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Discipleship of Equals: A Critical Feminist Ekklesia-logy of Liberation
These essays represent key issues in feminist theology and the feminist religious movement—milestones in the attempts of Christian feminists to reclain their spiritual authority, define biblical religion and the Christian church, and to articulate a feminist religious vision of justice and liberation.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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About the author
Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza
68 books50 followersBorn Elisabeth Schüssler in Tășnad, in the Transylvanian region of the Kingdom of Romania, Professor Schüssler Fiorenza is a German feminist, theologian and Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School. Schüssler Fiorenza identifies as Catholic and her work is generally in the context of Christianity, although much of her work has broader applicability.
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March 2, 2023
A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS ON ‘FEMINIST LIBERATION THEOLOGY’
Author Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza wrote in the Introduction to this 1993 book, “This book represents the cartography of my feminist theological struggles, the mapping of my attempts over the years to reclaim and rename women’s spiritual powers in very concrete particular situations. It took a long time to realize my promise to publish these feminist theological essays…I postponed the work because I was doubtful whether it was possible to frame this collection of essays in a way that could move beyond their primary specific location within a Roman Catholic context so that these essays might also inspire women in other churches and religious communities in their particular struggles. Many of my students, for instance, who are members of ‘liberal’ Protestant churches do not understand why I have spent so much time and energy in a church as blatantly patriarchal as the Roman Catholic denomination… This book is not meant to be a systematic topical discussion. Rather, it seeks to map chronologically … a particular feminist’s struggles in church and theology. As such, it invites readers to reflect on their own history of struggle and vision… Meanwhile, the infiltration of ‘Goddess religion’ and of feminist spirituality movements by ‘new age’ psychologism and spiritual consumerism indicates that like traditional biblical religions these forms of feminist religion are also not immune to the virus of capitalist patriarchy and its uses of religion for their own interests.” (Pg. 1-2)
She continues, “the question is often asked of me: [‘Why don’t you leave the church if you don’t agree with the church’s … opinion and teaching?’ … I have encountered this challenge again and again from right-wing Catholics and feminists alike… I do not want to be misunderstood. I do not argue that feminists must remain members of biblical religions and churches that they experience as oppressive and dehumanizing. Rather, I argue that those of us who have experienced the liberating power of religion must claim this power as our own estates and inheritance. Certainly, religious feminists must decide where they best spend their energy and talents in the struggle against religious patriarchy.” (Pg. 3) Later, she adds, “My own work … obviously is of the ‘reconstructive reformist’ type---a type that draws its theological power… not from ‘secular’ … feminism but from the Christian tradition of … the vision of God’s alternative world, a vision of justice, human dignity, equality, and salvation for all. My hope is that not only women but also bishops share this vision.” (Pg. 10)
She explains, “When I speak of the discipleship of equals I do not mean to argue for women’s access to and integration into patriarchal structures. Nor are I interested in theologically reinscribing (white, heterosexist) feminine identity as divine equality. Neither do I maintain the equality of female with male disciples in following the man Jesus… I want to articulate ekklesia as a DISCIPLESHP OF EQUALS that can make present the basileia, the alternative world of justice and well-being intended by the life-giving power of G-d as reality and vision in the midst of the death-dealing powers of patriarchal oppression and dehumanization… In short… this cartography of struggle insists on women’s spiritual power of naming and shaping religious vision and community. As a Catholic Christian feminist theologian, I argue that the Jewish basileia vision … can be actualized and affirmed only in a space where women attain full spiritual autonomy, power, self-determination, and liberation. Consequently, Christian feminists must first reclaim the ekklesia as our own community, heritage, theology, and spirituality before we are able to name the divine differently.” (Pg. 11-12)
She asserts, “I will argue here that women in professional ministries should oppose the renewal of the permanent diaconate in their dioceses rather than seek to be incorporated into it. For its renewal neither helps women to get equal rights within the church, nor does it further a postconciliar understanding of church. If we want to argue at all for incorporation into hierarchical structure, then we must insist that women be first admitted to the office of bishop. Since appointment of women as bishops, cardinals or even popes is not very likely… women in professional ministry must ask why this is the case and whether established hierarchical structures by definition must exclude women.” (Pg. 25) Later, she adds,
women must insist they are entitled to hold responsible leading positions in the church.” (Pg. 35)
She explains, “I am one of those who approve of the Supreme Court’s [Roe v. Wade] decision. Today I give thanks to God that women no longer have to bleed to death and die in back alleys from botched abortions…. Does this mean that I advocate abortion and think it is right in any circumstance? … Far from it! The justices do not say to women you SHOULD have an abortion; rather, their decision states that women will not incur punitive sanctions if they decide to terminate a first trimester pregnancy. The law does not take away the moral responsibility of women: it calls for it.” (Pg. 50-51)
She suggests, “What, then, could feminists contribute to such a new understanding and dong of theology?... I do not think that women will contribute specifically feminist modes to the process of theology. However, I do think that feminist theologians can contribute to the development of a humanized theology, insofar as they can insist that the so-called feminine values, e.g., concreteness, compassion, sensitivity, love, relating to others, and nurturing or community are human and essentially central Christian values., which have to define … the practice of the Christian churches.” (Pg. 66-67)
She explains, “A radical feminist spirituality proclaims wholeness, healing love, and spiritual power … as enabling power. It proclaims the CODDESS as the source of this power…The Goddess is the giver and nurturer of this life, the dispenser of love and happiness… the Goddess of radical feminist spirituality is not to very different from the God whom Jesus preached and whom he called ‘Father.’… The traditions about the Goddess and those of the New Testament are conflate in the Catholic community’s cult of Mary. The more the Christian understanding of God was patriarchalized… the ore people turned to the figure and cult of Mary.” (Pg. 93)
She argues, “A theological reconstruction of the early Christian movement as a discipleship of equals often meets with the objection that Jesus chose and commissioned twelve men to be the apostolic leaders of the early church… Such an argument … overlooks that the understandings of the early Christian movement as a ‘discipleship of equals,’ as ‘equality in the spirit,’ as ‘equality from below’… are conceptualized as counter-terms to the structures of domination and exclusion that are institutionalized in Greco-Roman patriarchy.” (Pg. 105-106)
She states, “The gospel is not a matter of the individual soul; it is the communal proclamation of the life-giving power of Spirit-Wisdom. It is God’s vision of an alternative community and world… The God of Jesus if divine Wisdom whose power is gentle and whose yoke is light.” (Pg. 198) She says, “Women are not only the ‘silent majority,’ but we are also the ‘silenced majority.’ … Such a deliberate or unintended silencing of women in the church engenders our ecclesial and theological invisibility… No wonder that many Christians believe that God is a male patriarch and that the male sex of Jesus Christ is salvific.” (Pg. 252)
In a 1988 address at a Harvard Divinity School convocation, she said, “Yet I stand here not simply as a woman scholar but also as an educated white woman speaking with a German accent. While my gender position marks me as a member of the silenced majority in church and academy, my racial-cultural position designates me as heir to the privileges of white Western Christianity and to the mindset of the Euro-American academy. As a feminist liberation theologian I am challenged by the voices of my Afro-American, Native American, Asian-American, and Hispanic sisters to use these privileges in the interest of women suffering from multiple oppressions.” (Pg. 279-280)
She suggests, “We must keep alive the burning indignation at the destructive powers of patriarchy n women’s lives---an indignation that fuels the courage and faith necessary in the struggle for survival and liberation. Only if we keep this holy anger alive will we sustain the courage and love that is necessary to work for the conversion and transformation of the patriarchal church into the discipleship of equals.” (Pg. 331)
This book will be of great interest to those studying feminist theology.
Author Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza wrote in the Introduction to this 1993 book, “This book represents the cartography of my feminist theological struggles, the mapping of my attempts over the years to reclaim and rename women’s spiritual powers in very concrete particular situations. It took a long time to realize my promise to publish these feminist theological essays…I postponed the work because I was doubtful whether it was possible to frame this collection of essays in a way that could move beyond their primary specific location within a Roman Catholic context so that these essays might also inspire women in other churches and religious communities in their particular struggles. Many of my students, for instance, who are members of ‘liberal’ Protestant churches do not understand why I have spent so much time and energy in a church as blatantly patriarchal as the Roman Catholic denomination… This book is not meant to be a systematic topical discussion. Rather, it seeks to map chronologically … a particular feminist’s struggles in church and theology. As such, it invites readers to reflect on their own history of struggle and vision… Meanwhile, the infiltration of ‘Goddess religion’ and of feminist spirituality movements by ‘new age’ psychologism and spiritual consumerism indicates that like traditional biblical religions these forms of feminist religion are also not immune to the virus of capitalist patriarchy and its uses of religion for their own interests.” (Pg. 1-2)
She continues, “the question is often asked of me: [‘Why don’t you leave the church if you don’t agree with the church’s … opinion and teaching?’ … I have encountered this challenge again and again from right-wing Catholics and feminists alike… I do not want to be misunderstood. I do not argue that feminists must remain members of biblical religions and churches that they experience as oppressive and dehumanizing. Rather, I argue that those of us who have experienced the liberating power of religion must claim this power as our own estates and inheritance. Certainly, religious feminists must decide where they best spend their energy and talents in the struggle against religious patriarchy.” (Pg. 3) Later, she adds, “My own work … obviously is of the ‘reconstructive reformist’ type---a type that draws its theological power… not from ‘secular’ … feminism but from the Christian tradition of … the vision of God’s alternative world, a vision of justice, human dignity, equality, and salvation for all. My hope is that not only women but also bishops share this vision.” (Pg. 10)
She explains, “When I speak of the discipleship of equals I do not mean to argue for women’s access to and integration into patriarchal structures. Nor are I interested in theologically reinscribing (white, heterosexist) feminine identity as divine equality. Neither do I maintain the equality of female with male disciples in following the man Jesus… I want to articulate ekklesia as a DISCIPLESHP OF EQUALS that can make present the basileia, the alternative world of justice and well-being intended by the life-giving power of G-d as reality and vision in the midst of the death-dealing powers of patriarchal oppression and dehumanization… In short… this cartography of struggle insists on women’s spiritual power of naming and shaping religious vision and community. As a Catholic Christian feminist theologian, I argue that the Jewish basileia vision … can be actualized and affirmed only in a space where women attain full spiritual autonomy, power, self-determination, and liberation. Consequently, Christian feminists must first reclaim the ekklesia as our own community, heritage, theology, and spirituality before we are able to name the divine differently.” (Pg. 11-12)
She asserts, “I will argue here that women in professional ministries should oppose the renewal of the permanent diaconate in their dioceses rather than seek to be incorporated into it. For its renewal neither helps women to get equal rights within the church, nor does it further a postconciliar understanding of church. If we want to argue at all for incorporation into hierarchical structure, then we must insist that women be first admitted to the office of bishop. Since appointment of women as bishops, cardinals or even popes is not very likely… women in professional ministry must ask why this is the case and whether established hierarchical structures by definition must exclude women.” (Pg. 25) Later, she adds,
women must insist they are entitled to hold responsible leading positions in the church.” (Pg. 35)
She explains, “I am one of those who approve of the Supreme Court’s [Roe v. Wade] decision. Today I give thanks to God that women no longer have to bleed to death and die in back alleys from botched abortions…. Does this mean that I advocate abortion and think it is right in any circumstance? … Far from it! The justices do not say to women you SHOULD have an abortion; rather, their decision states that women will not incur punitive sanctions if they decide to terminate a first trimester pregnancy. The law does not take away the moral responsibility of women: it calls for it.” (Pg. 50-51)
She suggests, “What, then, could feminists contribute to such a new understanding and dong of theology?... I do not think that women will contribute specifically feminist modes to the process of theology. However, I do think that feminist theologians can contribute to the development of a humanized theology, insofar as they can insist that the so-called feminine values, e.g., concreteness, compassion, sensitivity, love, relating to others, and nurturing or community are human and essentially central Christian values., which have to define … the practice of the Christian churches.” (Pg. 66-67)
She explains, “A radical feminist spirituality proclaims wholeness, healing love, and spiritual power … as enabling power. It proclaims the CODDESS as the source of this power…The Goddess is the giver and nurturer of this life, the dispenser of love and happiness… the Goddess of radical feminist spirituality is not to very different from the God whom Jesus preached and whom he called ‘Father.’… The traditions about the Goddess and those of the New Testament are conflate in the Catholic community’s cult of Mary. The more the Christian understanding of God was patriarchalized… the ore people turned to the figure and cult of Mary.” (Pg. 93)
She argues, “A theological reconstruction of the early Christian movement as a discipleship of equals often meets with the objection that Jesus chose and commissioned twelve men to be the apostolic leaders of the early church… Such an argument … overlooks that the understandings of the early Christian movement as a ‘discipleship of equals,’ as ‘equality in the spirit,’ as ‘equality from below’… are conceptualized as counter-terms to the structures of domination and exclusion that are institutionalized in Greco-Roman patriarchy.” (Pg. 105-106)
She states, “The gospel is not a matter of the individual soul; it is the communal proclamation of the life-giving power of Spirit-Wisdom. It is God’s vision of an alternative community and world… The God of Jesus if divine Wisdom whose power is gentle and whose yoke is light.” (Pg. 198) She says, “Women are not only the ‘silent majority,’ but we are also the ‘silenced majority.’ … Such a deliberate or unintended silencing of women in the church engenders our ecclesial and theological invisibility… No wonder that many Christians believe that God is a male patriarch and that the male sex of Jesus Christ is salvific.” (Pg. 252)
In a 1988 address at a Harvard Divinity School convocation, she said, “Yet I stand here not simply as a woman scholar but also as an educated white woman speaking with a German accent. While my gender position marks me as a member of the silenced majority in church and academy, my racial-cultural position designates me as heir to the privileges of white Western Christianity and to the mindset of the Euro-American academy. As a feminist liberation theologian I am challenged by the voices of my Afro-American, Native American, Asian-American, and Hispanic sisters to use these privileges in the interest of women suffering from multiple oppressions.” (Pg. 279-280)
She suggests, “We must keep alive the burning indignation at the destructive powers of patriarchy n women’s lives---an indignation that fuels the courage and faith necessary in the struggle for survival and liberation. Only if we keep this holy anger alive will we sustain the courage and love that is necessary to work for the conversion and transformation of the patriarchal church into the discipleship of equals.” (Pg. 331)
This book will be of great interest to those studying feminist theology.
Displaying 1 of 1 review