The Mother Heart of God

The title of this article seems rather strange at first sight. The Bible very clearly speaks of God as Father and he is always referred to as "he", never as "she". But this article should not be seen as something foreign to Christian belief or to the Bible. I am not about to recommend that we change the Bible and the hymn books to make room for feminism (though there is room for inclusive language where that does not lead to inaccurate translation). I simply hope to show from Scripture that our God is too big to be imprisoned in maleness.

Is God a Man?

We know, of course, that God is not a human ¹ so in one sense that is a silly question. In another respect, however, it is a valid question because people actually speak of God as if he were male. God is nearly always depicted in older pictures as an old man with a long flowing beard. When we read that God made "Man in his own image" it is easy to think of God creating Adam in his own image and Eve as an afterthought. But that is not what Scripture teaches. Genesis 1:27 says,

"God created man in his own image,
In the image of God he created him;
Male and female he created them ."

The image of God, then, is not created male but male and female. Thus we may know that men and women are equally the image of God. Perhaps, even, men and women are together the image of God.

The name, "El Shaddai" is, according to many, a feminine word and has in its root a suggestion of femininity. Also God, in several passages of Scripture likens himself to a woman.

"For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant." ( Isa. 42:14 )
"Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth." ( Isa. 46:3 )
"As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem." ( Isa. 66:13 )

Are men more like God than women?

To suggest that Adam was made in the image of God but Eve was only made in the image of Adam is not only illogical, it is unbiblical. As Roger Forster says:

To suggest to women that in the resurrection they will become male (in order to be like God) while men remain male, is to reduce femininity to a temporal aberration, neither fully human nor divine. This is reminiscent of Eastern religions where women (a lower species) might hope to attain maleness through reincarnation. This is not to say that we are at liberty to change the name of God - that wonderful name of 'Father' - nor to worship him as a goddess. We worship neither a man nor a woman on the throne of the universe (nor a 'bisexual being') but a God who created both. ( Forster Roger & Faith , Is Leadership Male, Ichthus Media Services )

1. I have today (10 Mar 02) received an e-mail debating my assertion that God is not human.
'"We know, of course, that God is not a human so..."
God is SO human! he is 100%human and 100%God. Remember Jesus? um...Jesus is God. So your saying that Jesus was not human?'
My reply was more or less as follows:
"Yes, God became man in Jesus and Jesus is 100% human and 100% God. But "God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind" Num 3:19.
Thus we can only argue that Jesus' two natures makes the human side of him human and the divine side of him God. That side of Jesus which is human is not God and that side which is divine is not human. If you find that impossible to accept then you must reject the whole doctrine of the Trinity. As it is, we are both teetering on the brink of ancient heresy due to the inability of our debased human language to express divine mysteries.
I stick to my Biblical statement that God is not human while fully recognising the full divinity of Christ."
If anybody can think of a clearer way of stating and answering this problem I should be glad to incorporate it into the page.
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(All full biblical quotations in this article are taken from the New International Version and have been inserted into the text using "QuickVerse for Windows" from Parsons Technology .)