Gender, Theology, and Christian Feminism

150 vocabulary practice flashcards covering gender roles, biblical figures, feminist theology, and major theologians from the lecture notes.

Three Traditional Wifely Responsibilities

In traditional Christian belief, the three roles of the wife: obey the husband, support him as her main aim, and care for the children.

Ephesians 5 Husband as Head Quote

New Testament passage stating: "For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour."

Ephesians 5 Wives Submit Quote

New Testament passage stating: "Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything."

Traditional Christian Marriage Vows

Marriage vows in which the woman promises to 'love, honour and obey' her husband.

Progressive View on Wifely Obedience

The viewpoint that the Bible is too old-fashioned and was written a long time ago, meaning modern women no longer promise to obey their husbands.

Imago Dei

The theological concept that all human beings are created equally in the image of God.

Galatians 3:28 Quote

Scripture stating: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Jesus Christ."

Galatians 3:28 Meaning

A fundamentally egalitarian principle showing that regardless of race or class, all people are united and equal through Jesus Christ in imago dei.

Catholic Position on Gender Equality

The official Catholic Church position defining men and women as "equal but different."

Thomas Aquinas on Women

Aquinas' declaration regarding female capacity: "Women are inferior in strength and intelligence."

God Called He

An argument supporting the claim that the Bible is sexist based on the divine being addressed using masculine pronouns.

Eve's Creation from Adam's Rib

A biblical creation detail used as evidence that the Bible is sexist by subordinate framing of woman's origin.

Eve and Original Sin

The biblical attribution of blame to Eve for temptation and Original Sin.

Adultery Commandment Injustice

The argument that "Thou shall not commit adultery" was historically meant only for women due to hermeneutical injustice.

Trinitarian Male Language

The patriarchal formulation of the Trinity using male titles: FATHER, SON, holy spirit.

Pre-Christian Patriarchy

The argument that patriarchy itself is sexist because almost all societies were patriarchal before Jesus was born, explaining why few women are mentioned in the Old Testament.

Non-Christian Patriarchal Norms

Evidence that non-Christian societies are equally patriarchal, such as requiring virginity in unmarried women but NOT in men.

Male Authorship of Scripture

The fact that men wrote almost all of the Bible, which patriarchally framed its contents.

Blame People, Not the Bible

The core argument asserting that social sexism stems from human society and authors rather than the Bible itself.

Jane the Baptist Hypothesis

A rhetorical argument asking if anyone would have listened to a female prophet, showing that sexist writers ignored Jesus' efforts to elevate female status.

Biblical Infallibility

The belief that the Bible is the exact word of God, meaning that ignoring any part constitutes a transgression against God's word.

Protestant View on Women's Status

The view that the status of women in the church and society can change alongside societal progress.

Catholic View on Women's Status Change

The Catholic position refuting the idea that the theological status of women changes with society.

Genesis 2:23

Scripture declaring of Eve: "she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."

Genesis 2:24

Scripture declaring: "That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh."

Genesis 3:6

Scripture describing the forbidden fruit as "Desirable for gaining wisdom."

Miriam

An Old Testament prophetess remembered as strong due to her submission to God and key role in the movement of the Israelites.

Miriam's Challenge

Miriam challenging her brother Moses, who held primary authority, an action considered transgressive for her era.

Deborah

A prophetess, military leader, and the only female Judge in the Hebrew Bible who executed God's words and liberated the Israelites.

Deborah's Impact

Deborah's achievements in challenging anachronistic patriarchal biases and actively celebrating female intellectualism.

Delilah

A biblical figure remembered as strong and determined, who had an affair with Samson and was blamed for it.

Delilah's Historical Perception

The historical perception of Delilah as sly, which resulted from her being blamed for Samson's downfall.

Esther

A Jewish Queen in the Persian empire who spoke against a powerful official and saved the Jewish community within a patriarchal system.

Martha

The sibling of Mary and Lazarus who prepared the Last Supper and executed extensive domestic duties.

Women at the Resurrection

Six women present at Jesus' resurrection, four named Mary, who were the first to proclaim the resurrection to the world.

Joanna

An influential woman present at the resurrection who had high social standing due to her marriage, unlike most lower-ranked women present.

Priscilla

A New Testament female figure characterized as strong and determined.

Mulieris Dignitatum

A 1988 papal encyclical by Pope John Paul II meaning "The Dignity and Vocation of Women."

Mulieris Dignitatum Conclusion

Pope John Paul II's stance concluding in a complementarian framework that men and women are "equal but different."

Complementarianism

The theological position that God created men and women with equal worth but distinct, complementary roles and strengths.

Mulieris Dignitatum on Caring

The assertion in Pope John Paul II's encyclical that women are naturally better at caring and are "natural mothers."

Mulieris Dignitatum on Virginity and Motherhood

The teaching in Pope John Paul II's encyclical that both virginity and motherhood are vocations to be admired.

Mulieris Dignitatum on Saints

The encyclical's point that women's special strengths are illustrated through the lives of female saints like St Teresa of Avila.

Ann Oakley on Socialization

Oakley's statement that: "Women are socialised to think they want to be mothers."

Ann Oakley on Maternal Instinct

Oakley's critique stating that there is "No such thing as maternal instinct."

Simone de Beauvoir on Motherhood

Beauvoir's quote stating: "Motherhood leaves women 'crushed and unable to develop as individual.'"

Simone de Beauvoir on Womanhood

Beauvoir's core philosophical quote: "One isn't born but becomes a woman."

Pope John Paul II on Motherhood

The Pope's view stating: "Motherhood is liberating; it allows a woman to be her best self."

Judith Butler on Motherhood Restrictions

Butler's view that many women find motherhood restricting, preventing career advancement and personal identity development.

Patriarchal Society

A male-centric society in which men hold the highest social roles and primary benefits based on biological sex.

Sex

A biological biological categorization set in genetic code and determined by chromosomes.

Gender

An identity and social performative role, distinct from biological sex.

Ultimate Fulfilment of Female Potential

A concept originating from Mulieris Dignitatum claiming that female telos is epitomized by motherhood.

Augustine's Natural Law on Reproduction

The Primary Precept of reproduction exclusive to female biological function, used to argue that female potential centers on motherhood.

Catholic Female Telos

The doctrine derived from Pope John Paul II stating that because women are "natural mothers", the pinnacle of womanhood is maternity.

Oakley's Counter-Argument to Biological Urges

Oakley's argument that maternal instinct is quasi-biological and a product of social conditioning rather than an intrinsic urge.

Beauvoir on Historical Female Potential

Beauvoir's argument that during epochs like monarchies, female individuality was reduced to the biological function of bearing children.

Protestant Female Ordination

The granting of priesthood to women in Protestantism, serving as a symbolic act showing holy pathways to fulfill female potential outside motherhood.

Gender Performativity (Butler)

Judith Butler's theory that gender is a social pathology forcing women to conform to social roles, such as motherhood.

Mary Daly on Father-God

Daly's concept that the Father-God image reinforces patriarchal structures and directly causes female oppression.

Mary Daly on Religion

Daly's position that religion functions primarily as a tool constructed to oppress women.

The Unholy Trinity

Mary Daly's term for three interconnected patriarchal horrors: rape, genocide, and war.

Mary Daly on the Biblical God

Daly's characterization of the God in the Bible as an entity who dominates, rewards, and punishes, limiting spiritual growth.

Mary Daly on the Virgin Birth

Daly's argument that Jesus' conception via the Virgin Mary was used to legitimise the "rape of all women and all matter."

If God is male, then male is God

Mary Daly's famous aphorism asserting that male divine language implies men possess Godlike authority over women.

Rapism

Mary Daly's concept describing the culture of rape and violent oppression used to imprison women in patriarchy.

Just-World Fallacy in Sexual Violence

A cognitive bias where women are conditioned to believe rape victims deserve attack due to factors like revealing clothing.

The First Rape (Daly)

Mary Daly's term for the forced conception of the Virgin Mary.

Isaiah 13:16 Prophetic Metaphor

A biblical passage where rape is used as a metaphor for war and revenge: "their wives will be raped."

Armchair Rape

Mary Daly's characterization of pornography as a form of normalized male sexual violence.

Ravishment of the Tender

A phrase by Tennessee Williams cited by Daly to describe the normalization of sexual aggression in phallocentric media.

Judges 19:24 Passage

A biblical story where a host offers his virgin daughter and concubine to be abused by scoundrels to protect a male guest.

Karl Barth on Scripture

Barth's view that the Bible is not the word of God directly, but the witness to the word of God.

Karl Barth on Biblical Fallibility

Barth's argument that the Bible is fallible because it was written down by men, serving as a source of moral truth rather than moral truth itself.

Gender Caste System

Mary Daly's term for the patriarchal hierarchy that gives unequal power to men, maintained through widespread social consent.

Daly's Link Between Rape and Genocide

Daly's theory that genocide is male sexual violence taken to the extreme, reducing humans to mere victims.

Group-Think in Ideologies

Daly's comparison showing both Catholic doctrine and Nazi ideology disdain alternative critical thought in favor of strict ideological cohesion.

Marginal Ostracization

Daly's comparison between fascist ideological cleansing and the Catholic denial of ordained ministry to non-dominant groups.

Daly on Jewish Chosenness

Daly's critique of the Jewish belief in being God's chosen, arguing its insider/outsider dynamic contributed to fascist mentalities.

Phallocentric War

Mary Daly's view of war as an inevitable feature of male politics, giving men opportunities to display courage, power, and violence.

Male-Warrior Hypothesis

Mark Van Vugt's evolutionary theory that men have an evolutionary predisposition toward collective aggression when facing external threats.

Collateral Damage

A military euphemism used in phallocentric bureaucracy to conceal the true horrors of war.

Overseas Contingency Operation

President Obama's euphemism used to sanitize and conceal military aggression.

Corruption of Language (Daly)

Daly's point that church and state language hypocritically labels military killing as 'just' while condemning abortion as 'unjust.'

Catholic Just War Doctrine

The Catholic Church's teaching that killing in war is not a sin if it meets just war conditions as a last resort.

To be female is to be deviant by definition

Mary Daly's assertion regarding female standing within male-constructed societal standards.

Refusing to be Good

Mary Daly's statement that female liberation begins when women refuse to conform to patriarchal expectations of being 'good.'

Quintessence

The 5th essence in Daly's spiritual framework, through which women experience nature and true spirituality outside Christianity.

Rosemary Radford Ruether

A Catholic feminist theologian who advocates for the "full humanity" of women and wrote 'Sexism and God-talk'.

Sexism and God-talk

The major work written by Rosemary Radford Ruether subtitled 'Towards a Feminist Theology.'

Gender Hermeneutics

Ruether's strategy of revising language to remove sexist terms (e.g., Businessman to Business Executive, Father to Parent).

Ruether's Reform Goals

Ruether's demands that the Catholic Church ordain women, revise its abortion stances, and challenge patriarchal structures.

Eco-Feminism

Ruether's theological approach connecting the patriarchal oppression of women to the exploitation of the Earth.

Inclusive Trinitarian Language

Ruether's proposal to reform divine terms in scripture, changing 'Father' to 'Parent' and 'Son' to 'Child.'

Reinterpretation vs Replacement

The divide between the Catholic Church's reinterpretation of texts and Ruether's stance that patriarchal elements must be removed or replaced.

Davidic Messiah

The traditional Jewish expectation of the Messiah as a militaristic conqueror and warlord from King David's lineage.

King David

The Abrahamic leader who united the twelve tribes of Israel, making Jerusalem its religious and political capital.

Davidic Covenant

God's promise that David's royal lineage would endure forever, leading Jews to expect a king to overthrow Roman rule.

Mashiach

The Hebrew word meaning 'the anointed one', historically referring to pouring holy oil on a newly crowned king or high priest.

Gender Constraints of Mashiach

Linguistic and scriptural barriers requiring the Messiah to be male due to Hebrew gender rules and patrilineal lineage requirements.