Many feminist writers and theologians claim that the concept of a male God is rooted in a patriarchal culture which by its very nature is oppressive to women, and that the Bible contains a female portrayal of God’s nature that has been suppressed by the Church. Having moved past this ‘archaic’ and ‘misogynistic’ view of women, they argue that society should accordingly revise its view of God to include the female characteristics they claim are found both in Scripture and Jewish and Church tradition.
Christians believe that it is only possible to know the information about God that He reveals to us Himself through Scripture. Of course, God is Spirit (John 4:24), so is biologically neither male nor female, and He does not have a sexual nature. Rita Gross objects: ‘If we do not mean that God is male when we use masculine pronouns and imagery, then why should there be any objections to using female imagery and pronouns as well?’ The simple answer is that God is described in male terms because that best describes how God relates to His creation; God has revealed Himself to humanity in male terms; and God became incarnate as a man, not a woman.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment