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Emily Renée Ellis

Dr. Parker

English 113: Feminist Perspectives

14 September 2018

God is Love

In “Christian, or Feminist?,” Emma Green explores the relationship between Christianity and

feminism. Specifically, Green examines Dianna E. Anderson’s determination for reconciling

Christianity and feminism, and her new book, “Damaged Goods.” As the author herself puts it,

Anderson’s “new book about purity culture shows the difficulty of reconciling women's liberation

with evangelical faith” (Green 2015). She goes on to say, “What's interesting about Anderson's

case is the flavor of the antagonism: She writes about feminism and gender identity, but she's

also a committed evangelical Christian” (Green 2015). Although some people believe that “these

two aspects of …[Anderson’s] identity aren't mutually exclusive,” Green insists that “in practice,

balancing them requires a lot of translating” (Green 2015). In sum, then, her view is that

Anderson’s book “might be a useful framework for engaging [the next generation] with both

Christianity and feminism” (Green 2015).

I am of two minds about the claims Green makes and references within this article. On one

hand I agree that “sexuality and faith are means of self-understanding [and that] they have to be

reconcilable, because” they can both be part of someone’s identity (Green 2015). I also agree

that “’God did create us with our gender identities, including trans and non-binary identities—

having those different perspectives is important for creating a world full of diverse

understandings’” (Green 2015). Lastly, I agree that “’sexuality is not the center of a person’s life,

faith, or health’” (Green 2015). On the other hand, I do not agree that balancing one’s Christian
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and feminist beliefs requires a lot of translating. I also disagree with the idea that “publicly

identifying as a Christian or as a feminist is a political act” (Green 2015). In my view, both a

person’s sexuality and their faith are very personal things because they are both fundamental

parts of an individual’s identity. Some might object, of course, on the grounds that faith is not

personal “’because when we are baptized we become members of one another … In the church’”

(Green 2015). Yet, I would argue that this collective faith frame of mind demonstrates the lack of

a personal relationship with the Triune. This is not to say that our faith should be privatized, but

rather, it should begin personally and intimately so that our genuine personal relationship with

God may overflow and carry over into each and every of our other relationships (Flood 2011).

Overall, then, I believe that if a person’s faith truly begins in a personal and intimate relationship

with God, they would know and show love because “Whoever is without love does not know

God, for God is love” (New American Bible, 1 John 4:8).

I’ve always thought of my Christian, and even more specifically my Catholic faith and

identity as being slightly removed from both the Roman Catholic Church and just Christian

churches in general because there is still a lot that the church believes and teaches that frankly I

just do not agree with whatsoever. For instance, abortion, same-sex marriage, contraception,

chastity, etc. My faith is deeply rooted in my belief that our most important job here on earth is

to love one another. So important is this job of ours that God gave his only son to deliver the two

great foundational commandments that tell us to love God with all of our hearts and to love one

another as he has loved us, and to save us from our sins. I am of the opinion that when

everything is stripped away, love is what matters because love is what remains. In other words,

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1

Corinthians 13:13). I think having read this article might help me to understand this feminist
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perspective in a contemporary moment as I read, consider, and discuss parts of the bible with

others or even just by myself, but at the end of the day my Christian, Catholic faith and beliefs

are rooted in love, and are therefore rooted in God.

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Works Cited

Flood, Derek. “A Personal Relationship With God?” The Huffington Post,

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 1 Oct. 2011, www.huffingtonpost.com/derek-flood/personal-

relationship-with-god_b_914065.html.

Green, Emma. “Yes, It's Possible to Be a Christian and a Feminist.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media

Company, 5 Mar. 2015, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/03/christian-

feminist/386609/.

New American Bible: Catholic Edition. Our Sunday Visitor, 1997.