All About Me -- Women's Theologies Conflict with the Historic Faith

In response to the mandate of the 211th General Assembly, the resource material for The National Network of Presbyterian College Women has been re-written, approved by the General Assembly Council, published, and is now in distribution.

Entitled, Lifting Up Our Voices: Young Women Explore, Life, Liberation, & Faith, the new resource material is creatively laid out and attractive. It deals with issues that are important for all Christians to think about and to act upon — regardless of age or gender. It also avoids some of the biases and omissions of its predecessor – Young Women Speak. It does this by making sure that every conceivable theological position is mentioned regularly, and that every policy of the General Assembly is carefully stated.

I am troubled, however, by what I think is the resource’s underlying commitment to the assumptions and hypotheses of feminist philosophy. In order to make my point without over generalizing, let me focus my analysis on the chapter entitled, “Women’s Theologies.” You may not agree with my findings, but I believe that the chapter truly reflects the foundational assumptions that instruct the rest of the material.

In particular, I am concerned about what the chapter teaches our young Presbyterian women about two things:

It’s a funny story, but the aging presbyter was getting at something terribly important. During the Reformation of the 16th century, the reformers summarized the faith with five shorthand statements. We are saved by grace alone, which we lay hold of by faith alone, which is to be placed in Christ alone. Scripture alone is our authority, and the glory of God alone is the purpose of our lives.

My primary problem with the philosophy expressed in “Women’s Theologies” — a philosophy, as I said, upon which the remainder of the resource is built —is its tacit assumption that we exist for something other than the glory of God. Viewing all of life through the lens of gender, the resource assumes that the goal of life is liberation, self-expression and personal fulfillment. To do this, they are forced to create an idol — a god whose purpose it is to serve the glory of their own imagination, experience and needs. Simply put, the philosophy of feminism is not so much theological (i.e. a discourse about God), as it is egoistic — it’s all about me.

The Reformed faith, however, is not all about me. At the very least, it is all about us – the church, the community of faith (made up of women and men from every “nation and tribe and tongue and people”) — who live their lives before the face and under the authority of God.

The other problem that I see in the philosophy upon which Lifting Up Our Voices is built is its emphasis on human experience and culture as the medium through which we hear the authoritative voice of God. The Scriptures are not objectively authoritative and true, but rather the truth and validity of Scripture is measured and judged in terms of personal experience. Personal experience becomes a lens that distorts and alters the objective meaning of the words so that they fit and validate my own personal worldview. In other words, I judge Scripture rather than Scripture judging me.

Now let me be very clear. The grievance that lies behind this essay is not with the young women of NNPCW; it is with those who have been involved in writing and organizing this material, those who are actively involved in promoting this kind of teaching in our denomination, and those who fear standing up for the historic faith lest they be thought of as narrow-minded or extremist.

But, rather than take my word that the resource is flawed, I encourage you to read it for yourself. It is available through the Presbyterian Distribution Service, and can be purchased online. So, buy it; read it; and let the folks in Women’s Ministries know what you think about it. After all, it is your contributions to the PC(USA) that are funding both NNPCW and the new resource — which underscores both your right and your responsibility to find out for yourself.

Lastly, as I read the chapter titled Women’s Theologies, I created a little grid in which I compared some of what the resource teaches to what I understand to be the historical faith of the church.

Chapter 5 — Women’s Theologies	The Historical Faith of The Church

Male theologians have shaped our concept of the Godhead. Now, women need to do it.	God has revealed himself and his will in Holy Scripture
Where both women and men speak, a more complete understanding of the divine nature is possible	Where both women and men listen to the Word of God, a more complete understanding of the divine nature is possible
Theology interprets Scripture and tradition.	Theology listens to Scripture, and Scripture tests the truthfulness and usefulness of our tradition
Because we are always being reformed, our understandings of God, the world and our communities are ever changing.	To be reformed is not merely to be open to change.Rather, it is to be “called back” to the faith “once for all delivered to the saints” that we tend to distort over time.
The Gospel is a Living Word through which God once addressed and continues to address communities of faith in new and different ways.	This is true, but it is equally important to underscore the fact that the message doesn’t change.The application may change, but the message never changes.
Although the biblical text is often patriarchal, contemporary women’s theologies believe that patriarchy is not essential to Christianity.	Neither do the vast majority of Presbyterians.
Feminists theorize and examine the gospel, Christian tradition through the lens of empowerment and oppression.	The task of the biblical interpreter is exegesis, not eisegesis.
Feminists read and interpret the Bible through the lens of their experience.	Christians should read and interpret their experiences through the lens of Scripture.
Feminist scholars emphasize praxis — lessons drawn from experience.	The Church emphasizes the Word of God
Feminism believes that personal and social transformation is the product of women empowering each other to do and become more powerful and more self-determining — it is the result of human effort.	Historical faith believes that personal and social change happens as God transforms the hearts, minds and lives of believers — it is a gift of God, something that humans cannot accomplish by themselves.
Feminist theology defines sin as self-abnegation or self-denial.	Reformed Christianity defines sin as “any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God.”
Feminist theology encourages women to name God	Historical Christianity believes that God has named himself.