In Praise of Divine Patriarchy: Kierkegaard’s Absolute Paradox as a Call to Kenosis

Patriarchal names of God as the father, king, and lord have long been viewed as harmful in feminist, womanist, and queer theologies, due to their perceived legitimation of coercive hierarchy. However, when paired with Kierkegaard’s understanding of Jesus as the absolute paradox—as the incomprehensible union of the finite and the infinite, or omnipotence and abject powerlessness on the cross—these much-maligned names of the divine turn out to be liberating, because they render prophetic judgment on the power-mongering patriarchs today. That is, they call today’s patriarchs to imitate God’s self-emptying by resisting the temptation to wield as much power and control as possible. This is because, for Kierkegaard, Jesus represents the incarnation of infinite love that breaks into the finite world, disrupting the assumed boundary between the creator and creatures. Then the patriarchy of the kenotic God shatters the existing coercive hierarchy rather than reinforcing it.