Feminist Theology Rewrites Genesis Again
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- Carol P. Christ's Diving Deep and Surfacing (1980) pioneered the study of women's spiritual quest narratives in literature, analysing Margaret Atwood, Doris Lessing, and Ntozake Shange.
- Beverly Wildung Harrison, a Union Theological Seminary ethicist, published Making the Connections in 1985, linking feminist theology to labour rights, economic justice, and reproductive ethics.
- Marcella Althaus-Reid's Indecent Theology (2000) introduced "liberation theology from the margins," critiquing heteronormative assumptions in Latin American theology and queer theory.
- Sharon D. Welch's A Feminist Ethic of Risk (1990) argued for an ethics grounded in community resistance rather than abstract moral certainty, drawing on Black feminist thought and liberation movements.
- James B. Nelson's Between Two Gardens (1983) was an early theological defence of LGBTQ+ sexuality, written by a straight male ally within mainline Protestant ethics.
- Susan Griffin's Pornography and Silence (1981) examined the cultural silencing of women's voices through pornographic imagery, framing it as a theological and ethical crisis.
Diving Deep and Surfacing: Women Writers on Spiritual Quest — Carol P. Christ
The book that taught a generation how to read women's literature as theology.
Carol Christ didn't just write literary criticism; she invented a method. Diving Deep and Surfacing (1980) treats novels by Margaret Atwood, Doris Lessing, Kate Chopin, and Ntozake Shange as sacred texts, tracing a five-stage spiritual awakening that mirrors — and then explodes — the male hero's journey. Christ's "nothingness" stage (where the protagonist realises patriarchal religion offers her nothing) is still the best one-word summary of feminist theological rupture. If you've ever wondered why feminist scholars take fiction so seriously, this is the origin text. Explore our current copy of Diving Deep and Surfacing or browse more Philosophy books at Patina.
Making the Connections: Essays in Feminist Social Ethics — Beverly Wildung Harrison
The book that dragged feminist theology out of the seminar room and into labour strikes.
Harrison wasn't interested in abstract debates about the divine feminine; she wanted to know why Christian ethics ignored sweatshop conditions, abortion access, and economic exploitation. Making the Connections (1985) is a collection of essays written over a decade, each one linking reproductive justice, class struggle, and theological method. Her essay "The Power of Anger in the Work of Love" remains a rallying cry for anyone tired of Christian "niceness" as a cover for structural violence. This is theology with dirt under its nails. Explore our current copy of Making the Connections or browse more Philosophy books at Patina.
Between Two Gardens: Reflections on Sexuality and Religious Experience — James B. Nelson
The straight theologian who wrote one of the earliest defences of queer sexuality within mainline Protestantism.
Nelson's Between Two Gardens (1983) takes its title from Eden and Gethsemane — the two biblical sites where body and spirit collide. He argues that Christian sexual ethics has been catastrophically dualistic, treating the body as sin's playground rather than grace's location. What makes this book remarkable is Nelson's willingness to centre LGBTQ+ voices while interrogating his own heterosexual assumptions. It's dated in places (the language around "homosexuality" is very 1980s), but the theological method — embodiment as revelation — still holds. Explore our current copy of Between Two Gardens or browse more Philosophy books at Patina.
Indecent Theology: Theological Perversions in Sex, Gender and Politics — Marcella Althaus-Reid
The book that asked, "What if God is a lesbian sex worker?" and meant it.
Althaus-Reid, an Argentinian theologian teaching in Scotland, coined the term "indecent theology" to describe what happens when you strip away heteronormative, middle-class assumptions from liberation theology. Indecent Theology (2000) is deliberately provocative — she argues that traditional theology is "decent" in the worst sense, policing sexuality, gender, and desire to protect institutional power. Her readings of Latin American base communities, queer theory, and biblical texts are academic but never safe. This is the book that made "queer theology" a legitimate subfield. Explore our current copy of Indecent Theology or browse more Philosophy books at Patina.
Pornography and Silence — Susan Griffin
Griffin's feminist classic on how pornography doesn't just exploit women — it erases them.
Pornography and Silence (1981) predates the culture wars over porn by decades, but Griffin's argument remains unsettling: pornography is a theological problem because it replaces women's actual voices with male fantasy scripts. She draws on psychoanalysis, myth, and Christian iconography to trace how pornographic imagery functions as a silencing mechanism, not just a sexual one. Griffin's prose is more poetic than academic, which makes the book feel like a long, furious hymn. If you've ever wondered why anti-porn feminism took the shape it did in the 1980s, start here. Explore our current copy of Pornography and Silence or browse more Philosophy books at Patina.
A Feminist Ethic of Risk (Revised Edition) — Sharon D. Welch
Welch's argument that feminist ethics can't be about moral certainty — it has to be about communal risk.
This revised edition (1990) of Welch's groundbreaking work rejects the Enlightenment fantasy that ethics is about finding universal principles. Instead, she proposes an "ethic of risk" rooted in African American women's resistance traditions, liberation theology, and postmodern critiques of power. Welch's heroes aren't philosophers debating in armchairs; they're organisers, activists, and survivors making ethical choices under crushing constraint. The book is dense but never obscure — she writes like someone who's spent time in actual communities, not just libraries. As of July 2026, it remains one of the clearest articulations of what "praxis" means in feminist theology. Explore our current copy of A Feminist Ethic of Risk or browse more Philosophy books at Patina.
These titles belong on the same shelf — preferably one that's warping slightly under the weight of ideas too big for church basements. If you're building a collection that takes women's theological voices seriously, or if you just want to understand how feminist thought rewrote the rules of ethics, spirituality, and power in the late 20th century, these are your foundational texts. Shop all Philosophy books at Patina Paperbacks →
Where can I buy secondhand feminist theology books in Sydney?
Patina Paperbacks stocks a rotating collection of preloved feminist theology and ethics titles, shipping Australia-wide from our Sydney base. Our Philosophy collection includes foundational works from the 1980s and '90s — the decades that defined the field — plus harder-to-find titles from scholars like Carol P. Christ, Beverly Harrison, and Marcella Althaus-Reid.
What's the difference between feminist theology and women's spirituality?
Feminist theology works within (and critiques) traditional religious institutions — think reinterpreting scripture, ordaining women, challenging church doctrine. Women's spirituality often operates outside those structures entirely, drawing on goddess traditions, earth-based rituals, and non-Christian frameworks. Books like Diving Deep and Surfacing bridge both: Christ was trained in theology but her later work moved toward goddess scholarship. Both reject patriarchal religious authority; they just choose different exits.
Is Indecent Theology appropriate for academic study?
Absolutely — Marcella Althaus-Reid was a professor of contextual theology at the University of Edinburgh, and Indecent Theology (2000) is widely taught in queer theory, liberation theology, and gender studies courses. It's provocative by design, not by accident. The "indecency" is methodological: Althaus-Reid argues that respectable theology has always policed sex and gender to protect institutional power, so an honest theology has to start from the margins. Expect footnotes, not clickbait.
Are these books still relevant in 2025?
Honestly, yes — more than you'd expect. While some language feels dated (especially around sexuality and gender identity), the core arguments haven't been superseded. Harrison's economic critiques in Making the Connections map onto 2025's precarity debates; Welch's "ethic of risk" predicted the collapse of liberal moral certainty; Althaus-Reid's queer theology work laid groundwork for current intersectional approaches. These aren't museum pieces; they're load-bearing texts for contemporary feminist and queer theological scholarship.
What's a good starting point if I'm new to feminist theology?
Start with Carol Christ's Diving Deep and Surfacing — it's the most accessible entry point, using novels you might already know (Margaret Atwood, Kate Chopin) to explain feminist theological method. From there, move to Beverly Harrison's Making the Connections if you care about ethics and justice, or Marcella Althaus-Reid's Indecent Theology if you want the full queer theoretical framework. All three are rigorous but written for readers, not just specialists.