Beyond God the Father

Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women's Liberation by Mary Daly, is a nonfiction book that challenges the patriarchal views promoted by mainstream religious theology. It was originally published by Beacon Press in 1973.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women's Liberation

1985 Book cover
Author	Mary Daly
Subject	Christian doctrine, Feminism, Feminist theology, Women in Christianity
Published	1973
Publisher	Beacon Press
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print, E-book
Pages	264
ISBN	9780807015025 9780807015032
OCLC	4203151
Website	Official website

Synopsis

One of Mary Daly's main themes in this book is that religious traditions are based on patriarchy and hence, these traditions oppress women. She also says that the concept of God as male and as "The Father" is supported by male dominance and that this subordinates women. She discusses how religious language and its imagery maintains this power imbalance. Hence, she proposes a breaking away from traditional religions, including Christianity, which she says is misogynistic.^[1][4]

Feminist theology

Beyond God the Father is the last book in which Daly really considers God a substantive subject. She laid out her systematic theology, following Paul Tillich's example.^[7] Often regarded as a foundational work in feminist theology, Beyond God the Father is her attempt to explain and overcome androcentrism in Western religion, and it is notable for its playful writing style and its attempt to rehabilitate "God-talk" for the women's liberation movement by critically building on the writing of existentialist theologians such as Paul Tillich and Martin Buber. While the former increasingly characterized her writing, she soon abandoned the latter.

Book organization

The book is organized by an Introduction to the text, followed by seven chapters, then Notes for the chapters and a subject index.

Introduction: The Problem, the Purpose, and the Method

1. After the Death of God the Father
2. Exorcising Evil from Eve: the Fall into Freedom
3. Beyond Christolatry: a World Without Models
4. Transvaluation of Values: the End of Phallic Morality
5. The Bonds of Freedom: Sisterhood as Antichurch
6. Sisterhood as Cosmic Covenant
7. The Final Cause: the Cause of Causes

Notes

Index

References

1. Neal, Marie Augusta (1976). "Reviewed work: Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women's Liberation., Mary Daly". Contemporary Sociology. 5 (4): 441–442. doi:10.2307/2063788. JSTOR 2063788.
2. Kotker, Zane (1973). "Beyond God the Father". Crosscurrents. 23 (3): 342–344. JSTOR 24457865.
3. Driver, Anne Barstow (1974). "Beyond God the Father: An Essay Review". Women's Studies Newsletter. 2/3 (4/1): 8. JSTOR 40042351.
4. Laws, Judith Long (1975). "Reviewed work: Beyond God the Father, Mary Daly; Woman in Christian Tradition, George H. Tavard". Sociological Analysis. 36 (1): 82–84. doi:10.2307/3710200. JSTOR 3710200.
5. Livezey, Lois Gehr (1975). "Reviewed work: Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women's Liberation, Mary Daly". The Journal of Religion. 55 (4): 478–479. doi:10.1086/486458. JSTOR 1201720.
6. Douglas, Carol Anne (1974). "Reviewed work: Beyond god the father, Mary Daly". Off Our Backs. 4 (2): 8. JSTOR 25783729.
7. Riswold, Caryn D. (2007). Two Reformers. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-59752-826-9.

External links

• Official website
• Excerpts from Mary Daly, Beyond God the Father. Beacon Press. 2024.
• Full text available on Internet Archive.

Further reading

• Daly, Mary (2003). "Beyond God the Father". Feminism and Theology. pp. 41–46. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198782469.003.0007. ISBN 978-0-19-878246-9.
• Schneider, Laurel C. (1992). "From New Being To Meta-Being: A Critical Analysis of Paul Tillich's Influence on Mary Daly". Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal. 75 (2/3): 421–439. JSTOR 41178584.