American Catholic Bishops Censure Fordham Scholar Sister Elizabeth A. Johnson

Fordham University professor Sister Elizabeth A. Johnson is one of a generation of feminist and male religious scholars who acknowledge that the writers of the Bible circumscribed women’s roles as part of their own cultural biases.

In 2007 Sister Johnson wrote Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God.  The reviews of her book were excellent and it remains #1071 at Amazon almost four years after publication.

“It is rare that one finds a book that will appeal to all sorts of audiences, but Quest for the Living God is one. Professional theologians, undergraduate students and literate people of faith will enjoy all that this engaging work has to offer.” — America Magazine

“With her characteristic generosity, Johnson surveys a range of new theological currents in the doctrine of God, showing the context in which each idea arose, the theological reasoning behind it, and its implications for spiritual and practical life. Included are chapters on transcendental, political, liberation, feminist, black, Hispanic, interreligious, and ecological theologies, followed by a chapter of trinitarian reflections. Suggestions for further reading conclude each chapter.” — Amy Plantinga Pauw, Christian Century, May 6, 2008

“As Elizabeth Johnson notes, Karl Rahner had an abiding concern that much of Christian theology presented God ‘unworthy of belief.’ Here Johnson has given us a God truly worthy of our belief, fidelity, and love. Every word breathes with the author’s own deep love of God, the church, and the world. Combining her usual theological sophistication with the practical wisdom that comes from a life-long commitment to the life of faith, this is theology as it should be.” — Roberto S. Goizueta, Associate Professor of Theology, Boston College, and past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America

“In this wonderful, lucid, and challenging book, Elizabeth Johnson not only maps the frontiers of theology but critiques, synthesizes, and appropriates a range of insights to help us fruitfully and humbly expand our grasp of the Loving Mystery who is God.” — M. Shawn Copeland, Associate Professor of Theology, Boston College, and past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America

The NYTimes writes that American bishops are now on the offensive against Sister Johnson, accusing her of violating church doctrine. Scholars on both left and write agree that the bishops, who already refuse to discuss issues around ordaining women are signaling that there will also be no discussion of pronouns in prayers, the study of male and female aspects of God and other ‘progressive ideas’ about God. 

“What the bishops have done is to reject 50 years of contemporary theology,” said Terrence W. Tilley, chairman of the theology department at Fordham, where many faculty members have rallied to the sister’s defense. “Sister Johnson has been attempting to push Catholic thinking along new paths. And the bishops have now made it clear — this is something they stand against.”

Recently the board of the Catholic Theological Society of America said the bishops’ criticism represented a misreading of her work and reflected ‘a very narrow understanding’ of contributions theologians make to the church.

Conservatives in the church are thrilled to be done with these radical beliefs. God is male (a fact believed by the majority of American women); the Creator is a masculine force and — perhaps once and for all — we can agree that men are more Godlike than women.

Reading the Catholic Theological Society of America response to the American bishops, we see the reflection of American society in total. Attempts are being made in every sector of our society to roll back the last 50 years, with the clear objective of putting women back in their places.

The proper place for women is at home raising children and servicing her community, living under the tutelage of a husband, who is in charge of the family unit.