Reuther

• Reuther

  • a catholic feminist
  • aimed to move Christianity away from the patriarchy that has grown over time
  • the focus for Christians should be God, not male leaders
• Jesus’ challenge to the male warrior-messiah expectation - Reuther

  • although the messiah was expected to be a liberator of the line of David, she said Jesus was the messiah
  • there was no expectation of the incarnation or of salvation
  • Jesus was not a military leader, he rejected use of force to win arguments
  • the Kingdom of God was a place for handing, not power
  • the military (and therefore male) view of God is not needed, the fact that Jesus was biologically a man does not matter
• Jesus as the incarnation of wisdom - Reuther

  • we should recognise in Jesus that feminine aspect of God
  • Jesus’ maleness was not essential, he could have come as either gender
• Can a male saviour save women? - NO

  • salvation required is to ‘buy in’ to the Christian message, why should women be expected to buy into patriarchy?
  • Reuther - the Catholic Church’s view that women cannot be priests is inherited from Aquinas’ view that women are defective - if women are defective in some way, how can they be saved by a male saviour?
• Should Christianity be changed or abandoned? - Changed (Reuther)

  • men can be bright alongside women to help make the change happen
  • the idea that God is both female/male is celebrated
  • God can be maintained and redefined
  • the Catholic Church can be changed from within
  • God the creator differs from the God that the Church has emphasised