, Buddhism's potential for deconstructing gender, second, some reasons why this potential did not come to fruition historically, and third, some of the changing situations in the contemporary Buddhist world, both Asian and Western.

A Socio-Cultural Analysis of Yoruba Women and the Re-imagining of Christianity

Olajubu, O. — 2008-04-24

The traditional cultural and religious practices of the Yoruba people of Nigeria are closely intertwined. Together they are influencing the way Yoruba people practice their Christianity. In traditional Yoruba religion, women are its majority membership and sustaining force. Consequently, women play leadership roles in Yoruba religion, especially as concerns ritual. These positive roles for women have also been incorporated into Yoruba Christianity. Women are therefore involved in the re-imagining of Christianity and in transforming its patriarchal practices to make them more female-friendly and inclusive.

Feminist Theology in Latin America: A Theology without Recognition

Gebara, I. — 2008-04-24

This paper outlines the ongoing challenges faced by feminist theology in Latin America as it enters the twenty-first century, given the continuing ecclesial antipathy towards its goals, its proponents and its practitioners. This marginalized position with respect to the Catholic Church allows feminist theologians a certain distance from ecclesiastical control, but at the same time means that as a movement feminist theology lacks influence because of its distance from the centre of power. Meanwhile, socio-economic factors continue to oppress the poorest, many of whom— especially women—find solace in the institutional Church and the religious models that feminist theology wishes to critique. As a result of these forces, the future of feminist theology remains uncertain.

Re-Imagining the Divine in Sikhism

Kaur Singh, N.-G. — 2008-04-24

In this article I focus on the `Mother' image in Sikh scripture, and explore her as the source of creation and wisdom. My re-imagining of the divine in Sikhism will offer a counter-balance to the prevailing androcentric attitudes and interpretations of malestream scholarship, and I also hope it will be a step towards counteracting the sexism festering within Sikh homes and the larger society.

Re-Imagining Theological Reflection on God from the Context of Korean Women

Choi Hee An, — 2008-04-24

When Western Christianity came to Asia, it merged with Eastern religions and histories and developed very differently in different places. Today Asian women in each country build up very unique images of God. They practice Eastern forms of worship and liturgical rites, and do indigenized theologies. They simultaneously try to find their own ways of naming, imaging, believing in and communicating with their own God.

Korean Christianity has inherited many images of God from Western Christian doctrines and theologies. However, when it meets and merges with Koreanized Buddhism, Confucianism, and Shamanism, some of the images of God in Christianity are transformed and re-imagined in Korean women's social cultural and religious contexts. As an Asian woman, especially a Korean woman, I would like to introduce one of the many Asian women's theologies, Korean women's images of God. It cannot represent all Asian women's ways of doing theologies, but it will give some clues to show how Asian women do theologies in their own context. In particular, I will examine three images of God that demonstrate how Western Christianity and Eastern religions meet and are transformed in Korean Christian women's living contexts.

Engendering the Jewish Past: Towards a More Feminist Jewish Studies

Levitt, L. — 2008-04-24

To engender the Jewish past is to continue to question how and what we think we already know about Jewish history and Jewish memory. In order to imagine other stories, we must risk engaging in other ways of doing Jewish study. Only by repeatedly engaging in these other practices can we begin to undo the assumptions about gender we have come to assume as normal or natural. This paper explores first, what it means to engender the Jewish past and then what a contemporary Jewish Studies informed by feminism looks like.

Se Hace Camino al Andar--The Road is Made by Walking: What the Future Demands of Women-Centered Theologies

Isasi-Diaz, A. M. — 2008-04-24

As we move ahead into the twenty-first century we have to re-focus vigorously on the unfolding of the kin-dom of God, which requires a praxis of care and tenderness for all: a praxis of justice. Without justice, without a praxis of care and tenderness towards all persons and the biosphere in which we live and move and have our being, we have nothing to live for, we have nothing to die for. This points to the very heart of justice—solidarity—a deep sense of community that does not do away with diversity but, on the contrary, affirms and is enriched by it. And, if women-centered theologies do not contribute to struggles for liberation, why should they survive and flourish in the twenty-first century?

`Remembering Who We Are,: Reflections on Latin American Ecofeminist Theology

Ress, M. J. — 2008-04-24

Since 1990 I have been deeply involved in the development of Latin American ecofeminist thought and its theological, ethical and spiritual perspectives as a founding member of the Con-spirando Collective, a team of women working in the areas of ecofeminist theology, ethics and spirituality in Santiago, Chile. This article describes the results of a research project I conducted based on interviews with twelve faith-based activist women who had historically aligned themselves with liberation theology and its practice and who now describe themselves as ecofeminists. The aim was to document the shift that took place in their identities and their growing ecofeminist awareness. This is made visible through the ways that these women perceive themselves in relation to the rest of the Earth community and to the Universe as a whole; in the way they re-image/re-name Ultimate Mystery; in their beliefs about death and rebirth; and in their spiritual and ethical practice.

In Exile from No Homeland: Or, Being at Home in the Middle of Time

Tatman, L. — 2008-04-24

Abrasive, harsh, uncompromising, blunt, uncomfortable. Lyrical, haunting, evocative, pleasure-full, drenching, soaring. All of this, all at once, now, not later. No postponing, no deferring to an endlessly deferred not yet, not yet, not yet.

Editorial

Isherwood, L. — 2008-02-14

Feminist Apophasis: Beverly J. Lanzetta and Trinh T. Minh-ha in Dialog

Gudmarsdottir, S. — 2008-02-14

The Venerable Margaret Sinclair: An Examination of the Cause of Edinburgh's Twentieth-Century Factory Girl

Kehoe, K. — 2008-02-14

Catholicism's precarious position in twentieth-century Scotland was in part a reflection of continued anti-Catholic and anti-Irish sentiments, but it was also the result of new political doctrines, growing worker movements and the introduction of complete female suffrage. These challenges were met, in part, by Margaret Sinclair, in religion Sister Mary Francis of the Five Wounds. The cause for her beatification and canonization was unofficially launched in 1926 and met with a groundswell of support, extending beyond Scotland to Europe and North America as the working-classes embraced her as one of their own. Not only was she declared `Angel of the Factory', thereby extending the Church's influence to the factory floor, but her image was grafted to that of the nation as `Scotland's Little Flower'. She was to symbolize feminine piety, the working-class struggle and the epitome of Scottish Catholicism.

Women, Reproductive Rights and the Catholic Church

Radford Ruether, R. — 2008-02-14

This article traces opposition to women's contraceptive rights moving from the role of St Augustine and Thomas Aquinas to the modern day role of the Vatican. Traditional views of women and sexuality have been challenged by modern feminism but Catholicism is still pursuing a global crusade against abortion, birth control, and redefinitions of the family that might include homosexual couples. This means opposing sex education curricula and opposition to state funding for family planning assistance. But the Catholic crusades against women's reproductive rights have generated rebellion among some Catholics worldwide. This is led by Catholics for a Free Choice and the SeeChange campaign.

Mabel Shaw's Theology in the Context of Her Work as a Christian Missionary Teacher in Northern Rhodesia 1915--1940

Allen, J. — 2008-02-14

This article makes an analysis of Mabel Shaw's understanding of African spirituality and Christian theology that emerged while she worked as a missionary teacher for the London Missionary Society (LMS) in Northern Rhodesia. It argues that post-colonial writing on missionary activity has tended to emphasize the negative aspects of the missionary movement, the consequence of which has been a failure to recognize the achievement of women such as Shaw. The freedom that the London Board of the LMS gave to their field workers allowed Shaw to create a Boarding School for girls at Mbereshi that won Shaw acclaim as an educational practitioner. An instinctive belief in natural theology combined with a strong sense of the presence of God in loving action was critical in forming and shaping the practical application of her faith. While professionally it is apparent that Shaw `hit the glass ceiling' with her being overlooked as a candidate to become Mission Station Head she provides an impressive example of a woman who challenged perceptions of theology and denominational allegiance. Her radical thought on issues surrounding Christian spirituality had implications for the Christian movement as it became an agent of change in Central Africa.

A Journey with Therese Couderc: Inspiration, Liability or Possibility for Change?

Stogdon, K. — 2008-02-14

Thérèse Couderc, canonized in 1970 and acclaimed for her great humility, was the founder of an apostolic religious Congregation for women in nineteenth century France. This paper investigates whether her heritage is a source of inspiration or liability for the women who look to her as a role model. Using archive material from the Congregational writings it calls attention to a more dynamic interpretation of her character, based on her commitment to what she called `the work of God'.

Re-Imagining Ecofeminist Theology for Eastern Europe

Ilishko, D. — 2008-02-14

Many Eastern European countries are on the edge of huge transitions in almost every sphere of life: political, economic, educational and religious. These changes have had an impact on the situation of women, many of whom entered into this time of transition believing that: (a) socialism had solved the issue of gender inequality; (b) what was obtained by socialism in the field of gender equality can be taken for granted; (c) democracy will automatically deliver additional rights for women. However, all implemented patterns of transition were hostile to gender equality. The consequences of soviet policy are still visible with respect to the environment and in attitudes towards ecology. The centralistic system of socialism was unable to tackle constructively the ecological crisis. The aim of this article is to indicate how ecofeminist theology can become a constructive framework for bringing women and men together, united by a common concern for the Earth, and a means of delivering alternative environmental policies for Eastern Europe. By acknowledging the connection between ecology and feminism, ecofeminist theology can become a transforming grace.

Secular Womynism Part II: An Epistemology... `It IS... What It Is!'

Medusa, — 2008-02-14

In `Secular Womynism: A View From The Left', I introduced and articulated a viable alternative approach to the concept known as `Traditional Womanism'. In so doing, the term(s) `Feminist Womynist Philosopher/ Philosophy were born as an epistemological construct. As a further explication of the definition and praxis of the term, I now offer, Secular Womynism: Part II: An Epistemology...It IS... What It IS!'

This article will serve as a more focused prolegomena involving the fiftyeight (58) components of which the term, feminist womynist philosopher is comprised. The aforementioned components constitute the foundation of what will, at some point in the evolution of Womynist Theory, come to be called, `Womynist Ways of Knowing: A Womynist Epistemology', and will serve as the first such concrete claim within the discourse of Womynist thought.

Book Review: KING, Ursula. Christian Mystics: Their Lives and Legacies Throughout the Ages (London and New York: Routledge, 2004), 270 pp. ISBN 0-415-32652-4 (pbk)

Murphy, A. — 2008-02-14

Book Review: STANWORTH, Rachel, Recognizing Spiritual Needs in People who are Dying (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). 255pp. {pound}24.90. (Pbk). ISBN 0-1985-2511-0

King, J. — 2008-02-14

Book Review: KROLL, Una, The Anatomy of Survival: Steps on a Personal Journey Toward Healing (London: Mowbray, a Continuum imprint, 2001), 124 pp. (Pbk). ISBN 0-264-67530-4

Hughes, L. — 2008-02-14

Book Review: POOLE, Myra, Prayer, Protest, Power: The Spirituality of Julie Billiart Today (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2001), SND. 223 pp. {pound}11.99. (Pbk). ISBN 1-85311-427-8

Hughes, L. — 2008-02-14

Book Review: SHARMA, Arvind (ed.), Methodology in Religious Studies: The Interface with Women's Studies (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2002). $26.95. ISBN 0-7914-5348-0

Clague, J. — 2008-02-14

Book Review: BAXTER, Jonathan (ed.), Wounds that Heal: Theology, Imagination and Health (London: SPCK, 2007), 272 pp

Althaus-Reid, M. — 2008-02-14

Editorial

Wootton, J., Howie, G., Jobling, J. — 2007-09-11

Mona Lisa in Veils: Cultural Identity, Politics, Religion and Feminism in Turkey

Atakav, A. E. — 2007-09-11

Turkey has been experiencing an evolutionary feminist movement within the modernization project since 1923. This paper explores the relationship between politics, religion and feminism in the context of Turkish cultural identity and women's experience of the evolution of modernization evolution. Commencing with a discussion of the Time magazine cover-the Mona Lisa in veils-the paper gives examples of women's experiences of the divine and shifts in patriarchal culture. It also provides an overview of the history of feminism in Turkey, which offers the opportunity to explore, articulate and share the experiences and reflections on the change in women's circumstances in Turkey. The paper will argue that Turkey is one of the most important success stories of women's empowerment; not only because it is an Islamic country; but also because the empowerment of women began in the early twentieth century. Indeed, it is worth identifying what is of crucial importance for the success of both Turkish women and wider feminist movements in Turkey: it is making change real: a 'realization' from theory to political and social practice.

Three Arab Women Authors in their Quest for a Share in the Conceptualization of the Divine

Brand, H. — 2007-09-11

Women's attempts to grasp the divine and form accordingly their own place in a societal and cultural system reach various cultural documents, among them literature. I analyse-along understandings suggested in some of Luce Irigaray's writings with the help of additional psychoanalytical and feminist theoretical constructs - the place of the divine in women and the place of women in the divine, in three Arab women's stories that venture into the realm of myth and legend, employing both the imaginary and the symbolic.

Lilith's Fire: Examining Original Sources of Power Re-defining Sacred Texts as Transformative Theological Practice

Grenn, K. D. J. — 2007-09-11

This paper offers a reinterpretation of the divine as embodied by the Semitic goddess Lilith, she who has been represented and misrepresented in a variety of sacred texts. Working with Lilith as both symbol and archetype, I will analyze texts in which she appears, tracing her historical development and metamorphosis from goddess to demon to symbol of independence and open sexuality. As part of this analysis, I will discuss how Lilith's demonization was designed to keep women alienated from their own 'original sources' of power and spiritual authority. The essay concludes with an appreciation of feminist texts, including the first midrash or reinterpretation of the Alphabet of Ben Sira, and more recent work. I also bring in feminist scholars' reclamation of the Sacred Feminine through poetic/liturgical responses to damaging canonical texts. My paper argues that this literature, too, should be regarded as 'sacred text,' since these women-centered writings have become texts of empowerment for contemporary women as well as part of their spiritual practice.

The One: God's Unity and Genderless Divinity in Judaism

Lahav, H. — 2007-09-11

This article examines the cultural ways in which traditional Judaism understands the relationship between an individual and Divinity. The article shows that this understanding has deep gendered dimensions. Grounded in feminist critiques of theology, as well as in Jewish studies and cultural studies, the article shows that the conceptualization of God-person relationship, in both Orthodox and Kaballic Jewish streams, is based on a hierarchical division to three different spaces. These spaces are: Mitzvah (Commandment, Duty, Law), Grace, and Desire or Will. The Mitzvah is perceived to be the highest space and is represented as 'manly'. The intermediate space-Grace-is represented as a 'good woman' or as 'mother'. This space is characterized by a sacred yearning, as well as by lack of stability and continuity, paralysis, and even death. The lowest space is the space of Desire and personal will, which is culturally represented by a child or a whore-woman. This space is characterized by an attitude of disregard, resistance and fear. The article demonstrates how this cultural division of Divinity in to three, contradicts the declared Jewish position that God/Divinity is 'One, Sole and Unique' (Echad, Yachid ve-Meuchad), and points at the inherent need of genderless conceptualization of Divinity in Judaism.

Approaching the Hindu Goddess of Desire

Dobia, B. — 2007-09-11

Pre-eminent among Tantric Goddess temples in India is Kamakhya, revered as the site where the generative organ of the Goddess is worshipped. The name of the Goddess, Kamakhya, indicates that she is at once the desired, the desiring and the granter of desires. This paper considers the ways that desire was implicated in a collaborative feminist-oriented pilgrimage made by six women scholars to the Kamakhya temple in Assam. It examines problems associated with cross-cultural desiring and describes how these were addressed. The place of desire and the status of women in Tantric conceptions of the Goddess are explored along with implications for feminist appreciations of Goddesses and Tantra.

Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science

Hall, I. — 2007-09-11

The quotation in the title is taken from a contemporary, Mark Twain, who is often quoted as a stern critic of Mrs Eddy, but who also held the opinion that `In several ways she is the most interesting woman that ever lived, and the most extraordinary'. Yet today, less than a hundred years after her death, Eddy has become barely visible in academic discussions relating to women, religion and spirituality, or in discourse concerning Christian and faith-based healing. Eddy produced seminal work in these fields and founded a world-wide religious movement in Christian Science, whose followers are still actively studying and practising the ideas she pro-pounded. As a reformer, Eddy wanted to reinstate `primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing', and she wrote her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures to inspire the mainstream churches with this message. With the rejection of her ideas, she was impelled to found her own church to take her vision forward.

Beyond the Victim/Empowerment Paradigm: The Gendered Cosmology of Mormon Women

Hoyt, A. — 2007-09-11

Women's participation in traditional religions is often explained in terms of their victimization and/or their opportunities for empowerment. This paper seeks to use Mormon women as a framework in order to explore some of the consequences of this phenomenon and to advocate for the creation of multiple, complex spaces where traditional religious women may be understood beyond the paradigm of victim/empowerment. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, otherwise known as the LDS or Mormons, maintains a cosmology that is based upon highly differentiated gendered practices. A belief in a female deity, Mother in Heaven, and a related belief that all pious Mormon men and women have the ability to become gods and goddesses in a post-mortal existence are central to the Mormon gendered cosmology. Despite these beliefs, Mormon women generally resist feminism because they perceive feminism to be at odds with motherhood and family. Ironically, their belief in a female divine and their potential divinity strengthens their commitment to interdependence through maternal practices and kinship.

Great Goddess, Elemental Nature or Chora? Philosophical Contentions and Constructs in Contemporary Goddess Feminism

Reid-Bowen, P. — 2007-09-11

This paper examines some of the metaphysical concepts that are present within Goddess feminism at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It is asserted from the outset that Goddess feminism is not as incoherent as many of its critics claim; and it is also highly problematic for feminist thealogians to view conceptual precision and philosophical analysis as inevitably masculinist and invidious preoccupations. Three contemporary feminist thealogical concepts of deity are introduced: the Goddess as a personal, loving and panentheistic deity, the Goddess as the impersonal, female and generative pantheistic body of nature, and the Goddess as a maternal space or receptacle of becoming. By reflecting on some of the different ways in which the Goddess may be understood to originate, organize and relate to the whole of nature, this paper identifies areas of coherence, contention and originality in Goddess feminism that are arguably in need of further philosophical study.

Feminist Theology as Practice of the Future

Muers, R. — 2007-09-11

Does feminist theology have a future? This article explores the practices and methods of feminist theology as inherently future-oriented, attentive to the other and hence destabilizing of fixed identities-including fixed feminist or theological identities. I propose that the concern of third-wave feminism with the ways in which images of women and femininity are produced, reproduced and distributed can be taken up in feminist theology through sustained attention to how theology is done. This can help to overcome the tension between the perceived need for feminist theology to move on and the continued widespread resistance to, or ignorance of, its basic ideas. I describe this as an examination of the spiritualities of feminist theology-and hence as a contribution to theologies of the Holy Spirit.

Representing the Divine: Feminism and Religious Anthropology

Harrison, V. S. — 2007-09-11

This article examines some of the problems androcentric religious anthropologies raise for Jewish, Christian and Muslim women-particularly, with respect to their demand to occupy leadership roles within their respective faith-communities-while also considering the failure of conservative thinkers adequately to respond to these problems. Focusing on the connection between religious anthropologies and the conception of God within the Abrahamic faiths reveals, what many religious feminists have described as, a symbiotic relationship between the conception of God employed in their tradition and an androcentric religious anthropology. Given that religious anthropologies have been, and will continue to be, subject to change as the religious traditions evolve, the article concludes that, by seeking greater control over such changes, religious feminists have an opportunity to re-shape the Abrahamic faiths in ways that could make them genuinely capable of responding to the religious requirements of both women and men.