Religions: A Scholarly Journal - Volume 2016, Issue 1

The themes and issues pertaining to women and matters of gender have probably never received as much attention as they have in the last decades. The contemporary concerns for equality and freedom are obviously not foreign to this keen interest. There is a sense, quasi-inherent to the modern ethos, that women and feminine contributions have been all-too often ignored, that their voices have been oppressed or confined within restrictive areas of social and cultural activities. The religious domain, especially in its institutional dimensions -- in which leadership has been for the most part a masculine affair, has been particularly scrutinized in this respect. It has been the locus of passionate debates on the role of women and the feminine. In this regard, two questions have often emerged. The first is that of the "gender" of God, or that of the masculine and feminine as attributes or dimensions of the Ultimate. The second question has pertained to the role of women in religious universes. The two questions have often been connected as testified by most trends in feminist theology. A monotheist belief, or religious heritage, leads one to affirm that God is "masculine" since He is the Creator of heaven and earth. The Bible and the Quran unambiguously refer to "Him." And still, classical theology, in all three monotheistic faiths, did not fail to take account of the fact that there is no perfection in creation the principle and seed of which is not to be found eminently in God. If the feminine or femininity must be considered as perfections --and how would not they be so?, one must admit that they are to be found in God. The metaphysical reality of God must therefore include the feminine, even though it is obviously so in a way that cannot be fully fathomed in human terms, nor be taken down to the level of purely human concerns. The second issue relates to the modern, and post-modern, question of identity. In this regard, it appears that religions tend to affirm both identity and difference, or identity in difference, and difference in identity. There is clearly both a universal dimension and a differentialist bent in the discourse of religions, as also interestingly, but differently, in most feminist discourses. Should universality, and the equality between women and men that it implies, be incompatible with identity and difference? On the one hand, it would seem that there is no identity that does not entail difference, and no difference that does not imply a relative superiority: one being is superior from a certain point of view, another from a different point of view. This means also, and most importantly, that no human superiority is absolute, and must remain therefore open to its complement or its corrective. For instance, there is no woman who is not "masculine" in some way and no man who is not "feminine" in some ways. This is what is symbolized by the Chinese yin-yang. The connection of the two questions of the “gender” of the Divine and the identity and status of women is far from being one-dimensional and unidirectional, however. Some have demonstrated, for example, that a recognition of the feminine dimension of the Divine does not necessarily translate, far from that, into a socio-cultural promotion of women. It is actually sometimes the contrary that holds true, as appears for example in some religious sectors of South Asia. Others have suggested that one must distinguish between the metaphysical dimension, the spiritual realm and the socio-cultural realities. In this perspective, what can be highlighted is the complexity and, oftentimes, reversed analogy between inner values and outer phenomena, spiritual ranks and social hierarchies. For instance, Mary illustrates an inner supereminence that cannot be unrelated --nor limited-- to some feminine "values" or symbols, but she was not outwardly a priest or a preacher. Finally, others have argued, especially among feminists hailing from the Abrahamic world, that one must take care of distinguishing the normativity that has emerged from historical crystallizations from the scriptural sources and their intrinsic principles. Be that as it may, religions are keen to point to a transcendence of all differences, whether they are thought to be natural or socially constructed. In monotheistic religions, they do so by affirming the equality of all human beings before God. In Chinese, Indian and other wisdom traditions they tend to open the highest Way to all humans independently from gender differences, or from other differences that may differentiate them from one another. No human difference, whether of sex, race or gender can be absolutized since there is nothing relative that can limit or bind the Absolute. There is much evidence to suggest that the great religions teach that while one is born a woman or a man one is re-born beyond the limitations and boundaries that those identities involve or imply. The themes and issues pertaining to women and matters of gender have probably never received as much attention as they have in the last decades. The contemporary concerns for equality and freedom are obviously not foreign to this keen interest. There is a sense, quasi-inherent to the modern ethos, that women and feminine contributions have been all-too often ignored, that their voices have been oppressed or confined within restrictive areas of social and cultural activities. The religious domain, especially in its institutional dimensions -- in which leadership has been for the most part a masculine affair, has been particularly scrutinized in this respect. It has been the locus of passionate debates on the role of women and the feminine. In this regard, two questions have often emerged. The first is that of the "gender" of God, or that of the masculine and feminine as attributes or dimensions of the Ultimate. The second question has pertained to the role of women in religious universes. The two questions have often been connected as testified by most trends in feminist theology. A monotheist belief, or religious heritage, leads one to affirm that God is "masculine" since He is the Creator of heaven and earth. The Bible and the Quran unambiguously refer to "Him." And still, classical theology, in all three monotheistic faiths, did not fail to take account of the fact that there is no perfection in creation the principle and seed of which is not to be found eminently in God. If the feminine or femininity must be considered as perfections --and how would not they be so?, one must admit that they are to be found in God. The metaphysical reality of God must therefore include the feminine, even though it is obviously so in a way that cannot be fully fathomed in human terms, nor be taken down to the level of purely human concerns. The second issue relates to the modern, and post-modern, question of identity. In this regard, it appears that religions tend to affirm both identity and difference, or identity in difference, and difference in identity. There is clearly both a universal dimension and a differentialist bent in the discourse of religions, as also interestingly, but differently, in most feminist discourses. Should universality, and the equality between women and men that it implies, be incompatible with identity and difference? On the one hand, it would seem that there is no identity that does not entail difference, and no difference that does not imply a relative superiority: one being is superior from a certain point of view, another from a different point of view. This means also, and most importantly, that no human superiority is absolute, and must remain therefore open to its complement or its corrective. For instance, there is no woman who is not "masculine" in some way and no man who is not "feminine" in some ways. This is what is symbolized by the Chinese yin-yang. The connection of the two questions of the “gender” of the Divine and the identity and status of women is far from being one-dimensional and unidirectional, however. Some have demonstrated, for example, that a recognition of the feminine dimension of the Divine does not necessarily translate, far from that, into a socio-cultural promotion of women. It is actually sometimes the contrary that holds true, as appears for example in some religious sectors of South Asia. Others have suggested that one must distinguish between the metaphysical dimension, the spiritual realm and the socio-cultural realities. In this perspective, what can be highlighted is the complexity and, oftentimes, reversed analogy between inner values and outer phenomena, spiritual ranks and social hierarchies. For instance, Mary illustrates an inner supereminence that cannot be unrelated --nor limited-- to some feminine "values" or symbols, but she was not outwardly a priest or a preacher. Finally, others have argued, especially among feminists hailing from the Abrahamic world, that one must take care of distinguishing the normativity that has emerged from historical crystallizations from the scriptural sources and their intrinsic principles. Be that as it may, religions are keen to point to a transcendence of all differences, whether they are thought to be natural or socially constructed. In monotheistic religions, they do so by affirming the equality of all human beings before God. In Chinese, Indian and other wisdom traditions they tend to open the highest Way to all humans independently from gender differences, or from other differences that may differentiate them from one another. No human difference, whether of sex, race or gender can be absolutized since there is nothing relative that can limit or bind the Absolute. There is much evidence to suggest that the great religions teach that while one is born a woman or a man one is re-born beyond the limitations and boundaries that those identities involve or imply.

In this interview, Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser discusses the status and image of arab women, the situation in the Middle East after the Arab Spring and the tension between modernization and religious traditions in Muslim majority societies.

Gender studies has become very fashionable in academia. At the same time, writing about the topic has become more and more perilous. In some milieus, it is deemed unacceptable to write about women’s experience in general. Worst, any statement about the feminine runs the risk of being stigmatized as essentialist (the cardinal sin of our post-modern age). To understand the present situation, we may want to turn to the analysis of the French metaphysician René Guénon, who wrote little about women but was a lucid critique of our age. In his opus magnum, The Reign of Quantity, Guénon was distinguishing between two stages in the development of secular modernity. The first stage was characterized by a process of materialization and the second stage by a process of dissolution. It cannot be denied that the first stage seems to correspond to the strengthening of the masculine values. It was the age of the industrial revolution, nationalism and the rise of modern bureaucratic State. The second stage that we have now arguably reached is characterized by a process of collapse of all the intellectual landmarks and a dissolution of all normative hierarchy. Everything in the world we live in becomes more fluid and hybrid. At some level, it may seem that this second phase is characterized by a reassertion, at least in western countries, of feminist values. The masculine and power-oriented conception of rationality would be replaced by a more welcoming and inclusive attitude toward reality and toward the other. This impression, sometimes reinforced by a loud celebration of diversity (regardless of what it means), is however gravely misleading. In the clash of ideologies that dominates the international scene, the very clash between religious fundamentalism and post-modern neoliberalism, women are often the first casualties. It seems also very doubtful that the only way to free women from masculine domination is to refrain from searching for some universal common ground and withdraw into relativism and subjectivism (the logical conclusion of a certain form of post-modern deconstructionism for whom any truth-claim is alienating, a mask for an unspeakable will to power). In rejecting the very idea of truth, one only radicalizes the anti-essentialist bend that Guénon diagnoses at the root of modernity and that is largely responsible for the contemporary spiritual crisis. One also finds himself or herself empty-handed when faced with the most revolting forms of violence perpetrated by men against women. As Plato was already reminding us, one cannot at the same time claim that there is no truth and protest against injustice. Fortunately, it is not the path followed by the contributors of this issue. By interrogating the religious myths about women and the feminine, by looking into the experience of saints or simple believers, they are not seeking to subvert religion but on the contrary to (re-)awaken certain spiritual possibilities buried in the divine revelations or in our collective spiritual unconscious. They are thus inviting to us a form of anamnesis, a rediscovery of the deeper meaning of the polarity between the masculine and the feminine. It was the religious philosopher Eric Voegelin, who was arguing that symbols represent the trace left of certain founding experiences, when human consciousness opens itself to the Sacred. It is through these symbols that human beings can find their place into a meaningful cosmic order. On the contrary, when these symbols are cut from their experiential roots, they tend to turn into (empty) dogmas and even into a source of alienation and disorder. One may argue that it is what happened with the symbols of the feminine. Symbols originally created to express a mystery located in the human soul, and maybe more enigmatically in God, became a mean to control women and perpetuate power-structures responsible for the suffering of women, as well as men. A feminist hermeneutics of symbols and myths is certainly not an invitation to return to some illusory Golden Age, in which traditional religious communities would have treated women more fairly. (On the topic, the historical record of all religions is nothing less than appalling.) The feminist hermeneuticist will not claim either to have decided whether God is less inadequately designated as a “He” or a “She” or should be treated as simply beyond gender (although, remembering the lessons of Feuerbach, he or she will certainly see a correlation between the alienation of women and the tendency of classical theologians to depict God with mostly masculine attributes). A feminist hermeneutics is possibly best interpreted as a form of utopian thinking. Symbols such as the Anima Mundi, Androgyny or the Great Indian Goddess (Mahadevi) belong to an alternative imaginary that has been frequently marginalized or repressed but can become emblems of resistance against old and new ideologies that subdue and very often kill women. In a world in which political and socio-economical disorders are frequently a reflection of a deeper spiritual crisis, a feminist hermeneutics may finally contribute to a kind of collective therapy by restoring a balance between the masculine and feminine in the world, in our soul and, more importantly, in our vision of God.

The exacerbation of the masculine at the sake of the Feminine may be the root-cause of the contemporary “disenchantment of the world.” Might it be that the only “way out” of this dead-end is for the feminine energy to be allowed once again to flow freely in our societies?

In this article, Eric Vinson revisits the symbolism of the Feminine, drawing from the teaching of the great spiritual traditions of the world and proposing a new definition of the feminine as “the capacity to make room in oneself for the other”.

Traditional woman has been the custodian of pleasure, and the dis-pensing of pleasure has been a large part of her glory and power. Too often, in these later days, womankind has been disposed to discredit her own natural glories and powers by becoming an imitator of man. This is really giving to man-power and man-function a greater tribute than they deserve. That essence the outer embodiment of which is woman in a peculiar sense constitutes a need of this world today that is especially poignant. There is too great an over-balance of harsh willfulness abroad in the world. Consequently, there is a need for the counter-balancing forces, and these woman, alone, is really competent to exercise. Among these essentially feminine qualities the following stand out: Beauty, Mercy, Tenderness, Charm, Ecstasy, preservation of proven values, etc. It is a grave mistake to regard these powers as inferior to the Creative Will, the Will to Power, the Daring of the Unknown, and the Judgment that peculiarly mark the masculine principle. The latter powers are unques-tionably indispensable both in the world-field and for Inward Penetra¬tion, but by themselves they are unbalanced and can easily drop from a constructive to a destructive level. The isolated masculine principle cannot check this tendency and, so, right here is where the feminine quality is grievously needed. The feminine powers are just as strong as the mas-culine, although they function in a more subtle way. We greatly need more women who justly appreciate the ancient and natural feminine powers and arts. Man is Siva, the formless Light; woman is Shakti, the Current which opposes and embodies the Light. Without embodiment, the Light of Consciousness remains void of self-consciousness. Since self-consciousness is the one great achieved value, it is easy to see how vitally important the Shakti principle is. In Her highest aspect, Woman is the Celestial Virgin, and this is none other than the Current of Bliss. The Current is a Virgin, because of the quality of ever-becoming-new. Though impregnated by the Fire of Wis¬dom, yet She remains a Virgin because She is ever-changing within Her own Self-identity. The union of Wisdom and the Virgin gives birth to the Christ, and this is the real Immaculate Conception. This union is the untellable Joy of which all lesser ecstasies are but faint shadows. So, deep and lasting Joy is the true sign of the genuine and noble religiosity. Aus¬tere gloom in the name of religion is a sacrilege and sign of failure. Only false religion is dreary. The Holy is Free and Joyful.

Prof. Tabara and Prof. Lamptey discuss the intersection between Religious Science, Islamic Studies and Feminism. Prof. Lamptey explains her notion of Muslima Theologia, focusing on the relationship between gender and religious differences. Prof. Tabara talks about her own work on the Qoranic approch to religious pluralism.

While Ibn ‘Arabī is known as the “greatest master” of the spirituality and esotericism of Islam, the Emir Abd el-Kader is better known for his uprising against the French occupation, between 1832 and 1847. Yet, he was brought up in a Sufi environment and always declared that his spiritual vocation came before all else. This article explores the symbolism of the Feminine in the metaphysical and mystical teachings of these two Sufi sages.

Islam is no exception to the commonplace that women seem to have played a minor role in the elaboration and transmission of spiritual doctrine in the three monotheistic religions. But as a result of widespread ignorance of the history of Islam, even amongst believers themselves, it is often somewhat hastily upheld that the position of Islam has always been radically misogynist, as if women had never been given the slightest prominence in its history. And yet, as this article demonstrates, the role played by women, or the position they have often acquired with difficulty, has not followed a smooth course throughout nearly fifteen centuries of Islamic history.The aim of this paper is to study the position of women in a specific context: that of the spiritual masters and mystics of Islam who, for purposes of simplification, can be grouped under the generic term of Sufis. This study will be limited chronologically to medieval times, and in particular to the pivotal period of the tenth century, even if there will be cause to mention women who lived earlier or later. Finally, focus will be placed on religious practices and teaching work, and consequently on the mission of spiritual transmission which these women undertook throughout their lives.

In this provocative article, Mohammad Naciri examines the state of women's rights in the Middle-East after the Arab Spring.

This paper seeks to elucidate how certain grass roots women’s movements in Third World countries are forced to make alternative alliances. The author discusses the issue of the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) incidence in Pakistan to illustrate, how Muslim militant feminists have re-aligned themselves with the nation, state, and religion to justify their feminist identities. Through the case study of the Red Mosque in Pakistan and the militarization of the Jamia Hafsa feminists, Dr Rasheed discusses the problematic of engaging in a “radical Islamist” discourse when interpreting scenarios such as the Lal Masjid.

India may be the country of the woman but the spiritual veil that covers it should not hide the violence perpetrated against many women there. For a long time venerated, women pay today a heavy tribute to the clash of modernity that splits the country into two worlds, one of which, feeling more and more alienated, is losing its references.

Within the overall theme of women and the feminine in world religions this essay focuses on the role of women in Christianity, with particular emphasis on Roman Catholicism. The juxtaposition of “saint” and “sinner” in its title illustrates the complexity and equivocity of Christianity’s attitude towards women. Like most other religions, Christianity has a longstanding and ingrained ambivalence if not overt hostility toward women and the feminine. This ambiguity is enshrined in the dominance of two symbols of femininity in Christian history: Eve the primordial sinner and Mary the paradigmatic saint. Christianity inherits the Hebrew myth of Eve as one who is “created second and sinned first” (Gen 2:22; 3:6) and develops it into an anthropology in which woman is doubly subjected to man, in two respects, by nature (“created second”) and by punishment (“sinned first”). By contrast, Mary is exalted as the Mother of God, in whom the twin ideals of womanhood---virginity and motherhood---are perfectly realized. Consequently, one possible way to expound the Christian vision of womanhood and the feminine would be to examine the theology of womanhood underlying these two iconic figures. The disadvantage of this approach, however, is that it boxes itself within the patriarchal and hierarchical ideology which, though permeating the Christian tradition, would blind us to the monumental achievements of flesh-and-blood women, as individuals as well as collectives, to both church and society. A more helpful course is to look at Christian women as they live, move and have their being in history, and despite the enormous odds that would have crippled less hardy souls, have shaped the history of Christianity. Thus, in this article the author begins with a brief narrative of outstanding Christian women and the arenas in which they have made lasting contributions. Next he considers some key feminist theologies that have sought to break the stranglehold of patriarchy and androcentrism and to reconceive the church as a community of equal discipleship. Lastly, he examines women’s ordination, still a neuralgic issue for some Christian churches, as an example of where women’s struggle for equality is still ongoing.

Although he is not well known today, Franz von Baader (1765-1841) had a profound influence on philosophy. He introduced Hegel to the mystical ideas of Meister Eckhart, and he introduced Schelling to the theosophical ideas of Jakob Boehme. Baader’s Christian theosophy has sometimes been called a “Philosophy of Love”. It stresses the importance of love within the Godhead, of love from God to humans, of love of humans towards each other, and of love from humans towards temporal reality. With respect to relations between men and women, Baader aims at a true reciprocity between the two sexes, with the ultimate goal of restoring the original androgyny. Anyone who reads Baader will be immediately struck by the complexity of his thought and the difficulty of his language. This article seeks to present his ideas in a simplified way.

The mysterious figure of Sophia the Wisdom of God has long been the subject of speculation, lapsing occasionally into heterodoxy, in the Eastern Orthodox world. As late as 1935 Father Sergius Bulgakov, one of the leading Russian theologians of the twentieth century was accused of heresy for his writings on Divine Wisdom. Down to the present it remains a source of inspiration for new ideas and images, carrying a special attraction for those with an antipathy towards binary ontologies. This article explores some aspects of the topic, focusing on its mystical, artistic but also its political dimension.

In the midst of pauperization, persecution, and patriarchy, African women are providing new narratives for challenging normative paradigms in religion, culture, ethics, and health. In the parlance of liberation theology, they have engendered an irruption that seeks to valorize wholeness, abundance, and dignity. They seek to understand the African worldview from the underside of history and also reinterpret tradition. This is an approach that challenges subordination in its various forms and manifestations. African women are confronted with the “triple bind” of race, class, and gender. Yet they provide fresh interpretations that shed light on these three categories. Our global landscape demands new moral discourse that challenges oppressive models and practices. This is a radical hermeneutic that challenges oppressive cultural norms and practices. By utilizing the power of naming, African women identify, categorize, and label cultural practices that subject people, especially women to dehumanizing and oppressive conditions. Wangila’s book examines the cogent arguments for and against the contentious practice of female circumcision. This is a practice that Rogaia Mustafa Abusharaf has described as “virtuous cuts.” Based on comprehensive interviews with fifty Kenyan women within Christianity, Islam, African Independent Churches, and traditional religion, Wangila emphasizes the importance of understanding the complexity of the gender dynamics, cultural practices, and religious norms that undergird this practice. She locates the discussion on circumcision at the very heart of human rights concerns and calls for a new discourse that support for the eradication of the practice through massive education and a nuanced understanding of religious and cultural beliefs. She maintains that “any terminology adopted to label female circumcision must acknowledge the sociocultural and religious values that inform the practice, even while critiquing it” (p.viii). The book opens with a powerful preface by Amba Mercy Oduyoye, a Ghanaian theologian who is widely regarded as the matriarch of African theology. Her book, Hearing and Knowing: Theological Reflections on Christianity in Africa continues to provide the intellectual framework for understanding the fundamentals of African theology. She challenges the circumcising community to develop a more robust analysis of the issues involved in the practice. She passionately grapples with some of the relevant issues for both insider and outsider participants in the discourse concerning circumcision. She maintains that the religious and cultural justifications for this “cutting” practice are ostensibly shallow at best. Thus, there is a need to provide a more nuanced engagement with the subject matter. The book’s preface lays out its methodological framework and modus operandi. Wangila maintains that she is both a Kenyan and a feminist who is primarily concerned with the need to provide the voice for the voiceless. The purpose is not simply academic or cerebral. Rather, it is a modest way to provide much-needed awareness on the issue of female circumcision and speak out on behalf of marginalized people in the society. She claims that “my goal is not purely academic; instead, it is to engage in social discourse to transform lives” (p. xi). The book calls for a critical understanding of the role of religion in the practice of female circumcision in Kenya. For all intents and purposes, religion has been used to justify and reinforce this practice. However, as a sociologist and a Christian theologian, Wangila believes that religion can contribute to a new attitude about female circumcision. She asserts that “religion can play a role in transforming attitudes regarding female circumcision without summarily condemning all the rituals associated with it”(p. xii). The book is a lucid appeal to recover the transformative power of religion in the midst of violence against African women. This is an important book. The six chapters are well written and it is a fitting volume in the series on Women from the Margins with Orbis Books. Wangila’s voice is both passionate and prophetic. It provides a much-needed candid analysis of the religious and cultural issues surrounding female circumcision. She grapples with tendentious issues with deep commitment and authority. However, I believe that its contents can be enlarged by relevant insights from anthropology, cultural studies, and more ethnographic research.

This review explores the spiritual and religious meaning of Eric Rohmer's "Ma nuit chez Maud" in the light of the thought of the French Christian Philosopher Blaise Pascal.