Feminist Theology as a Revitalization Movement
This paper analyzes the new and influential religious movement of feminist theology from a social scientific perspective. Feminist theologians who advocate Goddess religion are distinguished from Jewish and Christian feminists on the basis of their different relationship to established religious ins...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
1987
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| In: |
Sociological analysis
Year: 1987, Volume: 48, Issue: 3, Pages: 234-244 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | This paper analyzes the new and influential religious movement of feminist theology from a social scientific perspective. Feminist theologians who advocate Goddess religion are distinguished from Jewish and Christian feminists on the basis of their different relationship to established religious institutions: celebrants of the Goddess reject established religions as irrevocably misogynist while Jewish and Christian feminists hope to reform their religious institutions along feminist lines. The paper shows that Anthony F. C. Wallace's theory of revitalization movements is a useful a model for interpreting the social function and context of feminist theology and its stages of development. Mary Daly is identified as the prophet of Goddess religion whose vision of women's oppression and future liberation initiated a revitalization movement. Feminists within established religions are identified as leaders of the subsequent stage of adaptation, the negotiation of which Wallace views as essential to any revitalization movement's success in transforming its culture. In this stage of adaptation, feminist theology is becoming accessible to the variety of religious groups within American society. |
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| ISSN: | 2325-7873 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Sociological analysis
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/3711520 |