Original sin and sexual difference: A feminist historical theology of a patristic, Wesleyan, and holiness doctrine

The Augustinian definition of original sin became the dominant hamartiological category of the West. Any alternative to this definition has been lost or called heretical. Yet, feminist theology has shown that the traditional definition of sin misses the mark in the case of women, who often suffer from low self-esteem and even loss of the self. However new this feminist insight might appear, it is not without historical precedent.;The dissertation begins with the historical moment of the emergence of the Augustinian doctrine itself, calling the dominance of his hamartiology into question and revealing its idiosyncrasy by contrasting it with slightly earlier and contemporaneous theologians--Jerome and Chrysostom--whose work in turn yields an alternative definition of original sin than the West's preferred label, pride. Because of the author's own theological convictions, the path of the dissertation will lead from the "Fathers" of the Church to the "father" of Wesleyan-holiness theology. John Wesley stands as much under the influence of Augustine's more Eastern contemporaries as of Augustine himself; Wesley's works too are embedded with an alternative to Augustine's doctrine of sin, particularly his extensive correspondence with women. The life and work of Phoebe Palmer--whose debt to Wesley, though much disputed, is undeniable--is used to give a direct voice to a woman's perspective on original sin. Palmer occupies the space opened up by the paradoxical misogynistic rhetoric of men like Jerome and Wesley, and in doing so she embodies a potential that can be realized when dominant "traditional" hamartiology is restrained.;A final chapter, which attempts to weave a constructive "Wesleyan-holiness-feminist" hamartiology from the various strands presented, recapitulates the driving motivation of the entire dissertation: its goal is to articulate for the Wesleyan-holiness tradition a viable hamartiological alternative (namely, the "idolatry" of emotional dependencies) that better resonates with that tradition's comprehensive theological vision and that will substantiate its historical affirmation of women's spiritual and social "equality." Throughout, the works of Simone de Beauvoir and Luce Irigaray have been "exploited" as interpretative lenses that have informed the author's theoretical reading practices and her theological conclusions.