Grad school in theology has made me a raging feminist! Well, not really, but based on what I am about to say, many may come to believe that this is the case. Something that I have noticed in my church back home and the church I currently attend versus Catholic and Episcopal church is how to address God, in particular: pronouns. Then again, it often depends on the person and where and what theology they have been trained in...Anyway, I got to thinking about this last night at my church small group because one of the guys speaking was emphasizing (through Scripture: James and Proverbs) the power and importance of the tongue. I saw it as a doorway to bettering some traditional evangelical language and misunderstanding...
Within pretty much all of Christendom, the example has been to refer to God as Father and consequently "He," "Him," and "Himself." I do not know anyone who grew up being taught to refer to God as simply "God" and "Godself" or to interchange "Him" and "Her" in reference to God. That is crazy talk! But from my very first grad school theology class we were taught to use gender inclusive language in our writing and speaking of God. So now I am hyperaware of every male reference to God in song, prayer, and sermon, and when there are no female examples given in any list of influential Christians. So often male preachers list males who have made a difference in the church or wrote this or that or taught this or that. Sure, it is a predominately male field--but it is not a predominately male spirituality or religion. And God is not a predominately a male God...
That aside, in the past, and in class I fully understood that God does not have a gender (Jesus does, however, so it is ok to refer to him with "him"). So then the question is, "Why do we constantly refer to God as "He" then?" I can think of some answers, and the two big ones are that that is the example that has been given in our churches and that is the way it appears in the Bible. BUT WE KNOW THAT GOD DOES NOT HAVE A GENDER. If any gender, God is both male AND female as Genesis 1 says...
But it gets more confusing: the "Spirit" or the "Wisdom of God" in the Old Testament is definitely a "She." Why is she a "She"? Well, the gender of the word in the original language was female, so the pronoun is female. It is all semantics, language, metaphor, and it MATTERS!
The way God is approached and understood can radically change based on the language and the metaphor we use for God, and in Christianity the least incorrect metaphor for God is Love.
It may seem awkward constantly referring to God as "God" and "Godself," but people will notice, and you will notice how often God is referred to as "He" "Him" and "Himself" in worship, prayer, and sermons. And it will even bother you a little bit because you know that God as "He" really is kind of ridiculous and very limiting to God... especially since most words used to describe God are stereotypically feminine.
So my church back home and the church I go to now constantly refer to God as male, and there often is a lot of confusion over women's role in the church and the family (thanks to Paul or someone claiming to be Paul). While Episcopal and Catholic church do not. The difference I think is in the level of education and when and where the pastor or priest studied. So please, give up the pronouns, or switch often between he and she, because you know that God is too big to be contained that way and others will notice your balanced approach to who and how we understand God to be. This tiny little change of thought and word about God may even expand our understanding of women in the church, value women more, and listen to women more seriously throughout history and presently. Especially since, as a woman, it is pointless for me to be studying theology...
If we really believe that God does not have gender then we better speak like it. The tongue is powerful.
God is neither male nor female, and in God there is no male or female, but we are also made in God's image: male and female...
Something I found The Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Eww to pure complementarity and pure equality. Grrr upset... I could go on and on about this subject... The gender issue can be argued from all sides with Scripture, tradition, and history, how do you know who/what is right?
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