Abstract
Western society is pervaded by a value system that leads to a virtually natural discrimination against women and an accompanying unbridled “right” to Earth. Dichotomies, whereby, amongst others, masculinity is prioritized over femininity, lie at the heart of these value systems. These dichotomies are underpinned by the gender ideologies in the texts of the Old Testament that are regarded as normative.
The possibility that creation texts of the Old Testament contain dimensions of ecojustice was foreseen, specifically regarding the potential femininity of the god constructs in cosmological texts. The ideological values leading to the construction of certain god characters were weighed up against the six principles of ecojustice promoted by the Earth Bible series. These principles are: intrinsic value, interconnectedness, voice, purpose, mutual custodianship and resistance to exploitation.
The method of body criticism was employed in analyzing the texts and exposing the values foundational thereto. Body criticism as analytical tool is based upon the findings of modern cognitive science regarding the embodiment of thought, the cognitive unconscious as well as the metaphoricity of human abstract constructs. The paradigm or model of embodied realism was construed, wherein the body is regarded as “text” reflecting the deepest values and convictions of a community. God constructs represent the ideal symbolic body of a community, a regulating body that moulds and refines the values and norms of that community. In an ecojust phenomenology of the body, including the concepts of an ideal body and god constructs, gender will function as a dynamic interactive continuum.
In the exposition of the body ideology of antique Israel, the focus was placed on the Israelite regulatory body in the form of God as foundation of the patriarchal ideology of the ancient world. That ideal or regulatory body was found to be decidedly male.
The body critical analysis of Genesis 1:1-2:4a exposed that cosmogony as accommodating a metaphor of a god that is clearly and pertinently male. The god construct of the first creation narrative is a rhetorical power mechanism for the confirmation of male dominance. Values inherent to the god construct leave no room for Earth as equal subject. With the possible exception of a moment of wonderment and awe in Genesis 1:31, this text does not support the principles of ecojustice.
The god metaphor in Psalm 74 is strictly and brutally male. Nature and Earth and her components simply form the stage on which the male dominated cult performs.
The gender values underlying the god construct in Proverbs 8 and 9 represent the typical male-female dichotomy or duality. Woman Wisdom is a rhetorical power strategy employed in the service of the male God.
The god character in Job 38:1-42:6 represents a contrast with the previous god constructs since hierarchized gender constructs seem to be absent. Multi-faceted gender continuum metaphorizations safeguard the god construct against one-sided and exclusive masculinity. A god construct and cosmology that serves ecojustice is constituted by the mutual incorporation of masculine and feminine values. The metaphor of a balanced body thus construed can be utilized as starting point for the regeneration of ecojust principles.
Values wherein femininity is incorporated, specifically with regards to the construction of a god character, lead to a more just attitude towards Earth. Values that lead to the construction of a god character as male, or the metaphorization of a god as exclusively and one-sidedly masculine, lead to an attitude of disregard and destructiveness towards Earth. This hypothesis was confirmed by the findings of the body critical analysis of well known and important Biblical cosmological texts.
Mutual incorporation of male as well as female values should constitute the god symbols of society. A society that share the conviction of ecojustice will deconstruct traditional polarizing gender categories and gender hierarchies and replace them with concepts such as the continuum of gender, empathic absorption, mutual incorporation and reciprocal constitution.
Prof. Hennie Viviers