In order to further explore the significance of McFague's thoughts, this thesis will compare her theology with some other theologians with quite different ideas on ecological theology or understandings of the relationship between feminism and Christianity. Furthermore, this thesis will also adopt McFague's approach to metaphorical theology to evaluate the merits and shortcomings of the theories advocated by the contemporary Sino-Christian theologians such as Liu Xiaofeng and He Guanghu, especially their approaches to the relationship between the Christian tradition and the contemporary Chinese context. / McFague believes that all Christians may have their own working theologies one that can actually function in their personal, professional, and public lives. Hers is merely one of the possible options. Again and again she expresses that what she has done is merely to share her theological model with the others and see if it can help others to work out their own. / McFague defines her theology as a post-modem theology because its assumptions are radically different from those of the Enlightenment or Modernity. For her, the traditional language of Christianity that supported the hierarchical, dualistic and deterministic ways of thinking is no longer appropriate for our time. However, this does not mean that one should totally deny the Christian tradition or our religious heritage. What we have to do is to "revitalize" the religious language through employing new metaphors which may become gestures to the unknown God. This approach of employing metaphor as a means to convey theological truth is not only in line with Jesus' own way of communication and the Protestant tradition of anti-idolatry, but also appropriate for the postmodern sensibility and capable to address the contemporary issues. / McFague proposes that Christian theology should adopt "mother," "lover," and "friend" as the key metaphors for the doctrine of God and "the body of God" as the central metaphor for the model of God-world relationship. This metaphor or model, which highlights the interdependence and unity between us and everything else on earth, represents McFague's rather distinctive contribution to ecological theology and her imaginative attempt to contribute to the rescue from nuclear nightmare or ecological disaster. / Sallie McFague (1933- ) is one of the most famous eco-feminist theologians. Her theology is very influential within the theological circle of liberal Protestantism in North American. She regards her metaphorical theology as thought experiment in response to the challenges Christianity encounters in the modem world, including particularly the criticisms of Christianity from the perspectives of feminist liberation movement and ecological concern. When facing these challenges or criticisms, whereas some Christians may attempt to repeat the same traditional expressions of Christianity or abandon the Christian tradition entirely, McFague attempts to employ some new metaphors to express the Christian tradition in order to make Christian theology meaningful and appropriate for the contemporary context. / The thesis will conclude with a summary of the significance of McFague's metaphorical theology for the critical reflection and positive construction of contemporary Sino-Christian theology, including: (1 ) being respectful to the Christian history and orthodox tradition; (2) being sensitive to the contexts, including spatial, temporal and cultural contexts, of theology; (3) being methodologically sound in theological thinking; (4) being open to the non-Christian resources and affirmative to the adoption and integration of the resources in the Chinese language. / 高健群. / Advisers: Pan Chiu Lai; Chi Tim Lai. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-06, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 114-133). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Gao Jianqun.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:cuhk.edu.hk/oai:cuhk-dr:cuhk_344814 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Contributors | 高健群., Chinese University of Hong Kong Graduate School. Division of Religious Studies., Gao, Jianqun. |
| Source Sets | The Chinese University of Hong Kong |
| Language | Chinese, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, theses |
| Format | electronic resource, microform, microfiche, 1 online resource (ii, ii, i, 139 p.) |
| Coverage | China |
| Rights | Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons “Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International” License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) |
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