Christian Feminism and a Powerful God : A comparative textual analysis on God’s power from a feminist theological perspective

The aim of this study is to explore how it might be possible to talk about God as powerful within a Christian feminist framework. This has been declared impossible by Mary Daly who, in her book Beyond God the Father (1973), strongly criticises the Christian tradition for being too deeply intertwined with patriarchy to be of any use for women seeking liberation from male oppression. This essay compares the works of two contemporary feminist theologians, with the aim to answer Daly’s criticism and seek for ways to talk about God’s power that considers this criticism as relevant while still remaining Christian. The method used is textual analysis, and the material consists of the books Cloud of the impossible by American process theologian Catherine Keller and Powers and Submissions by British Anglican theologian Sarah Coakley. The views presented on God’s power by these two theologians are introduced thematically. The three themes used are The relation between humans and God, The importance of language and The Male Trinity. These are then discussed in comparison to Daly’s standpoints. Keller promotes an image of God as radically relational and uses apophatic theology to show how limited our knowledge of any definite insights of God and the limitations of the human language is. Coakley advocates for submission to God through contemplation, which leads to insights about God’s genderlessness and makes space for God’s power to work within humans in order for them to overthrow gender inequalities. When compared to Daly this essay reaches the conclusion that there are ways to speak of God’s power in a “feminist friendly” way, such as through a form of submission to the creative power of God, although it has to be done with consideration to context and without forgetting the dark history of how the Church has misused power in the past