Feminism and the Bible

Running head : Feminism and the Bible

Feminism and the Bible

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Introduction

Religious feminists , at the same time as diverse in their approaches are united in the conviction that both feminism and religion are important for the lives of women and men . That shared concern comprises both feminists who work for the reform of traditions--Jewish , Catholic Orthodox , mainline or evangelical Protestants--and those who , having affirmed Judaism and Christianity eternally biased against women , find religious homes elsewhere p

Feminist within the Christian background , for all their variety agree that sexism is a huge distortion of the historical and theological tradition , a distortion which methodically denigrates women , openly or secretly asserts women 's inferiority and subordination to men , and excludes women from full contribution in church and society . These as well aspire to free women from ideologies and structures that obstruct their self-actualization as full human persons and their self transcendence as completely religious persons . They all agree as well on the significance of the interpreted experience of women as a source for theological reflection , particularly as such interpretation-whether secular or religious-reflects the diversity of women 's experience in terms of race , class , ethnicity , or nationality

Differences within feminist thought as it relates to Christianity reveal different perceptions of the depth of sexism within the historical custom and in current structures and practices . At one end of the spectrum , some argue that the inherent character of the major Jewish and Christian symbols is patriarchal and detrimental to women . At the other end are those who assert that sexism and patriarchy are not inherent to Judaism or Christianity : These traditions have to be purified to permit for the full participation of women within them . In terms which are useful but perhaps as well too simple , these groups have been labelled "revolutionaries " and "reformists " Somewhere between the two groups are those who believe some feminist claims , however not others

Furthermore , though all Christian feminists assert the "equality " of women and men , they do not all assert women 's "sameness " with men Positions that endorse some model of "complementarity " between women and men are seen by some thinkers as disguised forms of patriarchy that merely appear to praise women by affirming their special virtues or their "essential motherhood " as allegedly built into the created for marriage and family . Others are more sympathetic to the "dimorphic views of gender advanced by secular feminists (Burton H . Throckmorton 1993

Theoretical Perspectives and Methods of Feminist Christianity

Feminist Christians are not colossal in their understandings of "feminism "Christianity " or the construction of a feminist Christianity . Differences extend to tactical questions and to basic practical and theoretical issues . As secular feminists incline toward liberal Marxist , Freudian or other modes of diagnosing and ending patriarchy , so too feminist Christians are not undisputed in favouring one or another school of feminist analysis . Some feminists fear that hypothetical differences are profound enough to intimidate the progress of the feminist...