Union Matters!

Early feminist theologians criticized the Christian doctrine of sin for its focus on female sexual purity and its enabling of the marginalization and oppression of women. Others have questioned whether the entire theological category of sin should be abandoned in favor of other ways of talking about the human predicament. In her new book “Sexism and Sin-Talk: Feminist Conversations on the Human Condition,” Union Presbyterian Seminary Assistant Professor of Theology and Ethics Rachel Sophia Baard argues for a feminist critique of traditional sin-talk alongside a constructive reinterpretation of the doctrine of sin — one that can be life-affirming for all persons. Baard claims that the Christian idea of sin — that tragic flaw at the core of human experience — provides one of the best tools for understanding the evils of sexism, patriarchy, and traditional sin-talk itself. She likewise provides a new rhetoric of sin-talk, one that accounts for the diverse experiences of the human family, not simply those of pow