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11. Should we refer to God as "Mother?"

A male priest argued that by constantly referring to God in 'masculine' language we are denigrating half of the human race and ignoring those feminine characteristics of God such as conceiving, nurturing and caring. He went on to say that many of the world's problems had not been solved by the bully boys and bully girls (who act like men), and in fact the world's most dangerous drug is testosterone.

It seems astonishing that anyone can imagine that all men are viscious bullies, while all women are loving, caring and gentle! I know many people who have had difficulties with their father, and just as many who have had difficulty with their mother.

To imagine that calling God 'Father' means that we are treating Him as a human male totally misunderstands how Scripture refers to God. God is neither male nor female, but together males and females reflect God's image. Saying this could acknowledge that it is valid to address God as female, except for the fact that the word 'Father' when used by Jesus does not mean what we mean when we say that Bill is Mary's father. Jesus uses the word 'Father' as a proper name, and He did so in a Jewish culture which did not speak God's name.

Jesus is saying that 'Father' is God's name and Jesus has bequeathed the relationship that goes with it to the Church. So God is no longer 'like a father to us', He is 'Our Father.'

To the Jews, God was nameless and imageless, but Jesus has shown us the image of the Father. ("Lord, show us the Father" ..."He who has seen me has seen the Father" [John 14:9] We can now name God, with Jesus' authority and blessing.

We are in fact limited by our language, and the present disquiet about addressing God as a male comes from the modern politically correct tendency to refuse to recognise that the word 'man' means human. It was never intended to refer only to males, and the silly substitution of words like 'chairperson' for 'chairman' indicates how far people don't understand the language they speak.

While the agents of political correctness argue on, I think that the naming of God as the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit must remain the way Christians approach the throne of grace in worship and prayer.

© 2003 Harry Entwistle