The impact of creation myths in forging new frontiers of religious education

The aim of the thesis has been to develop and track both the evolution and the loss of the Feminine Principle. I intend to provide a coherent account of the social ramifications that have been applied to both women (and men) that have underpinned this loss. I argue that the Feminine Principle is a philosophy based on wholeness, non-dualism, and personhood, rather than the rational metaphysics that permeates Western culture today. I endeavour to track the journey of the Feminine Principle starting with the myth of the Great Goddess of Beginnings, or Great Mother, who gives birth to her son-lover-consort: both bring forth life and the world (Baring & Cashford, 1991). Hereafter, the relationship changes from one of partnership to the overthrow of the Great Goddess by her son who becomes the all powerful, patriarchal warrior Sky God who now creates alone without any reference to the fecund womb of the archetypal Mother Goddess. I indicate how this Bronze Age myth travels through to the Iron Age myth of Genesis whereby the Father God creates life by word alone, giving rise to reason replacing all mythical thought. Within the framework of these structural impediments, I demonstrate how the theology of Genesis is a palimpsest of myths that have been misappropriated by patriarchy setting women apart by men because of their “creational difference” (Fiorenza, 1985, p.4). It could be argued that this form of religiously orientated sexism and bigotry is being perpetuated and retold as the dominate focus within Religious Education. A way of addressing this form of discrimination is by exploring the relationship between Public Theology and public education. Although Public Theology has been extensively overlooked (Perner, 2019), as a topic, Public Theology offers a vehicle for reconceptualising the status of women by making theology and religion relevant to the social order (Ali,1995).