Feminist Theology
Voices from the Past

Ann Loades (Author)

9780745608686, Polity Press

Hardback, published 30 April 2001

240 pages
23.6 x 16.3 x 2.5 cm, 0.463 kg

‘Setting three distinguished women carefully in their historical contexts, Ann Loades treats them as fellow human beings who can increase our moral understanding. Her approach is humane, serious, judicious, realistic and, above all, fair-minded, with a congenial emphasis on "full human flourishing". She is warmly but not fiercely on the side of women, and refreshingly able to appreciate the contribution of men. "Self-governance" is a keyword and demands not only listening to women, but honouring their responsible concern.’ – Helen Oppenheimer, author of The Hope of Happiness

Some feminist women search for the roots of feminism in the recent past; others write the past off. Too many assume that religious traditions have nothing to offer feminism, so even when religious belief has been central to the inspiration of some of the most powerful campaigners for the value and worth of women, the significance of that belief has been ignored.

Mary Wollstonecraft argued for the 'rights' of women'; Josephine Butler fought against the devaluation of women expressed in the Contagious Diseases Acts; Dorothy L. Sayers had a powerful sense of the way women and men grace one another's lives in their work. They all drew on the Christian tradition of their own times, but this has rarely been given weight. These women have not been considered together, nor as theologians, as here in Ann Loades's new book. In their life time, each of them opened up some painful issues: abortion and its significance in our shared social lives, forms of coercion, especially the sexual abuse of children, and the importance of women's work. Their courage and generosity offer salutary challenges to our own times.

Preface.

Introduction.

Subject Areas: Religion & beliefs [HR]