West, Gerald Oakley.Thurlow, Judith Mary Buller.2011-10-122011-10-1220002000http://hdl.handle.net/10413/3781Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.This thesis, grounded in a select group of women's experience, critiques the exclusive images for God presented by the Church in its language and liturgy. My contention in this thesis is that in an emerging democracy such as South Africa, the metaphors and language used are increasingly restrictive - in terms of both the empowerment of women and the enrichment of men. I look at how feminist scholarship has focussed on the implications of patriarchy for women and the claim by feminist theologians that the ensuing symbols have been damaging for women The analysis includes means to recover traditional images for God and suggestions of ways to discover alternative images. Following the feminist analysis, I argue for a hermeneutic which locates the meaning of the tradition within the experience of three local, select groups of women.enFeminist theology.Women in the church.Women--Religious life.Women--Religious aspects--Christianity.Image of God.Theses--Theology.Thesis