Thealogy

For a complementary study of religion, see Theology.

Thealogy is the study of the divine through feminist and other feminine-centered perspectives. The term encompasses a range of approaches that prioritize female experiences and symbols in theological discourse, including but not limited to feminist theory. The concept was introduced by Valerie Saiving, Isaac Bonewits (1976) and Naomi Goldenberg (1979) as a neologism (new word). Its use then widened to mean all feminine ideas of the sacred, which Charlotte Caron usefully explained in 1993: "reflection on the divine in feminine or feminist terms". By 1996, when Melissa Raphael published Thealogy and Embodiment, the term was well established.

As a neologism, the term derives from two Greek words: thea, θεά, meaning 'goddess', the feminine equivalent of theos, 'god' (from PIE root *dhes-); and logos, λόγος, plural logoi, often found in English as the suffix -logy, meaning 'word, reason, plan'; and in Greek philosophy and theology, the divine reason implicit in the cosmos.

Thealogy has areas in common with feminist theology – the study of God from a feminist perspective, often emphasizing monotheism. The relation is an overlap, as thealogy is not limited to one deity (in spite of its etymology); the two fields have been described as both related and interdependent.

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