Feminist Theology Rewrites Genesis

Lift Every Voice: Constructing Christian Theologies from the Underside — Susan B. Thistlethwaite and Mary Potter Engel (eds.)

An essential anthology that proves theology isn't a white male monologue — it's a chorus. Susan B. Thistlethwaite and Mary Potter Engel assembled this collection in 1990 to disrupt the assumption that Christian theology speaks with one voice. Lift Every Voice centers womanist, mujerista, Asian feminist, and liberation perspectives — voices that had been doing the theological work but weren't getting the podium. As of June 2026, this volume remains a cornerstone text for anyone studying intersectional approaches to religious thought. It's not polite diversity; it's structural challenge. Explore our current copy of Lift Every Voice or browse more LGBTQIA+ books at Patina.

Between Two Gardens: Reflections on Sexuality and Religious Experience — James B. Nelson

A 1983 classic that treats sexuality as sacred, not shameful — radical then, still necessary now. James B. Nelson was writing body theology before it had a hashtag. Between Two Gardens takes the incarnation seriously: if God became flesh, then flesh — including sexual flesh — is holy ground. Nelson moves through desire, intimacy, and embodiment with the care of a theologian and the warmth of someone who actually likes being human. He's influenced by process theology and feminist ethics, and his work laid groundwork for queer Christian thinkers who followed. Explore our current copy of Between Two Gardens or browse more LGBTQIA+ books at Patina.

Making the Connections: Essays in Feminist Social Ethics — Beverly Wildung Harrison

Harrison's 1985 essay collection dismantles the myth that ethics and economics are separate from feminist theology. Beverly Wildung Harrison was a professor at Union Theological Seminary and one of the sharpest voices in feminist Christian ethics. Making the Connections argues that justice work isn't a side project for theology — it's the point. She connects reproductive rights, economic exploitation, and systemic violence to theological frameworks that centre women's moral agency. Harrison writes with precision and rage in equal measure, and her influence echoes through Marcella Althaus-Reid, Carter Heyward, and contemporary womanist scholars. Explore our current copy of Making the Connections or browse more LGBTQIA+ books at Patina.

Indecent Theology: Theological Perversions in Sex, Gender and Politics — Marcella Althaus-Reid

Althaus-Reid's 2000 bombshell queers liberation theology and refuses to apologize for it. Marcella Althaus-Reid was an Argentinian theologian who brought bisexual, working-class, Global South feminism to academic theology and set the whole field on fire. Indecent Theology exposes how even progressive liberation theology relies on heteronormative, bourgeois assumptions about family, desire, and morality. She reads Scripture through the lives of sex workers, queer communities, and the economically dispossessed — the people Jesus actually hung out with. It's rude, brilliant, and uncomfortable in all the right ways. Pair it with Harrison's structural critique or Nelson's body theology for a full reckoning. Explore our current copy of Indecent Theology or browse more LGBTQIA+ books at Patina.

The Female Face of God in Auschwitz: A Jewish Feminist Theology of the Holocaust — Melissa Raphael

Raphael applies feminist method to Holocaust testimony and argues for a theology of presence, not power. Melissa Raphael's 2003 study is one of the most challenging books in feminist theology because it refuses easy answers. Where was God in Auschwitz? Raphael argues that God was present in the small, embodied acts of care women performed for each other — washing a face, sharing bread, comforting the dying. She critiques traditional theodicy (the "God is all-powerful and all-good" framework) as a patriarchal construct that can't hold suffering. Instead, she retrieves a maternal, relational God-concept rooted in witness and solidarity. It's theological work that honours survivors' testimony without flattening their trauma. Explore our current copy of The Female Face of God in Auschwitz or browse more LGBTQIA+ books at Patina. Feminist theology isn't a niche subdiscipline — it's a reckoning with what religion has done to bodies, especially bodies that don't fit patriarchal scripts. These five titles represent decades of scholars refusing to let theology off the hook for its complicity in oppression. Shop all LGBTQIA+ books at Patina Paperbacks →

What is feminist theology and when did it start?

Feminist theology is the critical examination of religious texts, traditions, and institutions through the lens of women's experience and gender justice. It emerged as a formal academic discipline in the 1960s–70s alongside second-wave feminism, with foundational works by Rosemary Radford Ruether, Mary Daly, and Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza challenging patriarchal biblical interpretation. The field has since expanded to include womanist, mujerista, queer, and postcolonial theological voices that critique not just sexism but intersecting systems of oppression.

Where can I buy secondhand feminist theology books in Australia?

Patina Paperbacks stocks rotating preloved copies of feminist theology titles and ships Australia-wide from Sydney. Our LGBTQIA+ collection includes works by Beverly Wildung Harrison, Marcella Althaus-Reid, James B. Nelson, and other scholars working at the intersection of gender, sexuality, and religious thought. Free shipping applies to orders over $29.

Is Marcella Althaus-Reid's Indecent Theology still relevant today?

Honestly, yes — Indecent Theology remains one of the most provocative critiques of how progressive Christianity still clings to respectability politics and heteronormative family structures. Althaus-Reid's insistence on centering queer, poor, and Global South bodies in theological reflection feels more urgent now than it did in 2000, especially as churches debate inclusion policies without interrogating their class and sexual assumptions. Pair it with contemporary queer theologians like Patrick Cheng or Robyn Henderson-Espinoza to see how her work continues to shape the field.

What is body theology and how does it relate to feminist thought?

Body theology takes seriously the Christian doctrine of incarnation — the idea that God became flesh in Jesus — and extends it to argue that all bodies, including sexual and gendered bodies, are sites of sacred meaning. James B. Nelson's work in the 1970s–80s pioneered this approach, linking sexual ethics to embodiment and challenging centuries of Christian body-shame. Feminist theologians embraced and expanded body theology to critique how patriarchal religion has policed women's bodies, reproductive choices, and desire while claiming spiritual authority.

Can you recommend other books similar to The Female Face of God in Auschwitz?

If you're drawn to Melissa Raphael's approach — feminist method applied to extreme suffering — try Serene Jones's Trauma and Grace (2009), which uses feminist theology to address PTSD and collective trauma, or Emilie Townes's womanist work on cultural violence. For Jewish feminist theology more broadly, Judith Plaskow's Standing Again at Sinai (1990) is foundational. Raphael's book sits at a rare intersection of Holocaust studies, feminist theology, and maternal God-concepts, so there's no exact match — but those titles share her commitment to honouring bodies and stories that theology has historically ignored.