Sallie Mcfague Models Of God Summary

Kevin Noble

12/03/12

Models of God Critical Analysis

For my final essay assignment I have chosen to analyze Sallie McFague and her book, Models of God. She discusses many points in her book, starting with the world at large. McFague, being a Feminist post modern theologian, questions the way our faith is viewed today as well as tries to come up with her own explanation of what we view as religion and religious ideas today. She questions the decisions of society as a whole, much as Reinhold Niebuhr did as well. I feel her theology most closely relates to that of Niebuhrs compared to the rest of the books we read in class this semester. I say this because McFague really strongly believes in this metaphorical theology. Niebuhr also had
These separate metaphors rely on the individual viewing God as a Mother, God as a Lover, and God as a Friend. These were broken up by her to help show the specific relationship between God and the world. McFague’s three models, Mother, Lover and Friend, correspond to the three members of the trinity (Father, Son and Spirit), to three significant Christian ideas (creation, salvation and eschatology), and to three elements of ethics (justice, healing and companionship), which I found quite strange and compelling. I think it is quite genius for McFague to break these up in such a way. It is relatable to all walks of life and can be viewed from the most religious of perspectives as well as the completely secular perspective without changing the importance of “The Trinity” whether viewed religiously or not. McFague’s three models of God are an out working of her metaphorical theology from her ecofeminist perspective. She uses these ideas to constantly expand her thought process and knowledge of the subject. I really enjoyed trying to piece together her theology and make everything fit metaphorically. I think that was the idea behind her theology. She just wanted a new way to express her feelings and connect spiritually with a higher being. She is constantly looking for a new way to describe each
One of the central principles of evolutionary theory, which McFague actually points out, is the survival of the fittest in an non equality based society. The strongest survive and the weakest die off becoming food for the strong. This can also be seen as a metaphor in her theology as the end to belief. It can show the ending to the metaphor and the dying of the idol. Once an idol we follow shows to be untrue or misguided we must find a new one, also showing a slight amount of incarnation. Death is a huge part of an evolutionary perspective, yet McFague explains that she sees the world as generally favorable for life. The image of God that emerges from the model of the world as God’s body is an unfavorable to say the least in this situation. If the universe as we see it is not particularly nice, benevolent or even conducive to life in general, why should we expect a God that is so closely related to the world to have these characteristics? The other question I have for McFague stems from the relationship of humanity and God. McFague attempts to make God more noticeable by explaining the world with God’s body. Yet, by removing the possibility of a personal relationship between an individual human and God, she makes God even more remote. From this idea it seems she is stating humans can encounter God only through the physical world, and only as a part of that