Framtid för befriade kvinnor eller framtid befriad från kvinnor? Om feministisk tolkning av apokalyptiska texter

Abstract

The article is based on the author’s dissertation The Book of Revelation: A Vision of the Ultimate Liberation or the Ultimate Backlash? A Study in 2Cfh Century Interpretations of Rev 14:1-5, with special emphasis on Feminist Exegesis (Uppsala, 1999). A brief introduction is made to the reception of apocalyptic texts, especially New Testament ones, in feminist theology. Feminist readings are, however briefly, related to the uses and non-uses of apocalyptic texts in Christian theology in general.

The main focus in the article is on one specific apocalyptic writing, the Book of Revelation (= Rev.) and its use of female and sexual imagery, including the classical dichotomies of Virgin and Harlot. The sketch is followed by a discussion of the interpretations of Rev. by two feminist exegetes, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza and Tina Pippin. These two represent different understandings of the possibility to integrate Rev. in constructive feminist theological work. The differences between Schüssler Fiorenza and Pippin are related to their respective feminist theoretical positions. A theme throughout the article is the necessity of «usable futures», of visions of the future which give hope and strength to those struggling for change in the present. Therefore, it ends in the same way as the author's dissertation: with some brief glimpses of other apocalypses than those we find in Rev., glimpses of possibly usable futures.