by Caryn D. Riswold
In my eleven years of teaching undergraduate students about Christianity, I have repeatedly drawn on the 1992 book She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse by Elizabeth A. Johnson. In my class on Women, Race, and Theology, for example, students are drawn to her “attempts to braid a footbridge between the ledges of classical and feminist Christian wisdom,” challenged by her faithful use of Thomas Aquinas and other deeply Catholic sources of wisdom, and joyfully engaged by the “images of God” that she includes in the middle of the book, from Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam, to Dina Cormick’s Creator God most beautiful, and a photograph of an unnamed Mexican woman twirling cotton into thread.
Along with many other scholars, I am indebted to the ways that Johnson describes how language about God functions: “the way in which a faith community shapes language about God implicitly represents what it takes to be the highest good, the profoundest truth, the most appealing beauty." Language matters, as any sociologist will tell you. Exclusive male language for God matters, as any theologian must admit. As a feminist scholar working in conversation with a weighty Christian tradition, a Lutheran one to be exact, I follow in the footsteps of this Catholic feminist who has shown for decades how one can truly and authentically be both of those things.
On April 1, 2011, The New York Times reported the following: “A committee of American Roman Catholic bishops announced Wednesday that a popular book about God by Sister Elizabeth A. Johnson, a theologian at Fordham University in New York, should not be used in Catholic schools and universities because it does not uphold church doctrine.”
The article also reports that Dr. Johnson responded to the Bishops saying: “The conclusions thus drawn paint an incorrect picture of the fundamental line of thought the book develops. A conversation, which I still hope to have, would have very likely avoided these misrepresentations.”
The Catholic Theological Society of North America voiced numerous concerns about the Bishops’ statement, including: “It is difficult for us to imagine that Professor Johnson, who has written so elegantly and movingly about the divine mystery throughout her career, lacks a heartfelt intention to say something modestly truthful about God based on God’s revelation in Scripture and Tradition.”
In response to the public controversy, a group of over seventy Lutheran women in academic and pastoral work around the globe collaborated to write an Open Letter to Dr. Johnson, voicing support for her work and noting her substantial contributions to Christian and feminist theologies. Dr. Mary Streufert, Director of Justice for Women at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America coordinated this effort, and sent the following letter to Elizabeth A. Johnson in May 2011. A list of signatories follows.
Eastertide, 2011
An Open Letter to Dr. Elizabeth A. Johnson, CSJ, from Lutheran women in religious studies, theology, and pastoral ministry
We were saddened to hear the news of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Doctrine’s recent criticism of your 2007 book Quest for the Living God. As scholars, pastors, and teachers of the Lutheran church, we women write to express publically our indebtedness to you, our feminist Catholic sister, for a theological vision where the breadth and depth of female experience is capable of bearing the divine. In braiding a sturdy footbridge between classical theology and feminist Christian theology, you have made it possible for so many to follow you across that bridge and to find a space in traditions that have not always proved welcome to women or our concerns.
Rather than a theology that disrespects Christian tradition, as the Bishops’ criticism suggests, we understand your theology as a faithful invitation to see more—more of God, more of creation, and more of who we are as human beings. Your faithful theology paints for us a picture of a God who loves creation deeply, dwells in creation deeply and inspires and empowers us to dwell with each other deeply.
You have been an essential voice in our introduction to feminist theology, and we have learned from you how to cherish the best in our theological inheritances while simultaneously engaging in faithful critique of those same inheritances. Our theologies and the theologies of our students and our parishioners have been transformed by your work. Inspired by the paths you’ve forged we now work to transform our theologies and institutions into places that more faithfully reflect the depth of God’s love.
Dr. Johnson, we are grateful for your wisdom, your leadership, and for a theological vision that enlarges our understanding of God’s creating, compassionate and redeeming presence among us. We are also thankful for your work in promoting Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue, enriching the theological work that we share. Know that you continue to inspire countless scholars and public ministers in our Lutheran tradition and beyond.
Your sisters in Christ,
(List of Signatories after the jump below)
Caryn D. Riswold, Ph.D., is a feminist theologian in the Lutheran tradition. She contributed to the book Transformative Lutheran Theologies: Feminist, Womanist, and Mujerista Perspectives (Fortress 2010) and speaks regularly on her recent book Feminism and Christianity: Questions and Answers in the Third Wave. She is Associate Professor of Religion and chair of Gender and Women’s Studies at Illinois College. You can follow her on Twitter @feminismxianity. Kristin Johnston Largen
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg
Deanna Thompson
Hamline University
Kari Kloos
Regis University
Janet Bregar
California State Fullerton
Norma Cook Everist
Wartburg Theological Seminary
Kathryn Johnson
Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Affairs,
Lutheran World Federation, Geneva
Kirsi Stjerna
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg
Kelly Denton-Borhaug
Moravian College
Diane Jacobson
Professor Emeritus, Luther Seminary
Lorraine Brugh
Valparaiso University
Sue Stover
Durham, North Carolina
Elna Solvang
Concordia College, Moorhead
Gwen Sayler
Wartburg Theological Seminary
Carol Schersten LaHurd
Chicago, Illinois
Kadi Billman
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Chicago
Lois Malcolm
Luther Seminary
Arnfridur Gudmundsdottir
Iceland
L. DeAne Lagerquist
St. Olaf College
Maria Erling
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg
Kris Stache
Wartburg Theological Seminary
Mary (Joy) Philip
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Chicago
Lisa L. Stenmark
San Jose State University
Beth Birkholz
Marietta, Georgia
Aana Marie Vigen
Loyola University Chicago
Melissa James
Graduate Theological Union
Jacqueline Bussie
Capital University
Esther Menn
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
Sharon Betcher
Vancouver School of Theology
Caryn Riswold
Illinois College
Nina Livesey
Oklahoma University
Gladys G. Moore
Mount Holyoke
Joy Schroeder
Capital University and Trinity Lutheran Seminary
Shauna Hannan
Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary
Barbara Rossing
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
Cynthia Moe-Lobeda
Seattle University
Hanne Løland
MF-Norwegian School of Theology, Oslo, Norway
Marcia J. Bunge
Valparaiso University
Laurie Jungling
Augustana College, Sioux Falls
May Burt Persaud
Wartburg Theological Seminary
Ann Fritschel
Wartburg Theological Seminary
Alicia Vargas
Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary
Donna Duensing
Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary
Mary M. Solberg
Gustavus Adolphus College
Jessicah Duckworth
Luther Seminary
Kristin M. Swenson
Virginia Commonwealth University
Janyce Jorgensen
York, Pennsylvania
Joanne Chadwick
San Francisco, California
Elizabeth Palmer
University of Chicago Divinity School
Kirsten Mebust
Augustana College, Sioux Falls
Anna Mercedes
College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University
Wanda Deifelt
Luther College
Melinda Quivik
Houghton, Michigan
Katie Day
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
Margaret R. McLean
Santa Clara University
Kristen E. Kvam
Saint Paul School of Theology, Kansas City
Terra Schwerin Rowe
Drew University
Rebecca Thurman
Wartburg College
Jeannine Olson
Rhode Island College
Kristin Helweg Hanson
University of Alaska, Anchorage
Marit Trelstad
Pacific Lutheran University
Beverly Stratton
Augsburg College
Sarah E. Fredericks
University of North Texas
Lea F. Schweitz
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
Mary Lowe
Augsburg College
Barbara Lundblad
Union Theological Seminary in New York
Jennifer Hockenberry
Mount Mary College
Diane V. Bowers
San Leandro, California
Center for Anglican Learning and Leadership, Berkeley, California
Susan Wilds McArver
Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary
Terry Snipes
Smyrna, Georgia
Katharina von Kellenbach
St. Mary's College of Maryland
Lisa Dahill
Trinity Lutheran Seminary
Susan Hedahl
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg
Mary J. Streufert
Chicago, Illinois
Corrine Carvalho
University of St. Thomas
Sherry Jordan
University of St. Thomas
Carolyn Schneider
Texas Lutheran University
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