This overemphasis of experience can be seen in most, if not all, feminist theologies. Pamela
Dickey Young states, "It is on the question of women's experience that there is most agreement in
feminist theology. It is our experience of patriarchy, our experience of ourselves and other women
as oppressed, that provides the starting point of feminist theology in women's experience."
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According to this perspective, experience is a decisive, if not the foremost, component in
theological development; Scripture is beneficial insofar as it does not negate the experience of the
person. Thus, one must employ a "hermeneutics of suspicion" when reading the Bible because the
individual may find stories, lessons and commandments in the Bible that do not coincide with their
experience.
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When this occurs, feminists reject these problematic portions of Scripture and
embrace the insight their own experiences have provided.
According to feminist scholarship, the Bible, developed in a patriarchal, Jewish setting, is
hopelessly tainted by the dominant paradigm of that time. These theologians claim that today we
live in an entirely different context, embrace a paradigm unique to our time period and are facing
circumstances foreign to biblical figures. Thus, when studying Scripture, it is the responsibility of
the reader to decipher the nuggets of timeless truth from passages that are not relevant to life today.
Many theologians have rightly noticed this problematic elevation of experience in the
development of feminist theology. Yet although the conclusions of feminist theologians such as E.
Schussler Fiorenza may be in disagreement with our own, they force us to consider this questions:
Have feminist theologians pointed to a valid problem regarding sexism in theology, specifically the
hesitancy to embrace the experiences of women? In order to answer this question, it must first be
determined how experience in relation to Scripture functions in genitive theological development
and analysis. To properly address these concerns, the roles of Scripture and experience must be
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Pamela Dickey Young, Feminist Theology/Christian Theology: In Search of Method,
(Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 1990), pp. 67-68.