Changing God

Reconstructing the image of God in the light of women’s experiences of violence and oppression

Abstract

This article examines texts by four women theologians who have all set out to reconstruct images of God in the face of criticism of God’s power. The first text comes from Mary Daly, one of the most important forerunners of women’s theology. She began her criticism of theology shortly before 1970. Daly, who embraced radical feminism, first focused her critique on the Catholic Church and its doctrines. However, she soon concluded that she was not valued within the Church, and indeed, that the Church was beyond re-evaluation and restoration. Nevertheless, her influence on later women theologians is undisputed. This is evidenced in texts by Sallie McFague, Ivone Gebara, and Wendy Farley, who have all engaged in critical and groundbreaking work regarding images of God, with particular emphasis on the meaning of the power of God. McFague highlights that all talk about God is metaphorical, presenting parables that depict God as friend, lover, and mother, which is how she emphasizes the importance of the physicality and immanence of God. Similar themes can be found within Ivone Gebara’s text, but the experiences of the poor are a prerequisite for her writings of God images. She writes that all life is interconnected and interdependent. According to her, we find God in the relatedness and kinship of all living creatures. Wendy Farley’s contribution to the critical discussion on the images of God is a reinterpretation of the concept of power. She wishes to keep talking about God’s power but reinterprets the concept. In her view, the power of God is best described as compassion, a quality, however, that only God can have. God’s compassion liberates human beings from violence and evil. God’s power transforms and liberates in a way that no human power ever can.