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Ett i Kristus : Jesu könade kropp i tre generationer av feministisk kristologi

Lundin, Johanna LU (2016) TLVM76 20152
Centre for Theology and Religious Studies
Abstract
In this thesis, I examine changes within the feminist discourse on Christology. I seek to answer the questions ‘how can we understand the gender of Jesus Christ and how it does affect our salvation’? To answer the question, I make a comparison between what I propose are two generations of feminist theology. I first present the theology of Rosemary Radford Ruether. Ruether’s Sexism and God-Talk is today a feminist classic and her question “Can a Male Savior Save Women?” is often referred to in feminist Christological discourse. Her feminist criticism is of the patriarchal history of the Church, which has seen the masculinity of Christ as the representation for both the divine and for perfected humanity. Ruether’s feminist solution is to... (More)
In this thesis, I examine changes within the feminist discourse on Christology. I seek to answer the questions ‘how can we understand the gender of Jesus Christ and how it does affect our salvation’? To answer the question, I make a comparison between what I propose are two generations of feminist theology. I first present the theology of Rosemary Radford Ruether. Ruether’s Sexism and God-Talk is today a feminist classic and her question “Can a Male Savior Save Women?” is often referred to in feminist Christological discourse. Her feminist criticism is of the patriarchal history of the Church, which has seen the masculinity of Christ as the representation for both the divine and for perfected humanity. Ruether’s feminist solution is to return to the Jesus of the synoptic gospels; here, Jesus reveals the kenosis of patriarchy and therefore becomes an inspiration for feminist liberation theology.
I then present the second generation of feminism, the Radical orthodox project. This generation is here represented by Graham Ward and Sarah Coakley. Both of them strive for Christian Orthodoxy and use sources from the tradition to create a theological understanding of gender. Graham Ward presents the theory of ‘transcorporeality’ and states that the incarnation reveals a new way of being a bodily creature with gender. Sarah Coakley seeks to prove that gender is a category of relationship. Being a person with a gender is being a person with desire. The desire becomes saved by opening oneself to God, like Jesus Christ did.
Through examining the change of discourse within the feminist discussion, I present a possible means of continuing the feminist project of understanding the gender of Jesus Christ. I here state that Jesus could be understood as a human being of prelapsarian gender – meaning the idea of Jesus Christ as the second Adam. I furthermore state that patriarchal hierarchies are a part of being a fallen humanity, that our gender categories have nothing to do with salvation or the resemblance of God. I proclaim that it is possible to rather understand gender as a human likeness of divine desire. Metanoia, which Ruether presents as the answer to Salvation, can be viewed as the striving for justice and equality, and for divine life. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Lundin, Johanna LU
supervisor
organization
course
TLVM76 20152
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
soteriologi, kön, Ward, Coakley, Ruether, Kristologi, feminism
language
Swedish
id
8572447
date added to LUP
2016-05-11 09:00:26
date last changed
2016-05-11 09:00:26
@misc{8572447,
  abstract     = {{In this thesis, I examine changes within the feminist discourse on Christology. I seek to answer the questions ‘how can we understand the gender of Jesus Christ and how it does affect our salvation’? To answer the question, I make a comparison between what I propose are two generations of feminist theology. I first present the theology of Rosemary Radford Ruether. Ruether’s Sexism and God-Talk is today a feminist classic and her question “Can a Male Savior Save Women?” is often referred to in feminist Christological discourse. Her feminist criticism is of the patriarchal history of the Church, which has seen the masculinity of Christ as the representation for both the divine and for perfected humanity. Ruether’s feminist solution is to return to the Jesus of the synoptic gospels; here, Jesus reveals the kenosis of patriarchy and therefore becomes an inspiration for feminist liberation theology.
I then present the second generation of feminism, the Radical orthodox project. This generation is here represented by Graham Ward and Sarah Coakley. Both of them strive for Christian Orthodoxy and use sources from the tradition to create a theological understanding of gender. Graham Ward presents the theory of ‘transcorporeality’ and states that the incarnation reveals a new way of being a bodily creature with gender. Sarah Coakley seeks to prove that gender is a category of relationship. Being a person with a gender is being a person with desire. The desire becomes saved by opening oneself to God, like Jesus Christ did.
Through examining the change of discourse within the feminist discussion, I present a possible means of continuing the feminist project of understanding the gender of Jesus Christ. I here state that Jesus could be understood as a human being of prelapsarian gender – meaning the idea of Jesus Christ as the second Adam. I furthermore state that patriarchal hierarchies are a part of being a fallen humanity, that our gender categories have nothing to do with salvation or the resemblance of God. I proclaim that it is possible to rather understand gender as a human likeness of divine desire. Metanoia, which Ruether presents as the answer to Salvation, can be viewed as the striving for justice and equality, and for divine life.}},
  author       = {{Lundin, Johanna}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Ett i Kristus : Jesu könade kropp i tre generationer av feministisk kristologi}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}