Introducing Feminist Images of God
December 08, 2011

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Grey's book, published in 2001, gives a good, quick survey of feminist images of God from the late-seventies and the publication of Mary Daly's Beyond God the Father. Little time is spent on the initial round of feminist theological work and the deconstruction of patriarchal images or debates over gender-inclusive language. Her main focus is the creative and imaginative approaches taken by a variety of feminist theologians.
Her work is nicely inclusive of Jewish, African, Womanist, Latina, Asian, and other theologians, as part of the creative work of this period was breaking out of the limits of white, upper-class Euro-American feminism.
Some of my favourites, such as Sallie McFague and Wendy Farley, come in for nice treatment. Grey argues that McFague's Body of God (which I read in the early 90's, altering my theological thinking) is one of the important sources for this period, going beyond her earlier book Models of God, which Grey simply assumes as part of the methodologies of this period but doesn't discuss in detail.
Read on my blog how my reading of this book corresponded with one of our Advent worship services exploring ancient names of Jesus: http://escottjones.typepad.com/myquest/2...
I appreciated learning more about Carter Heyward, Carol Christ, and others. I really enjoyed some of the wonderful quotes, many of which will find their way into sermons, prayers, and other ministerial functions.
Toward the end, even after her presentations on goddess spirituality and the imagery of Sophia, she argues for a reclaiming of a non-patriarchal father image as important for men to have good images of the divine, and also proclaims:
". . . in a strange way, without seeking for it, one could be astounded by the way the Trinity turns out to be at the heart of feminist theological thinking."
Grey concludes that "in the end, God will be God, and the world will find its true homecoming into God."
If you want a nice, quick survey of late-20th century feminist thought or a book that excites your own imagination about the depth and breadth of the divine, then I highly recommend this book.
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