Abstract
Feminist theology is rooted in women’s experience. Experience, however, is always shaped by the specificity of each woman’s life, even as her experiences are connected to those of others—by culture, embodiment, relationships, and shared vulnerabilities and strengths. This powerful collection, edited by Rebecca Todd Peters and Grace Y. Kao, gathers together essays of ten theologians working in the academy and in ministry, in order to do feminist theology in a new way with the hope of bringing it to a wider audience of women.
The newness to which the authors aspire manifests in the integrity of the voices at the heart of each essay. Each essay is deeply personal, arising from profound life-changing and life-shaping experiences and commitments, while also engaging theological questions and drawing on or challenging Christian rituals and traditions. In contrast to the usual mode of academic theologizing that tends toward abstraction or theorizing, these authors write in the first person and stay close to lived reality. Reading this volume, one feels invited to listen in on wise women who are making their way in life, in prayer, in relationship with God and in community.
The topics taken up for reflection also make these essays distinctive, in that many of them are rarely examined formally in the academy. Half the essays touch on issues related to sexuality and children (pregnancy, miscarriage, sexual assault, infertility, and voluntary childlessness), half to a range of other life experiences (friendship, simple living, racism, gossip, and death and dying). And, while one can find these topics on the shelves of common bookstores, this collection stands out from much of the literature written for Christian women because it is written from within the journeys of the women telling their stories in ways that do not patronize or romanticize women or foreclose on the complexity of their experiences.
At a practical level, the volume is refreshingly free of jargon. Each chapter ends with instructions for a ritual or activity related to the theme of the chapter, as well as questions for discussion. Encountering the Sacred will serve both to introduce newcomers to feminist theology, and to refresh and inspire those who already work in the field.