Newsletter of the Asian Women's Resource Centre for Culture and Theology
Vol. 11, No. 1, April 2006
IT was Her-story in the making
Twenty-five participants from Asia, including 12 from the AWRC Young Women Doing Theology (YWDT) group, gathered in Kuala Lumpur from Jan 13-20 for a joint study workshop on the theme, A Reconstruction of the Early Christian Origins – An Asian Feminist Perspective.
Moving women from the periphery of history to its centre, the participants claimed selfhood in feminist interpretations of the Scriptures from their various Asian social locations.
In the first two days, the young women shared their social biographies: telling their stories of how they came about, what events or people shaped them and brought them to their present involvement.
Their stories were then synthesized to bring about an understanding of history writing and to establish some common elements of feminist historical perspective among the participants.
On the third day, the workshop proper began with Conversations: What is Asian Feminist Perspective? chaired by Virginia Fabella and Arche Ligo from the Philippines.
The participants acknowledged the Asian feminist lenses through which they viewed biblical texts and so their perspectives (in the plural) were partial, not objective.
In summing up, Virginia broke down the three words. Beginning with “Asian”, she said it meant an awareness of the Asian context which was both diverse and complex.
“We have to be aware of its colonial past and globalised present; its massive poverty; its relationship with the West and Western hegemony and imperial motive; and our post-colonial stance,” she said.
On “Feminist”, she said we should be aware of : (1) women’s oppression and commitment to liberation and transformation. (2) Patriarchy: Its control and domination beyond gender. (3) Inter-connectedness of oppression and different struggles against it. (4) Inclusive role: Right relationships among all peoples with the Divine and Creation.
Virginia emphasized the importance of having an Asian Feminist Perspective because “there are many perspectives, but it is this Asian-ness that makes us distinct and gives uniqueness to our contribution in comparison to Western theologians.”
Nelun Gunasekera from Sri Lanka presented the next session on A Critical Reconstruction: An Overview of ‘History’ from an Asian Feminist Perspective.
She said people try to uncover past events to make these intelligible and this could not be done objectively, but always from a particular lens for a particular purpose.
Whatever the perspective, there are technical tools required to write history and she listed them as: (1) Choose a subject or topic you are interested in because history-writing is a tedious process and you need to be passionate about it. (2) Do a literature survey on all that has been explored and this will give you an idea of the gaps and silences and where you can locate yourself. (3) Formulate a basic, key historical question and this will define your subject. (4) Define your boundaries, the scope of the research subject. (5) Define the elements of your perspective, the conceptual framework. (6) Methods and sources, stating what sources you are going to use.
Next, Pauline Chakkalakal of India spoke on Women’s Discipleship and Leadership in Jesus Movement: An Asian Feminist Theological Reconstruction.
She said women formed part of a patriarchal society in which they were sidelined. So women had to consciously claim their place and thus the need to retrieve the early Christian women’s role in the Jesus Movement.
Using the tools of historical criticism and feminist hermeneutical principles, Pauline discussed the meanings of discipleship and leadership in the Gospels and the authors’ ambiguous treatment of the women around Jesus.
She illustrated a feminist reconstruction of some leading women such as Mary at the Annunciation and women at the Cross and empty tomb, taking the example of Luke’s version; and concluded that women had played an active role as disciples and leaders in the Jesus movement. Thus, she argued for a discipleship of equals in an inclusive Church today.
The next two sessions on Women’s Leadership and Authority in Pauline Christianity presented by Hyun Ju Bae of South Korea were exciting as participants wrestled with the many faces of Paul – the historical Paul, the canonical Paul, the ecclesial and public Paul, and his ambivalence towards women - and learnt some methodological considerations for reconstructing the history of early Christian women.
Hyun Ju said to reconstruct Christian women’s history, we have to: (1) be aware that ours is a different and new task: our interest is not in the male view but what the real woman’s life is like. (2) invite different and new questions: not focus on Paul only, but more important questions such as, Who is Prisca? What did they do? (3) different and new sources, which means going beyond canonical sources, especially those written by women themselves. (4) different and new categories, avoiding the danger of traditional dichotomies that portray ‘Christian’ as a separate entity and using other cultures such as Judaism as a negative foil. (5) pose different and new questions that are broader and more comprehensive – relating to socio, political, economic construction of women of all classes in all parts of the Greco-Roman empire.
History is a dialogue between the past and present leading us to responsibility for the future, she said. The issue of leadership is crucial, keeping in mind that the hierarchical kind of leadership is not what we want but a feminist, facilitating kind of alternative leadership.
Besides giving a typology of women’s leadership in early Christianity, she also discussed the Deutero-Pauline Epistles, such as the crippling household codes in Ephesians and Colossians, and the liberating proclamation in the Acts of Paul and Thecla.
Hisako Kinukawa of Japan made the last presentation on Discovery of Nag Hammadi and Gnostic Texts, tracing the discovery of these gnostic codices which were hidden for over 2,000 years because these texts were considered heretical by those who were orthodox.
She examined the meaning of gnosticism and from their writings, found egalitarian concepts on women and men. The participation of women is emphasized, for example,. in the Nag Hammadi codices, Mary of Magdala is mentioned often, unlike the orthodox tradition which downplayed and misportrayed her important role.
From the Gnostic literature, she also raised a possible connection of mutual influence between Gnostic Christians and Buddhism.
Hisako said the Gnostic teachings were more liberating, interpreting the Divine as now and inside ourselves. They took the story of Jesus as unfinished and kept adding stories; they did not close it by canonization!
On the final day, the participants unanimously adopted an eight-step spiral guideline for the reconstruction of early Christian history from an Asian Feminist Perspective.
The spiral begins with (1) Start with our experience of subject self; and with an active awareness or analysis of our social location or commitment. (2) The author’s social location and purpose of writing. (3) The social, political, cultural context of the story under study. (4) The power dynamics in the story: whose power is being legitimized, who is the ‘object’ in the story. (5) Thinking outside the box: Go beyond traditional sources and critique existing sources, locating new sources, oral sources, non-literary sources, and critique traditional standards of scientific scholarship that define ‘sources’. (6) Being critically aware of androcentric, dominating and kyriarchal language, symbols and images. (7) Creative imagination as a reconstructive step: reading between the lines and silences; using the tool of ‘compassion in detachment’; and spirituality. (8) Action for liberation and transformation: reflexive critical evaluation and capturing the liberative impulses that can transform the ‘objects’ to become subjects of the story.
In the ending session on the way forward, the YWDT group decided they would do the March 2007 issue of
In God’s Image on the theme, Claiming Full Space: Young Women Doing Theology in
Asia. They also planned to meet again next year. As a follow-up to the present workshop, an e-group mailing list would be started as a space for keeping in touch and sharing readings, etc.
AWRC co-ordinator Yong Ting Jin assured that the young women’s work would be documented. She said the present workshop would be fodder for a module on
a feminist reading of history in AWRC’s continuing Asian Feminist Theology series.
Some comments from the closing evaluation:
 | “I used to read Bible stories ‘objectively’. Now I realized the importance of self and my own experience in reading the Bible.” |
| “Paul is complex. I didn’t know there were so many Pauls.” |
| “I don’t like history, but now I feel history, though violent and painful, but I’m part of it, and so I decide to be in it and make it better.” |
| “This prepares me for the coming year’s programme in my work. This is one of the best discussions.” |
| “Richness of sources. I had no idea how subversive those women were.” |
| I used to wonder about the future of Asian feminist theology, but now I am encouraged by its bright future. |
Report by Woon Yoke Heng
Cuban feminist commends IGI
The Rev. Dr. Ofelia Ortega, a feminist theologian from Cuba and a newly elected president of the World Council of Churches cited the importance of women’s networking and commended Asian women for having
In God’s Image (IGI) as their avenue for sharing with and upholding one another.
She made the comment at the Ecumenical Women’s Forum on Life-Promoting Trade held in time for the 6th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Hong Kong last December 2005. Ortega was also in Hong Kong as guest lecturer at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in November-December.
A number of AWRC members were active participants at the ecumenical forum on 12-14 December. Feminist theologians Chung Sook Ja and Rose Wu from Korea and Hong Kong, respectively, were among the panelists. Corazon Tabing-Reyes and Hope Antone shared leadership at the opening worship of the forum.
The Ecumenical Women’s Forum was jointly organized by several organizations led by the World Council of Churches, Christian Conference of Asia, Hong Kong Christian Institute, and Hong Kong Women’s Christian Council. It gathered some 50 churchwomen, feminist theologians, and feminist economists for the following objectives:
- To provide a space to exchange stories of women’s experiences with WTO policies from various contexts;
- To strengthen the capacity of women to critically engage in the discourse on WTO policies as well as deepen feminist theological reflection on WTO policies;
- To forge linkages between churchwomen, women activists and feminist economists advocating for trade justice; and
- To lift up and celebrate women’s strategies of resistance and alternatives to WTO policies.
The forum included sharing of stories and analysis of the WTO-initiated (proposed) agreements related to agriculture and services, particularly on the issue of water privatization and the implications of trade in services on migrant workers’ rights. Bible studies, theological reflections, and small group discussions generated a lively sharing of “feminist perspectives on life-promoting trade.” The forum culminated with the drafting of an ecumenical women’s letter advocating for just, sustainable and caring trade and addressed to the WTO director general and trade ministers who were meeting in Hong Kong.
Participants joined the protest actions organized by an alliance of civil society groups such as the march to the Convention Centre, site of the WTO conference, on March 13.
IGI March 2006 edition carries some of the papers presented at the ecumenical women’s forum.
Materials on womenet may be quoted and copied provided that womenet is acknowledged as source. Printed copies of womenet are available on request from the AWRC Office.
