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- Rosemary Reuther was a professor at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. She was also a leading ecofeminist scholar and Roman Catholic theologian. The service begins with the introduction of Rosemary Ruether (00:00-00:37). The title of Ruether’s lecture is “The Maleness of Christ: Can Christology Be Liberated from Patriarchy.” She begins with the question of how Christology has been used to exclude women, and she examines how the terms “image of God,” “Son of God,” came to be defined in a patriarchal culture where women are only saved and made in the image of God under the headship of men (00:38-15:33). Ruether moves to explore the alternative ways of interpreting and constructing Christology, first by revealing the feminine and gender neutral language in Hebrew Scriptures of describing the character of God, second by showing how the gospel elevates the status of the last in society embodied in the women disciples, and third by pointing to how the early church viewed an alternative life where the genders are equal (15:34-31:18). Ruether states that two interpretations of Paul emerged in the second century, one using the Pastoral Epistles to promote a patriarchal community and another using a Pauline extra-biblical text to promote an “eschatological community” of celibacy, and she argues that these two communities converged during the late Patristic era to form the clerical norms of the Eastern and Western traditions (31:19-35:48). Ruether views the Reformation as a revolt against this synthesis, and she concludes that two lines of Christology emerged that are now present in the modern day: a patriarchal Christianity and a mystical transcendent Christianity (35:49-40:35). She recognizes in the early modern era an emerging of a new movement seeking for original equality which has spawned various movements including liberalism, socialism, and feminism (40:36-45:41). Ruether concludes the lecture by stating the new Christology by surpassing Jesus’ historical maleness and cultural characteristics for him to be a representative to all mankind, and she desires to shift Christ’s focus to being a liberator of the poor (45:42-53:56). The service ends with a word of prayer (53:57-54:23).
- Subject:
- Patriarchy--Religious aspects--Christianity, Jesus Christ--Person and offices, Image of God--History of doctrines, and Bible. Epistles of Paul--Theology
- Owner:
- archives@sebts.edu
- Location:
- Wake Forest (N.C.)
- Language:
- English
- Date Uploaded:
- 02/12/2026
- Date Modified:
- 02/13/2026
- Date Created:
- 1985-10-02
- Resource Type:
- Audio
- Identifier:
- SEBTS_Page_Lecture_Rosemary_Reuther_1985-10-02
-
- Description:
- • Rosemary Ruether was a professor at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. She was also a leading ecofeminist scholar and Roman Catholic theologian. The service begins with the introduction of Rosemary Ruether (00:00-01:28). The title of Ruether’s lecture is “Dualism and the Problem of Evil.” The first question Ruether asks is about the origins of dualism, and she answers by approaching the social hierarchy of gender and race in society looking back to the writings of Greek philosophers, Augustine, and medieval theologians who expressed the thought of men containing the full image of God over women (01:29-13:41). The second question Ruether asks is how this dualism emerged, and she gives an answer of three human tendencies: the missing link mentality, the “us versus them” mentality, and the distinction of good versus evil mentality (13:42-21:22). Ruether lists inherited patterns from this dualism which are sexism, class hierarchy, racism, and antisemitism (21:23-24:55). She distinguishes three different languages from the higher social group to reduce the others, and these are deprival language, idealized language, and genocidal language (24:56-33:08). Ruether moves to the critique of these dominant views that comes out of dualistic thinking, and she first tackles the social problem of looking through the lens of how positions of power have created opportunities for evil (33:09-38:59). Going beyond social ideology, Ruether examines the distortion of reality because of the underlying dualism, and she challenges the Greek perception of the mind and body and purpose for life with the Hebraic biblical understanding of mind-body unity and purpose of renewal of all things (39:00-45:55). Ruether concludes her lecture with the question about good-evil dualism, and she identifies evil with the capacity for humanity to distort freedom (45:56-48:43).
- Owner:
- archives@sebts.edu
- Location:
- Wake Forest (N.C.)
- Language:
- English
- Date Uploaded:
- 02/12/2026
- Date Modified:
- 02/13/2026
- Date Created:
- 1985-10-01
- Resource Type:
- Audio
- Identifier:
- SEBTS_Page_Lecture_Rosemary_Reuther_1985-10-01