I
|
have to admit, when I first started into the
world of contemporary Feminist Theology I was a bit uncertain. Coming from a
conservative, evangelical background I wondered how I might graciously navigate
this literature with open eyes and ears. Isn’t anything “liberal” an immanent
threat to the “pure” Christianity of evangelicalism? (Hopefully you hear the sarcasm dripping from that last question) How could I – a theologian
in training – risk exposing myself to these ideas? Well, I am happy to say that
there are no ghosts hidden within the pages of contemporary Feminist Theology
and, as far as I can tell, I emerged still in one piece.
But, it has definitely
been a journey for me as I’ve read this literature. I began with a general
interest in the movement, but soon grew to really appreciate the questions that
were being asked. What follows are a few reflections that I’ve gleaned from my
time reading this literature. These are by no means exhaustive, but I think
they are reflective of where I am currently at in relation to the movement that
is Feminist Theology.
I do want to mention
that it is not necessarily my intention here to alter the tenets of an
evangelical take on gender roles, nor do I seek to chastise Feminist Theology
for it’s perspective on women and the world. If anything, I seek to press the
bounds of evangelicalism to see how much it can receive from Feminist Theology.
I see this as a brief practice in conversation between seemingly disparate
groups. Essentially, I am looking to see what both movements can equally affirm
and, in doing so, I hope to stimulate an ongoing, charitable conversation.
So, with that being said, here are some of my reflections on what conservative
evangelicalism can remember/learn from Feminist Theology.
1) Women are Valuable.
To be clear, I never
doubted this as a general principle. I promise – you can ask my lovely wife. :)
However, I don’t think I ever realized just how valuable women are to the
theological task. They have an amazing capacity to highlight alternative realities
about God that can easily go unnoticed to the male eye. The perspective
they bring to theology serves to expand our working concept of God and imbues
the discipline with a life and vibrancy that is easily lost. I cannot help but
express my gratefulness to those women who have sought to labor for God and
their community in the task of theology.
2) Women are
Necessary.
If you believe, as I
do, that humanity necessarily exists in the dualism of man and woman, then it
behooves theology to lend an ear to women as they express their understanding
of God. If we fail at this task, then we are in jeopardy of restricting
theology to the limited world of male understanding. Theology in general cannot
afford to pretend that a male-dominated perspective in some way covers the
totality of human experience. I find the call of Feminist Theology to recognize
women’s understanding to be a refreshing chastisement of the theological norm.
For, it seems, that theology needs female reflection if it is to be a complete
discipline.
3) Don’t be
satisfied with the norm.
As a whole, Feminist
Theology has been an attempt at recalibrating the norms of theological
reflection. Whether or not you buy into their reasoning behind this or even their
methodology, I do think we can/should appreciate the desire these women had to
do theology for their day. They were not content with blindly appropriating
what they saw as antiquated ideas for their theological project. They were not
satisfied with the ‘norm’ because it did not seem to satisfy new data they had
to interpret. Now, I am not advocating that we toss out all the classic,
orthodox doctrines of the church. However, reading Feminist Theology has
challenged me to patiently, cautiously discern what it might look like to do
theology for our day. We have new questions and new horizons against which
those questions need to be answered. It will not do to slap and old answer on a
new question. We need carefully nuanced answers to contemporary questions.
4) Theology needs
to value experience.
In many ways, one of
the faults of Evangelical theology has been its penchant to produce tomes of
systematic theology that are quite lean on existential import or pragmatic
implications. It’s hard to read one of these systematics without asking, “Was
there a real person who wrote this or just some brain?” People of today need
theology for today. They need theology that relates, in some degree, to their
experience. This is the task of theology – it needs to filter down from the
beautiful art of rational superstructures into the nitty-gritty of daily life. I
think Feminist Theology (as well as other liberation theologies) do this in a
meaningful way. Because they pull from experience, they seem to have a more
direct route back to theology’s practical implications.
At the end of the day,
I think there are many ways that Feminist Theology challenges conservative,
evangelicalism. These are just a few of the talking points I have
discovered between the two movements and I hope that I continue to glean more. Furthermore,
I do hope – with all my heart – that the church learns to be more favorable to
women and their insight into the church, theology, and life in general.
Thanks for reading and
keep thinking!
No comments:
Post a Comment