Spiritualising the Sacred: A Critique of Feminist Theology

This article submits feminist theology to a two‐pronged theological critique. First, the article notes the overwhelmingly critical nature of feminist theology, and suggests that this concentration on critique at the expense of construction is itself a weakness of feminist theology. Further, it argues that the feminist critique tends to construe Christianity in a way which distorts the more complex realities of the faith, placing too much emphasis on the textual nature of Christianity. Second, the article argues that feminist attempts to construct new theologies are flawed because of their dependence upon the contentious notion of ‘women’s experience’ and their consequent failure to engage with the traditional resources of theology. The article concludes with the suggestion that much feminist theology is dependent upon an influential post‐Christian strand of religiosity, and that it uncritically appropriates the latter’s unhelpfully individualistic, monistic and idealist stance.