GENDER DYNAMICS IN RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS:A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF EL-SHADDAI AND ÌYÁ MI ÀBẸ̀NÍ OLÓMÚ ORÙ

Abstract

This study uses a comparative hermeneutic analysis to examine feminine
representations of divinity, El Shaddai and Ìyá mi Àbẹǹ í Olómú Orù, in
the Old Testament and Yoruba religious thought. While both traditions
are still preserved, they are often marginalised or suppressed in
patriarchal interpretations in a way that privileges masculine conceptions
of God and sacred authority. The study made use of a theoretical
framework which adopts David Tuesday Adamo's African Cultural
Hermeneutics and Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza's Feminist
Hermeneutics of Suspicion, in alignment with a conceptual framework
guided by David Biale's reading of El-Shaddai in the Hebrew tradition
and Oyeronke Olajubu's interpretation of Ìyá mi Àbẹǹ í Olómú Orù in
Yoruba religious thought, to read the texts from a contextual, critical and
culturally gender-aware approach. Methodologically, it utilises a
comparative hermeneutic analysis and semi-structured telephone
interviews with selected religious practitioners and scholars; the study
explores how feminine divine power is preserved, obscured, and
reinterpreted across the two traditions. The findings show that both El
Shaddai and Ìyá mi Àbẹǹ í Olómú Orù have inherent feminine traits
indicating the feminine face of divinity, authority, and power balance.
The study concludes that recovering these dimensions offers a more
nuanced understanding of gender, divinity, and women's roles in biblical
and Yoruba religious discourse.