(2013) "A Fragment of Christology: Feminism as a Moment of Chalcedonian Humanism" Australian eJournal of Theology 20.1, 1-17. (original) (raw)
Feminist Christology and Counterproposal.pdf
2022
If God is male, then male is God." 1 This famous dictum of American Professor Mary Daly, (1928-2010) "radical lesbian feminist," in her own words, and recognized early leader in feminist theology brought to the fore the question of perceived patriarchy and androcentrism in Christian theology, identity and tradition, and in the Scripture itself. The new theology thus conceived elevates the "woman's experience" and her full humanity within a religious discourse in a reversal of the traditional male-centered top-down approach of the Christian historical essentialism. 2 Through liberation hermeneutics, it aims at realizing "an emancipatory ecclesial and theological praxis" which carries with it weight-bearing implications in other areas of society. 3 In that praxis, feminist Christology holds a prominent place, for Christ's salvific work is at the heart of Christian theology. Greatly expanding and ever morphing over the past six decades, feminist spirituality has experienced an egregious diversification in terms of theories of interpretation and analytical critiques regarding women's decried gendered inferiority and oppression, and the theological methodologies employed. Four waves have been identified with the longest lasting dating back to the 1800s. The second-wave feminism, from the 1960s to the early 1990s, grew out of the "woman experience" and claim for dignified selfhood in family, religion and society by mainly the white, middle-class and heterosexual women. Other feminists criticized it as failing to unify the pluralistic aspects across 1
New Blackfriars, 2005
The Incarnation of Christ, known by the eastern fathers as Christological perichoresis as a theological idea becomes experienced ecological reality, if we realize its kenotic, Christological, relating cosmic dimensions. It shows how we can bring together different entities, such as God and nature, look at them in unity, as the one person of Christ, and acknowledge the perichoresis between divine and human and nature. Christ lived as one person: both God-Creator and creature. If ecofeminist theologies need a place in the Christian church, they must seek a Christological salvific foundation. Our encounter with God in Christ is a transformation and a renewal of ourselves so as to discern the will of God and follow it; a kenosis of our egocentric self so that Christ to be reborn in us. Paul sees the encounter with God as a rebirth, not as intellectually gained knowledge. 1. Feminist Christology 'Can a male saviour save women?' (Ruether, 1993) ii Classical Christology brings together two ideas: that of a messianic king of a time of redemption and that of divine wisdom that grounds the cosmos uniting the human and the divine. The patriarchalization of those issues happens by repression in both Judaism and Christianity of the female symbol. Christianity changed, within the messianic renewal movement of first century Judaism into the new religion of the Roman Empire. Women could not represent Christ, the leader of the existing social hierarchy who appeared as male God whom only a man can represent. In Aristotelian biology (Aristotle, 1993, 1994)) iii procreative power was known as only male-capacity; the female was the 'passive recipient-incubator' of the male seed that had generative power. (Ruether, 1993) iv In medieval scholasticism this Christology is argued both on symbolic and biological contexts. The male, thought to be the generic sex of the human species, represents the fullness of human nature; woman is defective both physically and morally. The incarnation of Logos (Word) into a male was thought to be an ontological necessity. Only the male can represent Christ, and his own representatives must be males. A Christology that identifies the maleness of the historical Christ and of the divine Logos, with normative humanity excludes women to represent Christ, and sees them as second-class citizens in both creation and redemption. Υet Christianity offers alternative Christologies. For androgynous Christologies (Ruether, 1993) v the split of maleness-femaleness ends in redeemed humanity. Their root lies in the belief that Christ redeems the entire human nature, male and female, an idea grounded on Gal. 1.28. (Ruether, 1993) vi Behind the androgynous Christologies lies often the idea of an original androgyne that existed, according to which Adam contained both male and female. The splitting of the female from the male side of Adam results in the fall of humanity and the advent of sex and sin. Christ, the new androgynous Adam, helps the redeemed to regain their humanity. In Christ, the male gains a model of androgyny of a person both commanding and nurturing. While the female relates to a mothering person, she does not gain a comparable androgyny. The concept of perichoresis emerges at the time between Aristotle and Aquinas. Despite the patriarchal, military structure of social life, a part of mainstream theological anthropology recognized the androgynous anthropology and Christology. According to Cyril of Alexandria, in an anthropocentric but not androcentric text the human being man or woman, yet not just man is an icon of godly ruling on earth: 'θεοπρεποῦς ἐξουσίας εἰκὼν ἐπὶ γῆς ὁ ἄνθρωπος.' (Cyril, PG 69.20). vii John Chrysostom sums up the work of Christ in whom 'all things hold together (Colossians 1:15-17) who is everything for all: father, brother, bridegroom, dwelling, clothing, root, friend, head, sister, and mother. Christ was born of a virgin according to the scriptures, as no human being has ever been born. The mother of Christ did not have sexual intercourse with any man. Christ incarnated received a human nature from his mother, but he did not receive a genetic code from a human father. Then humanly speaking Christ could be seen as not a complete human being,