The trinitarian mystery in feminist theology. Reflections for an inclusive anthropology

Abstract

This article contributes to the current discussion on the category of gender. On the one hand, we have a society that has advanced on issues of equity on the basis of this notion and, on the other, the reflection of the Catholic Church’s magisterium, which warns of the subtlety that lies behind gender ideology, since human being wants to be culturally constituted as male and female independent of the original call of their Creator. In a succinct perspective, this articleprovides a general view on the genesis of the concept, its intellectual development and the consequences it has had in shaping new policies in western society in the 20th and 21st centuries. A theology whose starting point is dialogue with the God of Jesus Christ in and from the world, has incorporated the term “gender” in the studies carried out by feminist theology. This provides an analytical tool that allows, on the one hand, to denounce a theological anthropology sustained in the division and discrimination of the male and female relationship and, on the other, to announce, in line with the Second Vatican Council, an anthropology based on the Trinitarian mystery. This means constantly thinking of human beings as a key to individuality and otherness. We have been created by God as beings equal in dignity and diverse in our identity. Consequently, the discrimination of the diverse contradicts God’s love for his creature. This requires, above all for believers, to work constantly to guarantee dignity, human vocation and the development of relationships marked by respect, appreciation and integration of all. For current theology and in the emphasis of feminist theology, in the trinity of God we find the axis that allows us to talk about human relationships based on the recognition of diversity, in companionship, mutuality and community.