Kenotic hospitality and the Eucharist: an alternative economy

This essay discusses the Eucharist as an enactment of kenotic hospitality and the alternative economy of God. It explores kenosis and hospitality as important practices for Christians, and reflects on how they are linked and embodied in the sensuous experience of the Eucharist. I explore kenotic acts of self-limitation as an antidote to consumption, drawing upon the work of Sallie McFague. Balanced with an embodied understanding of mutuality, enactments of kenosis proclaim the abundance of God. Using the work of Christine D. Pohl, I explore the practice of hospitality as a mandate for Christians. Hospitality makes the invisible visible, and creates opportunity for connection and mutuality. The Eucharist, a liturgical expression of kenotic hospitality, engages participants in deep forms of connection to creation, to God, and to one another. I argue that kenosis and hospitality, in the light of the Eucharist, are illustrative of God’s alternative economy. As we engage the practices of limitation and hospitality that the Eucharist embodies, we are transformed by the abundance of God, for the sake of the world.

Að breyta Guði. Endursköpun guðsmyndar í ljósi reynslu kvenna af ofbeldi og kúgun

Í þessari grein er rýnt í texta eftir fjóra kvennaguðfræðinga sem allar hafa lagt fyrir sig nýsmíði guðsmynda í ljósi gagnrýni á vald Guðs. Fyrsti textinn um það efni kemur frá Mary Daly en hún er ein af mikilvægustu formæðrum kvennaguðfræðinnar og hóf guðsmynda-gagnrýni sína skömmu fyrir 1970. Daly sem aðhylltist róttækan femínisma beindi skrifum sínum að kaþólsku kirkjunni og kenningum hennar. Hún komst fljótlega að þeirri niður-stöðu að henni væri ekki vært innan kirkjunnar, kirkjan væri handan endurskoðunar og endurnýjunar. Þrátt fyrir það eru áhrif hennar á síðari tíma kvennaguðfræðinga óumdeild. Það sýna textar eftir Sallie McFague, Ivone Gebara og Wendy Farley, sem allar hafa ástundað guðsmyndargagnrýni og guðsmyndarnýsköpun og lagt sérstaka áherslu á vald Guðs í þeim efnum. McFague leggur áherslu á að allt tal um Guð sé líkingamál og réttir fram guðslíkingar eins og t.d. Guð sem vinkonuna, elskandann og móðurina en þannig vildi hún leggja áherslu á vægi hins líkamlega og nálæga Guðs. Svipað má segja um texta Ivone Gebara en reynsla og líf hinna fátæku er forsenda guðslíkinga hennar. Aðalatriði hjá henni er að allt líf sé samtengt og hvað öðru háð. Guð finnum við í tengslum og skyldleika alls sem lifir. Framlag Wendy Farley til endursköpunar guðsmynda felst í endurtúlkun á hugtakinu vald. Hún vill halda áfram að tala um vald Guðs en endurtúlkar hugtakið. Valdi Guðs verður, að hennar mati, best lýst sem líknsemi en það er eiginleiki sem aðeins Guð býr yfir. Líknsemi Guðs megnar að leysa manneskjunnar úr greipum ofbeldis og illsku. Vald Guðs umbreytir og frelsar á hátt sem enginn mannlegur máttur getur gert. Changing God. Reconstructing the image of God in the light of women’s experiences of violence and oppression This article examines texts by four women theologians who have all set out to reconstruct images of God in the face of criticism of God’s power. The first text comes from Mary Daly, one of the most important forerunners of women’s theology. She began her criticism of theology shortly before 1970. Daly, who embraced radical feminism, first focused her critique on the Catholic Church and its doctrines. However, she soon concluded that she was not valued within the Church, and indeed, that the Church was beyond re-evaluation and restoration. Nevertheless, her influence on later women theologians is undisputed. This is evidenced in texts by Sallie McFague, Ivone Gebara, and Wendy Farley, who have all engaged in critical and groundbreaking work regarding images of God, with particular emphasis on the meaning of the power of God. McFague highlights that all talk about God is metaphorical, presenting parables that depict God as friend, lover, and mother, which is how she emphasizes the importance of the physicality and immanence of God. Similar themes can be found within Ivone Gebara’s text, but the experiences of the poor are a prerequisite for her writings of God images. She writes that all life is interconnected and interdependent. According to her, we find God in the relatedness and kinship of all living creatures. Wendy Farley’s contribution to the critical discussion on the images of God is a reinterpretation of the concept of power. She wishes to keep talking about God’s power but reinterprets the concept. In her view, the power of God is best described as compassion, a quality, however, that only God can have. God’s compassion liberates human beings from violence and evil. God’s power transforms and liberates in a way that no human power ever can.

“What I’ve Seen with Your Eyes”: Relational Theology and Ways of Seeing in Blade Runner

This paper examines the theme of relational theology in the Blade Runner science fiction franchise by exploring the symbolism of eyes and sight in the films. Using the work of ecofeminist theologian Sallie McFague, we explore the contrast between the arrogant, detached eye of surveillance (what we call the “gods’ eye view”) which interprets the other-than-human world as instrumental object, and the possibility of the loving eye of awareness and attention (the “God’s eye view”) which views the other-than-human world as an equal subject with intrinsic value. How the films wrestle with what is “real” and how the other-than-human is regarded has implications for our present time as we face enormous upheavals due to climate disruption and migration and the accompanying justice issues therein. We make the case that the films are extended metaphors that provide a window on our own dystopian present which present us with choices as to how we will see the world and respond to the ecological and humanitarian crises already upon us.

La propuesta metodológica de Sallie McFague en la búsqueda de nuevos modelos para una teología metafórica

En el presente artículo se analiza la propuesta metodológica de Sallie McFague para la articulación de una teología metafórica. En la primera parte, el autor destaca el lugar que la teóloga estadounidense otorga a la metáfora como recurso del lenguaje y, a su vez, la crítica que encara frente a dos expresiones diametralmente opuestas, a saber: el fundamentalismo bíblico –por su literalismo– y la desconstrucción derrideana caracterizada por no admitir nada fuera del texto, con lo cual intenta eludir el conflicto de las interpretaciones. En la segunda sección del trabajo, se define lo que significa la «teología metafórica» para McFague, destacando que se trata de una construcción heurística que privilegia la imaginación para exponer las relaciones entre Dios y el mundo con el fin de remitologizar la fe cristiana a partir del paradigma de Jesús. En la tercera parte, se analiza la reinterpretación que McFague hace de la resurrección de Cristo para afirmar el mundo como «cuerpo» de Dios. En la cuarta sección se exponen las nuevas metáforas propuestas por la teóloga americana referidas a Dios como madre, amigo y amante. La última parte del trabajo consiste en una evaluación de la propuesta de McFague donde se destacan la creatividad y osadía de la teóloga americana que, más allá de cierta tendencia panteísta cuando se refiere al mundo como «cuerpo» de Dios, ofrece importantes elementos para la construcción de una teología metafórica inscripta dentro del feminismo. El autor afirma que la teología metafórica ofrecida por Sallie McFague permite recuperar el mensaje de Jesús sobre el Reino de Dios en sus dimensiones antijerárquicas y antitriunfalistas, obturadas por las teologías sistemáticas clásicas.