FEMINIST THEOLOGIES: WHAT THEY ARE, WHAT THEY SAY, WHAT THEY DO

Online Workshop Session Description

Feminist theology is often viewed as something that either rejects or undermines the historical, biblical Christian faith. However, for the most part that is not the case. By addressing what feminist theologies are, what they say, and what they do, this three-part online workshop will highlight the contributions of feminist theologians to Christian theology, and the witness they provide in the current day and age.

The dates for the three sessions, along with the details of those sessions, are as follows:

 

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28  | 1:00-2:30 P.M. EASTERN

Session 1: What Feminist Theologies Are

Feminist theologies are sometimes seen as the theology of white Western women, but the broad feminist theological conversation is far more complex and culturally rich than that, including the voices of women from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, as well as the work of Womanist and Mujerista theologians in the U.S. whose work on the intersection of gender and race overlaps with the work of those who identify themselves as feminist theologians. The first session introduces trailblazers in this complex and ever-evolving field, such as Union Presbyterian Seminary's own Katie Cannon, who was a leading Womanist scholar, Ada María Isasi-Díaz, who coined the term "mujerista" for the unique theologies of U.S. Latinas, María Pilar Aquino, leading voice in Latin American feminist theology, Mercy Amba Oduyoye, founder of the Circle of African Women Theologians, Kwok Pui-lan, one of the foremost Asian feminist theologians, and Rosemary Radford Ruether, who has pointed to the perennial problem of dualism that plays a role in various forms of oppression. By highlighting the contributions of these theologians, the workshop will provide an outline of what feminist theologies are.

 

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5  | 1:00-2:30 P.M. EASTERN

Session 2: What Feminist Theologies Say

One of the tasks feminist theologies set for themselves is to critically examine historical Christian ideas of God, Christ, sin, salvation, etc. This workshop focuses on one central conversation in feminist theologies: The way we talk about God. The dominance of male metaphors for speaking of God has been a subject of conversation among feminist theologians because, as Mary Daly once quipped, "If God is male, then the male is God." Or as Elizabeth A. Johnson would indicate, the symbol of God functions to shape what we deem good or evil, and as such, exclusively male symbolism for God, alongside traditional associations of women with sin and evil (symbolized by Eve) support a world in which the good is defined in male terms. The workshop specifically looks at the work of Elizabeth A. Johnson, a leading Roman Catholic feminist theologian in the United States, at the alternatives she offers, and asks the question: Do these alternatives work?

 

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12  | 1:00-2:30 P.M. EASTERN

Session 3: What Feminist Theologies Do

Feminist theologies are focused on the well-being of women and the earth. Issues such as climate change, gender violence, etc., are front and center in feminist theological discussion. This workshop examines the contributions of feminist theologians to the question of climate change on ecological justice, with a specific focus on how the Christian doctrine of creation, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, and the eschatological vision are critically retrieved by feminist theologians in this conversation--indeed, starting in the Middle Ages by mystics such as Hildegard von Bingen, and continuing in the work of modern theologians such as Elizabeth A. Johnson, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Sigridur Gudmarsdottir, and Melanie Harris.