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Zachary Larkin-Rall

Dr. Mabee

REL 3140

16 January 2020

Module One

Feminism and Christianity is a book designed to illustrate the issues that feminists have with the practice of Christianity. Yes, both started at different times in the past, but both have interlinked in some ways that have caused problems. When Christianity was first being practiced, men were typically in a position of higher status or importance. Men were often the ones with jobs, while women were thought of the person to take care of the men when they went home. Women were under appreciated as well during the early stages of Christianity. Japinga’s view of this problem firmly states that feminists have developed ways to provide arguments and detail all the problems that bible and Christianity pose. I agree with the stance during the book. Women were and are being treated poorly when it comes to biblical texts as well as how they are represented during these texts. Their representation has carried with them through all the years that Christianity has been practiced. Japinga has detailed that man was created before woman, almost as if an award is given to men because they were created first. Man would not be who they are without the help of women. I think this is the message Japinga was trying to illustrate to the readers of this book. That women should have a prominent place in the bible and Christianity. These feminists have key ideas of “feminist theology”, they have issues when it comes to certain moments when reading the bible, they have developed strategies when it comes to dealing with biblical texts, they’ve proven they can deal with the “strong male language” in biblical texts, they have their own idea of how women sin over their male counterparts, and they address the problem of the “male savior”. Lynn Japinga provides a strong stance and provides an exemplary amount of information that allows the reader to gain knowledge about the topic of how feminists deal with the practice of Christianity.

Feminists around the world that practice Christianity all agree on the basic idea of feminism, however they don’t have identical ideas on the bible. This can be from the ways each member of the feminist group was raised or on their personal belief of the bible, there is plenty of variables that go into the practice. Let’s start of feminism and what it means, feminists have two tasks in mind that all of them agree on. The first task is the resistance to everything that oppresses everything (human beings). Thus, allowing men and women alike to live freely and most importantly equal. Things from equal pay, the opportunity to gain basic rights that men have, and equal opportunities for jobs. Secondly, the sense of inner strength a clear sense of identity, and freedom from stereotypes all help establish a basic understanding of how women want others to view them. The feminist theology is not all that complex, women just want their

voice to be heard. “Feminist theology asks how the Christian tradition might be different if it listened to the women’s voice” (Japinga 17). This happens to be an important thing for women, allowing the world to hear the voice of a woman in a position to help for the greater good. All voices should be heard and given the chance to be acted on, not just a male’s opinion. With only a male’s voice being expressed, feminists saw the world differently. They noticed the sexist language in a hymn or in liturgy and felt like they weren’t included. Feminist theology begins with the “assumption that women are fully human, made in God’s image, and loved and valued by God” (Japinga 20). All humans are created equally, regardless of gender. The issues matter a great deal because they are speaking about human lives and the holy. Traditional and feminist theology are quite different in the way that traditional only focuses on the physical benefits women have to offer, instead of the intellectual benefits that they can bring to the world. “Traditional theology has been written by men, for men, about men. Women always have to ask how they are included, if at all. Women’s experience has been ignored or neglected in the doing of theology, as if they do not exist or are an afterthought. The Christian tradition has valued women as wives, mothers, or virgins, but rarely for their intellect, vocation, or contribution to society. Women have had neither the freedom to choose nor the choices men have assumed were a part of being human” (Japinga 22). Women have intellectual qualities that can help not only the world, but the world of Christianity. Feminism and Christianity have their differences when it comes to how men and women are treated.

Reading the bible provides its own challenges from understanding and how it was written. This book, the bible provides numerous interpretations Some people conclude that the bible empowers women to resist oppression and ultimately sets them free. The problem with the bible is that it’s incredibly one sided when it comes to how Christians believe and act. The bible tells Christians how to act and what to believe. “if the bible challenges women to live out roles they do not like, such as submission to men, the problem is their lack of obedience, not the bible’s error or sexism” (Japinga 36). The lack of obedience is not the issue when it comes to the bible. The problem is how the bible is depicting women and what their roles should be when it comes to everyday life. Jesus did not include women amongst any of the twelve disciples. With women having less ability in the Christian community, they are told not to speak in any church because Adam was formed before Eve. Just because women were created after men does not mean they should be treated less fairly. Women are seen as sexual objects and are often pictured at home, taking care of things around the house. The bible considers them the source of evil and should only be in the house. “It is no surprise that women are seen as sexual objects unfit for the workplace and leadership when the bible considers them the source of evil and tells them they belong at home” (Japinga 38). On top of people thinking that women are viewed as sexual objects, their menstrual cycles are views as rituals because of their uncleanness. Certain strategies have been developed for dealing with biblical texts. The most obvious one for feminists to do is to choose what to believe. Some of the text is incredibly sexist and can viewed how the person reading it wants to interpret it. “The fact that the bible reflects those patriarchal assumptions does not mean that patriarchy is God’s will, but rather that the

authors could not escape their cultural contexts” (Japinga 47). The culture surrounding the authors of the bible at the time were under very heavy patriarchy. So only males were given credit and were the ones that were in power. Reading with suspicion and trust while reading the bible will provide you with the ability to pick out information that means something to you as the reader. This will also develop your faith and create a stronger connection with God and the bible. “she said she read the bible with a certain suspicion, with a wary eye on who is doing the telling, and who is left out, marginalized, or demanded… ‘I soon realized that reading with suspicion worked best when I also read with trust, with belief enough to nourish my developing faith” (Japinga 53). Key ideas when it came to read the bible and other biblical texts allowed for feminists to tackle the ongoing problem of the men being valued higher than women. Strategies were developed for reading the bible so only the important information to the reader came out.

The ides of the “strong male language” illustrates that men are a lot closer to God than women are. Feminist theologians believe that “language about God matters a great deal” (Japinga 56). Often, we use metaphors to understand the bible, but not all are true. The bible itself even contains numerous metaphors throughout. The book of ​Offsea, ​offers a useful attitude to stereotypical feminine imagery of God as a female figure. Sin has different consequences for men and women and feminists had something to say about it. Gender roles are one of the most significant issues in culture and religion. For example, in parts of the world societies still use the patriarchy system to govern areas. This method proves to be a problem because different standards are set in place. Both men and women can be assertive, this is true. However, because of the way culture was when then bible was written, women sound like they are the problem once again. Men are viewed as the type of human who is a “go-getter” while women are viewed as “bossy”. When humans were created, sin had entered the world. When women accepted the fact that the men were in charge, there was no problem. Although when women did not accept that, sin was created. “Genesis 1 account clearly states that both male and female were created in God’s image. There is no evidence in biblical texts that women possessed fewer intellectual, physical, or moral abilities” (Japinga 79). To this day, there is no evidence that women can’t do what men can. It is absurd that some people still believe that it’s the case. Females believe that they’re not to blame fully for the portrayal of themselves. Sin is everywhere. Sin is created in every relationship no matter how strong the bond is. Sin is often the product of subjection and dominance. “Feminist theologians believe that sin pervades all human relationships and abilities. It damages self-confidence, it fosters pride and arrogance, it distorts what should be mutuality and trust into domination and subjection” (Japinga 91). However, critics in patriarchal societies argue that feminists overemphasize social sin and oppression. They also argue that feminists fail to see that individual sin is an offense of God that requires personal repentance. Finally, the issue of the “male savior” is addressed. The male savior or Jesus is looked at as the “male role model”. Feminists have a problem with this. Feminists believe that the problem with sexism and the lack of respect throughout the Christian

community is the idea of the male role model. Jesus taking up a male body was not a theological necessity.

In Lynn Japinga’s book ​Feminism and Christianity,​ the topic of feminism scattered throughout the bible is incredibly shocking. Sexism is extremely prominent and very real. Women were not treated as equals during the time of the bible being created. I think that because of the cultural behaviors of society during this time, is why women are depicted as the evil in the world, the ones who created sin, and those who only belong in positions of less power.

Amil Bajrektarevic 

Dr. Charles Mabee 

REL-3140 

17 January 2020 

Lynn Japinga and Feminism in Christianity 

  In the historical book “Feminism and Christianity: An Essential Guide”, Lynn Japinga  challenges the thoughts of readers and Christians around the world through the use of true  stories and perspective. In her introduction, Japinga establishes the issues and  misconceptions between feminists and Christians, verifying that perspective can skew  one’s view on a subject. Japinga does this early on to attract readers and get them  interested on what she has to say about being feminist while being Christian. 

  Throughout the introduction, Japinga goes over how the feminist movement started  and why many of these feminists started to leave Christianity behind as they pushed  forward towards equality. On page 13, Japinga introduces the two “tasks” for feminists to  achieve equality. First task is, “…resistance to everything that oppresses human beings. This  means saying no to sexism, domination, unequal treatment, and injustice” (Japinga, 13).  The second task is to, “…empower and encourage women by helping them find inner  strength, a clear sense of identity, and freedom from stereotypes” (Japinga, 13). Here,  Japinga lists the two things feminists wish to achieve; however, as mentioned on the 

previous pages, this was rather difficult to do if one was Christian. Majority of church  fathers only had negative things to say about women, and they were often viewed as only  good for carrying children. For this reason, many of those who were feminists were quick to  leave Christianity in hopes for equality. However, Japinga thinks otherwise as she closes off  her introduction with “Both Christians and feminists have asked if it is possible to be both a  Christian and a feminist. I ask the question a bit differently. Is it possible not to be? (14). 

  As it may be difficult for one to see how someone could possibly be both Christian  and feminist, Japinga starts by introducing feminist theology. Japinga defines theology as  the “…thinking about god” (15). She then goes on to mention how even those who have  studied Christianity for some time will have troubles naming female theologians. One may  think that women didn’t write theology; however, this was not the case. There were several  women who participated and lead in many important events, but they were often given a  bad name, or excluded from the history books. An example of this would be Mary  Magdalene, who “…went to the tomb of Jesus on Easter and found it empty…she is named  as one of the first to see and speak to Jesus…but Paul did not include her in his list of  witnesses to the resurrection.” (Japinga, 15). Mary Magdalene later became identified as a  prostitute, despite the lack of proof to justify her being identified as one. For reasons as  such, many feminists find it difficult to agree with the teachings of Christianity. Japinga lists  several more women who were “forgotten about” in history and explains that the reason for  this was because men were the ones who wrote history before. Although this may appear to  be sexist now, at the time, those who wrote history picked out what they thought was  important, and most likely didn’t view those achievements of women as highly as they did  those of men. 

  As more women started to move towards feminism and working towards equality,  more women found it difficult to “…go back to the way they were” (Japinga, 20). Women  who are seeking equality are often times not content with traditional Christian theological  answers as women are viewed as those who “…brought sin into the world” (Japinga, 20).  Women are viewed this way because Eve was the one who had Adam eat the forbidden  fruit. Despite this, there are feminist theologians who believe theology is important to save  lives and view it as a “life-giving enterprise”. Feminist theology is also very important as it  allows girls and women to “…develop their own voice, to be comfortable speaking, even  disagreeing, without feeling that they must keep quiet in order to preserve their  relationships and their security” (Japinga, 22). 

  Feminists often times struggled with accepting Christianity due to all the male  figures and male language. Daphne Hampson argued that with God, Christ, priests, saints,  and symbols all being male, Christianity is clearly not a religion that is positive towards  women. Thomas Aquinas was a theologian who wrote that women were “defective beings”  and that the weather is what had determined their sex in the womb. Japinga mentions this  to show that clearly the technology and education those theologians had at the time is not  even close to that of what exists today. This means that not everything in history and in  religious texts should be taken seriously and some things will need to change to better fit  today’s society. Japinga then gives an example of feminist theologians who also thought  this way. For instance, “The tradition helps contemporary Christians understand and learn  from the ways the church has dealt with theological issues, but the answers of the past do  not determine how Christians should think and act today” (Japinga, 24). Japinga then writes  about how human knowledge isn’t always complete and often times will change as new  discoveries are made. It is impossible for someone in the thirteenth century to have set a  set of rules and guidelines for people to follow for the rest of time when there were several  discoveries and inventions that came afterwards which would require a whole new set of  guidelines. With this, Japinga is trying to convey that naturally somethings will need to be  changed to better fit today’s standards, which means that no traditional Christian  theological answers should be taken seriously. 

  Although nothing should be looked at face value when it comes to traditional  Christian theology, some feminists will still struggle to accept Christianity due to all the  male figures and language used throughout the Bible. Many of them believe that women are  disliked in the religion due to the reasons listed previously. However, Elizabeth Johnson  thinks of if differently, “Perhaps God chose maleness to make a point to both men and  women…if in a patricarchal culture a woman had preached compassionate love and  enacted a style of authority that serves, she would most certainly have been greeted with a  colossal shrug” (Japinga, 102). This alone shows how much of a greater impact making  Jesus male had made on society; however, if this was not enough, on page 29, Japinga  writes that a woman’s close connection with the body is actually beneficial for women. For  example, “…women [are] less violent, competitive, and judgmental and more compassionate  and gracious. Their regular cycles make them more conscious of their bodies, more at  home in them, better able to make connections between the mind and body, and therefore  less prone to making war or plundering nature” (Japinga, 28). Here, Japinga writes this as a  way to show how women are able to encounter God much easier than men. Japinga writes  this because God is not only interested in human minds and souls, but also their bodies.  God is one who wants people to have enough to eat, have a safe place to sleep, and to have  people which they can be in relationships with. These are all things which only women are  also capable of doing, which means women receive some of God’s qualities which men do 

not. Throughout the book, Japinga will give more examples of how women were respected  in Christianity, especially on pages 45 and 46, “…a woman who had suffered from a bleeding  disease for twelve years, which made her ritually unclean and an outcast from synagogue  and society. Jesus was surrounded by a crowd, so the woman was able to approach him  without being noticed and touched his clothes…Jesus felt the power go out of him…the  woman told him what happened to her, and Jesus affirmed her deep faith and promised her  healing and wholeness” (45-46). Here Jesus was touched by a woman who is “dirty”;  therefore, he also became dirty, but rather than get upset with her, he affirms her deep faith  and promises her healing. Later in the story Jesus saves Jairus’s daughter after she had  already died. Japinga also gives an example of when Jesus healed a woman who “…had  been bent over for eighteen years” (97). These examples show the extent Jesus was willing  to go for women; however, some will argue that this is very little good for all the negativity  which women have experienced in Christianity, which means change is necessary. Although  not easy, resisting is very effective, “Rather than see ourselves solely as victims of male  domination, we have formed a sisterhood of resistance to all forms of oppression, seeking  creative partnership with men of the Association” (Japinga, 33). Further examples of  resistance are given where a non-Jewish woman talked back to Jesus and when two  midwives refused to obey orders and kill male children of their people. 

  Perspective is also very important when looking at what religion to follow. Japinga  makes this clear when she brings up the three of her students where one thought that  everything in the Bible is true, the other believes that the Bible caused the most issues for  women, and the last one thought of herself as a Christian and a feminist. Three very  different views on the same book. Japinga stresses the importance of perspective by  writing, “The Bible is part of God’s mysterious plan for human lives, and humans have only a  limited understanding of it. The Bible challenges women to live out roles they do not like,  such as submission to men, the problem is their lack of obedience, not the Bible’s error or  sexism” (36). Here, Japinga uses sarcasm to show that the Bible isn’t always correct and  that its meaning can very clearly be altered just by looking at it a little differently. The Bible  is not a book in favor of men, it is a book which is meant to set rules for all of humanity, and  it is the responsibility to interpret the meaning behind it as best as possible in order to best  suit everybody’s needs. With this, Japinga goes on to write how God created women and  God can be described using feminine terms. “God is not offended or degraded by being  described in feminine imagery. Feminist theologians are…recovering feminine images of  God from Scripture and tradition and developing new images” (Japinga, 71). Japinga claims  that discovering the feminine face of God has tremendously helped women in discovering  their own value and strength, thus proving that a simple change in perspective allows one to  be both a Christian and a feminist. 

  Throughout the introduction and first half of her book, Japinga gave some cMaria  Famularo  

Professor: Dr. Charles Mabee 

Religion In the Modern World 

Is Religion Inherently Patriarchal? 

In Lynn Japingas book, Feminism and Christianity, she covers many crucial parts on how  feminism is applied in Christianity. Japinga goes into great detail on how multiple feminists  struggles with feeling included within the Church and how they struggle with their Religion.  Feminist in the modern world continue to get shamed on by many others for their beliefs  and their stances. Japinga backs them up and supports all women and their religions  because we are all made in the image of God. Some men still believe that women are  supposed to stay at home and be the caretakers of the family while the men go out and  work and do all of the “hard work”. God designed men and women to be equal, so why is  there a social construct on women? In Genesis 1:26, it states “Let us make humankind in  our image, according to our likeness;and let them have dominion”. God does not view men  more powerful over women, He views us all as equals. It is simple as this, when we mistreat  others or shame others for their views or their stances, we are mistreating the way God  made them. Women should be appreciated and noticed for all of their hard work that goes  unnoticed. Why should men by the ones in the power role and leadership roles and for  women its shameful for them to try to even get a job outside of being a stay at home mom?  I feel as if there are many negative social constructs on feminist and that most people just  believe that they are annoying, angry women who shouldn’t voice their opinions. Most  feminist want one goal according to Japinga and that is for “women and men of all races  and classes can live together in justice and harmony”. If this is the ultimate goal then why  are they being shamed out of the Churches? Why are many feminist struggling with their  religion and struggling bring accepted. Japinga brings all these questions together in the  book and presents an explanation of the central themes of Christian feminism.  

Feminist theology really focus on men and women becoming equal and bringing out the lost  and neglected voices of women withing the Church. According to Japinga Feminist  theology starts with the “assumption that women are fully human, made in God’s image,  and loved and valued by God”. Women should not be afraid to have a voice, to speak out on  problems. They should never feel as if they do not have a voice in society because they do  not want to be shamed on or feel neglected. It has been seen that throughout Christian 

history/tradition, it is all patriarchal and it is hard for women to relate to the Bible. There are  multiple texts that demand women to be silent and obedient, they insist that women can  never become priests. These are what Japinga calls not authentic texts because they do  not promote the full humanity of women. Yet there are some text that Jesus shows that He  wanted women to go and preach their voices, but yet today it is a burden when a woman  speaks out. I am currently studying women and gendered voices here at Oakland and I have  learned about so many strong and courageous women and it made me think why have I  never heard of any of these powerful women. After reading Japingas book it made me think  why it is mostly men serving as priests, theologians, service/Church leaders and even in  today's world why it is all men that are president and all men in the power roles. It is  believed that in history women were good for nothing, only for cooking, cleaning, and taking  care of kids. This is because women were not educated and many thought that since they  were not educated they did not have thoughts so they did not get opinions. That is why we  don't learn about any powerful women, because back then, women were basically useless.  One of the tasks now is to recover women's stories.  

It was noticed that as young girls, they already start to form ideas on how men and women  work in society. Japinga gave a great example, there was a girl who was scribbling and her  dad said that it looked like a doctors handwriting and the girl responded with “women can’t  be doctors”. Her mother shared the story with her doctor and the doctor said that her  daughter said that women can be doctors but only boys can be surgeons like her father.  These ideas can be provoked by books, television, and by their own parents. In our lifetime  we have been told we are not smarter than men and less gifted. That we are different  because are bodies are different. These are some key ideas that women struggle with when  they read the bible. One of the biggest misunderstanding of feminist is that they are angry  all the time. However, they are just dedicated and passionate to make a change in the  society that they live in because the system that they live in now does not work for a lot of  the citizens in that society. Japinga ends well with stating “Feminist theologians care deeply  about the welfare of women and men and the larger society in which they live.” All they  really want is to see society and the world becomes an equal and healthy place to live  because they believe that the heart of the gospel is “justice and peace for all God’s People”  

Reading the Bible can be different for different women. Each woman can interpret the Bible  differently. Women can find that reading the Bible can be very uncomfortable and a little bit  disturbing. Some say that there is very little positive texts for women within the Bible. They  were property to the husband in the Bible. As women have their menstrual cycles, they were  said to be unclean for 7 days after the cycle. Touching the women during that time would  require to be ritually cleaned and they could not attend any religious ceremonies for a week. 

Since women were seen as unclean they were not allowed to serve as priests or participate  in worship. This is a prime example on why some women feel excluded from the Church.  Throughout the Bible there are more examples of the difficulties the women had. There was  violence and rape. They were seen as people with no emotions and they tossed the women  around like property with no regards to feelings. Kathleen Norris gave a little inside on how  she reads the Bible with regards to Feminism and the Christian faith. She reads it with  “Certain suspicion, with a wary eye on who is doing the telling, and who is left out,  marginalized, or demeaned” She believes that this useful way to read the Bible and highly  encourages other women to try to interpret the Bible like that. It requires effort, time,  humility, suspension and trust.  

We use male language for God because the Bible uses male pronouns and titles for God.  For example “God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them,  male and female he created them” For me I grew up knowing that God is a He. If you  thought that God was a woman were you simply crazy. Using feminine language for God  makes a lot of people uncomfortable and angry. People say it is demeaning to God to use  feminine language. There are many conflicts regarding using the male pronouns. Feminist  have not only criticize the tradition of using male pronouns but now they are trying to  revision it and use more feminine language to refer to God.  

How are men and women supposed to behave? Gender roles play a big issue in culture and  religion. In today’s world how are women supposed to get power rules when they have been  at home or have small jobs their whole life? How are they going to feel accepted after all  these years they were told to stay and home and to not have a voice in society because it’s  considered annoying if they do. Men believed that us women have only a certain amount of  intellectual capacity and it was a very minimal amount. They were not quite seen in the  Image of God. Even though there were many examples in the Bible of women who were  faithful and very intelligent. For example there was Deborah. She was a prophet and a judge  and she was very respected by everyone as she was good at her job. She went into battle  and won and they sang a song that praised her as a mother in Israel. Women did not get  enough praise and appreciation for everything that they have done. They deserved so much  better than what they got. They laid the foundation down for all future females. Another  thing females get shamed for is sin. Most people blame Eve, because she was a female and  she is the one that brought sin into the world by eating the forbidden fruit. Many feminists  do not deny sin but they deny the way it has been linked to women. The story should not be  read so literally. It should be read as a myth or just a story that gives an idea of the origin of  human sin. It was never the point to blame women for sin but to “interpret the brokenness  that persisted between men and women, and human and God” According to Japinga. Some 

Feminist state they they win less and different than men because women are more faithful.  I learned in high school that sin should represent the trust and power of love and not to be  ashamed of your sins, because we all have free will. It can be frustrating and difficult to deal  with, but we should want to heal ourselves and clean our sins. Trust in the Lord and he will  confide in us.  

While reading the Bible it is evident that Jesus only called men to be his disciples and  apostles. He never ordered women to do anything, only men. He gave male leadership roles  out but never really created any relationship with women. It is evident that he did not want  them to be treated as equals in the Church. However, Jesus was very nice to women and He  always respected them. When men did not touch women because they were unclean, Jesus  healed them by touching them which made him unclean. He has not ashamed but happy for  the women's great faith. When men degrade women, Jesus talked to them and helped them  with their problems. Jesus related to women and made them open up. Jesus had them  speak up and encouraged them to go out and learn. He cared for women, however he did  not publicly give them the order to study and learn. He did not give women more freedom  and he did not try to make males and females equal. He never voiced any problems that the  females talked about. This is hard for women to go to Church as they don't feel accepted  and they have a hard time preaching the scripture.  

Each female is going to interpret the Bible differently. Not everyone is going to agree with  each other on what is right and what is wrong. As I stated from the beginning, the ultimate  goal is “women and men of all races and classes can live together in justice and harmony”.  Feminist want to be treated equal and not to be seen as a social construct of being  annoying and angry. They want their voices and their problems to be heard. They want to  advocate their past experiences and they want to recover stories about what the strong and  powerful women did in the past that went unnoticed. They simply want a life where we can  all be seen as equaled and all loved by God, because we will forever be made in the Image  of God. 

ommon misconceptions and many of the reasons as to why many feminists turn away from  Christianity; however, towards the second half, she gives examples to explain how being  Christian and feminist actually goes hand in hand. With all the stories and examples,  Japinga is able to convey the importance in perspective and how anything can have a  different meaning if it is looked at from another angle.