Can the Bible be Saved? Feminist Responses to Christianity

This paper presents an analysis of two contrasting feminist approaches towards the Bible, regarding the idea of whether or not we can reinterpret the Bible to suit feminism. These views are that of feminist defenders of the Bible (Christian feminists), and feminists who reject it (feminist critiques). The goal of this paper is to present the two most frequent feminist reactions to the Bible, displaying that feminism differs wildly on this issue and strong arguments are made for both. On each side this paper will cite works that explain the argument, examples from the Bible working to support that point, and the scholars who have done significant work in that area. The literature supporting this paper falls into two areas. The first is pertaining to Christian feminism, which is attributed towards mainly coming about during First Wave Feminism, with women such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Mary Baker Eddy. While they may be critical of the traditional view, they do not reject Christianity and the Bible completely, so the focus will be on their theories leading to the reconciling and/or adapting of the biblical canon. Some issues they address are the idea of a gender-transcendent or even feminine God, and patriarchal views of women. The second area of research is involving the counter-argument, the Feminist Critique. These are mostly Second Wave women such as Mary Daly and Rosemary Radford Reuther, who have found Christianity and especially the Bible to be irreconcilably hierarchical and patriarchal, leaving no place for women. The intention of this paper is to provide a nuanced thesis that can articulate the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. The aim is to provide an informative, logical piece above all, with philosophical theory integrated throughout