The Force of the Feminine Women, Men and the Church Routledge Library Editions: Christianity Series

Originally published in 1986. The Force of the Feminine brings together the work of Christians from a number of denominations in examining different aspects of the task of converting the Church to the ?feminine?.

Women have by and large occupied a subordinate position within the Church: men have written the theology; in the majority of denominations only men have always been permitted to be priests or ministers. The book explores how to awaken individual Christians to the need to feminise Church structures and, further, the possible need to rethink the very notion of God.

The Force of the Feminine will appeal to those with an interest in religious studies, the history of Christianity, and religion and gender.

Introduction; 1: Woman and the Church; 2: The Role of the Church in the Education of Girls and Women; 3: Sexism and Fundamentalism; 4: The Ordination of Women: On whose side is the Bible?; 5: The Ordination of Women: The position of the Catholic Church; 6: The Ordination of Women: A psychological interpretation of objections; 6: Institutional Sexism and the Anglican Church; 8: Ministers’ Wives; 9: A Clergy Wife’s Story; 10: God and Pronouns; 11: Affirmative Action in the Uniting Church 1977-83; 12: A Quixotic Approach; 13: The Feminisation of Structures in Religious Orders; 14: Implications of the Feminine; 15: Christian Conversion and the Feminine