Photo by Hamed Saber
By Debbie Gin
One of the things that helps people consider change is a safe space to try out a new thing (ie. clothing item, relationship, language). Though not all sisters have made the switch, AAWOL provided me with such a place to consider a language change from referring to God as “H/he, H/him, H/himself” to referring to God as “God, God, God’s self.”
So…if we all promise to treat each other’s online viewpoints with respect, would you venture out and consider commenting on the idea? Have you already considered? Have you switched? Have you kept the same language? Why? We want to know your thoughts…..(Use a pseudonym if that makes it more safe for you.)
Debbie Gin, M.Div. M.Mus., is the Senior Faculty Fellow in Faculty Development at Azusa Pacific University and an Assistant Professor in Biblical Studies and Ministry at Haggard Graduate School of Theology. She and her husband live in Southern California.
aawolsisters.com 
I’m so glad we’re discussing this, because I come from a conservative, traditional background where the idea of referring to God as anything other than “he/him/himself” would have been unheard of. In fact, I remember in college we used to joke that our university chapel was of the “liberal” kind, referring to “God the Father and Mother,” and we’d chuckle with a smile, knowing we were not THAT kind of Christian!
But now, I respect a number of Christians who are careful to refer to God without male pronouns, using “God” and “God’s self.” So I’m asking these questions, not to critique anyone who avoids male pronouns, but in earnest, with a genuine desire to understand:
1) I’ve read that nearly all theologians, even conservative ones, will say that God is neither male nor female, because God is spirit. However, how do we get around the fact that Jesus called God “Father,” or that God is referred to as “King” in the Psalms (47:7, 145:1)? Exactly when is the word “God” in the Bible gender-neutral?
2) There’s a sense of loss inside of me when I think of God as neither male nor female (after being steeped in traditional Christian circles), because I’d always imagined God as a male person (face, voice, etc.). But without a gender, it’s difficult to know how to even think about God — and God seems less personal, less knowable, and even harder to grasp; more distant. For those who have made the switch to gender neutral pronouns, how was your transition? Did you have to grieve the familiarity of a male God in your faith?
3) I wonder — do you think it’s important that God IS male, simply because in this world, men have more power than women (generally speaking), and in order for us to think of God as all-powerful, the maleness of God is important in understanding God’s authority?
4) For those who avoid masculine pronouns, is it because you think of God as neither male nor female, or is it because you think of God as both male and female?
OK — I know this is a lot, but I’m just throwing out all my hang-ups on this topic. Thanks in advance for anyone who’s willing to reply!:)
Thanks for your authentic questions, Joy! I’ll respond by number:
1) Being a Bible professor, I hold the Bible’s words and message as the highest form of communication of God to humans (and as the highest form of literature!). I also recognize that biblical text and our *interpretation* of that biblical text are two different things. So what I offer here, by way of response, is that it might be good to consider how we have interpreted Scripture in a gender-biased way.
For example, there are passages that refer to God in a female sense (e.g., mother hen), but we almost never hear of these references in church. The references are definitely far fewer, but they exist nonetheless. So our biased interpretations may not be limited to just how we interpret the passages that we want to talk about but ALSO how we’ve prioritzed the HIGHLIGHTING of certain Scriptures over others. I’ll leave the responses specific to biblical language to those whose expertise makes them better fit to address this question.
2) When I made the switch to gender-neutral pronouns for God, I did make the conscious decision that God would be genderless…at least for now. Having been raised in a very traditional setting (Conservative Baptistesque pastor father), there was NO WAY that I could see God as female. I, too, had always pictured God as male (despite what everyone says about using “he” as today’s gender-neutral way of referring to God).
I shared my story about seeing God as having female characteristics at the Asian American Equipping Symposium II (http://vimeo.com/groups/aaes/videos/20785546) and finally being comfortable with that. I completely understand that it’s not the same for all Christians, but for me, seeing how forgiving God is through the model of my earthly mother (rather than my earthly father) made everything much more clear. It was then that I thought, “What other things about God have I not understood, simply because I think of God as male?”
3) Ooooo, this is a great question, and one I honestly hadn’t considered. I like it because it explicitly names the privileges that men in U.S. society enjoy (though not all abuse this privilege and actually work toward making society more equitable!) and it situates the topic in a real context. I have to think more about this one.
4) Piggybacking on my response to #2, initially, I committed to thinking of God as neither male nor female, but spirit. These days, however, I think of God as having both male and female characteristics. As humans, I believe it’s easier to think of God as more like us: in your words, God is more “personal, knowable, and easier to grasp” that way. Even biblical writers characterize God as having a “right arm” or “nostrils”; it’s just easier for humans to understand God that way. Of course, as a good theologian, I recognize that God is completely Other, but in my moments when I need to feel God close, it’s reassuring to know that I can go to my divine Parent (Father/Mother) and receive both needed discipline AND comfort (whichever characteristic goes with whichever parent figure, in your case). I feel my understanding of God is more whole this way, less fractured and less like something’s missing.
Hope these responses helped. And thanks again, Joy, for your honest questions and reflections!
Debbie
I appreciate your dialogue on this inconvenient truth which has been addressed by “Christians for Biblical Equality” for several decades. I highly recommend that the current generation of women and men to subscribe their online journal. If we continue to address God as exclusively male, then we are reducing God as one gender when God created both male and female in God’s image. If God is understood exclusively as male, then is male God? Considering that the language shapes and screens what we learn and experience, and as long as God is propagated as male, female would continuously remain second class in the church. Then the image of authority would continue to be imbalanced. When one exercises only masculine (yang) authority without the feminine (yin), churches remain vulnerable to power abuse and its justification. Consequently women leaders are not exempted from mimicking such skewed authority due to internalized masculine authority at the absence of more holistic image. In fact, I have seen women leaders trying to outdo men in the way they exercise authority.
Hi Young, in psychology we might refer to that as the “return of the repressed.” Of course God is male and female! But if we repress one side of God, that side can’t be killed and so must be expressed. But if we refuse to legitimatize that expression, then that expression will seek whatever avenues are left available. It’s sort of like what happens when political powers oppress people groups.
Hi Debbie,
I happened on your web site when looking at entries about gender neutral language for the Deity. I have just published an ebook titled “A GENDER NEUTRAL GOD/ESS: Be Inclusive but MAKE NO IMAGES was the Religious Change” by J. J. McKenzie (pen name). In it I discuss how early biblical writers tried to be inclusive and how that language has been changed in various translations of the Bible. I have chapters on mother/father language, plurals used for the Deity, early words like Shaddai and Elah/Eloah which were feminine, and on the use of pairs of masculine and feminine words to describe attributes of the Deity (poetic parallelism). I try to explain what the ancient Hebrews were against and the new idea they were for. And most interesting, how when the New Testament was written in the Greek language, which had a neuter pronoun, that pronoun and words like “includes the whole” and “fullness” were used to describe the realization that Jesus, although in a male body, could psychologically include both feminine and masculine elements within him – a new concept for that time.
I wrote my ebook from a historical point of view, but religious persons may find some interesting information in it. If anyone wishes to read my ebook, it is available on the Amazon Kindle Bookstore, the Apple iBookstore (both Amazon and Apple have free samples) and also on the Barnes and Noble Bookstore for the Nook. It may even be read on the iPhone with the Kindle app.
Hello Jennifer,
Thanks very much for your post [and plug for your book, :-)]. The ideas and examples you include sound intriguing. Outside of your book, I’d love to hear more of such examples if you care to share. I align with evangelical Protestant Christian traditions and do find myself resisting your use of “God/ess” in your title. But I intentionally name my own positionality vis-a-vis this blog, that the “power” differential may lean in my direction (i.e., most of the readers are also evangelical Protestant Christian), and explicitly state that I’m interested and open to hearing your thoughts, particularly your JOURNEY toward using gender-neutral (as well as gendered) names for God.
I look forward to hearing more from you!
Hi Debbie,
Thank you for responding to my post. Feel free to ask me additional questions if you wish. Since you mentioned my eBook first, I need to clarify my position on it. I wrote this eBook because of the findings I discuss in it. I think that it is important information in respect to topics about women and gender. I earned my living by other means and am not doing it for money. I debated how to price the ebook so as not to have it seem a cheap give away, yet to have it within the means of most people interested. My first book, published by a publishing house, was sold at a price that few can afford.
The reason I told this post about the eBook is that in it I have tried to write about my findings about the inclusiveness of the Deity in an organized way. As you can see from reading my short biography on my Amazon Kindle or Barnes and Noble eBook pages, the whole process began some 30 years ago when I was sick. A minister suggested that I read the Bible for comfort. I did, and objected to some of the passages about women (fortunately for everything that ensued, I am a very fast reader). The minister gave me some books written by feminine theologians and I read those. Consequently, I started looking up biblical passages. I also decided that I needed to read standard theological works. And I consulted more Bibles in the English translations (12-14 versions in all). Again, I’m a fast reader and was able to go through them – and I began to notice that the translation of the same passage varied. In one the passage would be “she” did it – in another Bible it would be “he” did it. That is when I decided that I needed to learn Hebrew and Greek. I am outside of an academic system (although I did get a degree with high honors), and I don’t belong to any religious organization. When I learned Hebrew and Greek I used grammars, dictionaries, analytical lexicons, etc. and only after that took a class in Hebrew from a university. I also read books about the origin of languages. So I was not taught preconceived translation ideas.
I also decided to learn about middle-eastern cultures that preceded and were roughly contemporary with the development of the biblical text. That led me to Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Hittite/Anatolian, Greek cultures, etc.
I had a thorough and lengthy review of my first book by two very knowledgeable individuals, which resulted in its being published. There was too much material in that first manuscript, and so I removed the material which is the nucleus of my current eBook. Another prominent person (quoted in the front of my eBook) went over that material before I put it on the shelf for about 15 years (while I was earning a living). I was now in a position where I could put the time and energy into competing the eBook.
I can state that the main thing I discovered is that many theologians, both female and male, base their discussions on a reading of English translations of the text. What I have found is that when one studies the Hebrew and Greek and how they used their language, many of the biblical concepts are very changed. This was an exciting discovery for me and that is what my eBook is about. Also, I have a number of images of ancient artifacts (mostly dated and found in museums) in my eBook. They are to show just what the cultures before the Hebrews had and the stage of advancement those cultures were in – also what the Hebrews were fighting against. For those who are in the evangelical Protestant Christian tradition, I hope that they can get past my expression of my personal views in my introduction. As I stated in my first post, there are free samples of my eBook on Amazon Kindle, Apple iBookstore and the Barnes and Noble store. Those samples give the preface, introduction, and about 1-½ chapters (chapters on plurals and mother/father language) so one can have a look without having to buy the book.
This is a long post. I hope I gave you some answers. I welcome further questions.
Wow, you’ve had quite a journey! Thank you for your willingness to share. You’re obviously a learner and uber-self-motivated!
And your conclusions, particularly about how women and men theologians base their interpretations on English translations, are spot on. I would really love to hear from other Bible scholars out there on what they’ve found to be true in their experiences both with dealing with how people interpret God-language and with their own interpretations of such passages.
Again, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts, Jennifer!
Debbie
Hi Debbie, this topic has been on my mind since last weekend’s AAPI Social Justice Conference. There was a small lunchroom discussion about the lack of gender-inclusive language in the hymns used (and also by Jason Chu). I’m a little divided because I LOVE the two hymns they used (Be Thou My Vision and My Father’s World), BUT I want to be an activist in making progress in deconstructing the overwhelming male-power structure of the AAPI church. So, as heartbreaking as it may be for me to put aside my most cherished line, “Thou my true father and I thy true son,” sometimes small conscious acts like this can turn tides.
Jennifer,
How did u do it? The lexicons the hebrew and greek? If my english Bible is gender bias then how can I learn truth from a bias? I want to read the Bible how its suppose to be. Also what would you say about people who know hebrew and greek and still affirm supression f for women in the church? Which greek is the true greek or hebrew? Why are their complementarian and egalitarian both argueing in the greek for opposite views? Its confusing… how did u start what did u do? Ive started using concordances and greek to english translators then see what the greek word means by itself but then another thing is knowing context of a passage… how do I do all of this lol
Also another thing is knowing imperative and whether somthing is a command or not, whether somthing is future or past…. so I translate it correctly.
Hi Adrienne,
it has just come to my attention that you have posted here with questions about my eBook, “A Gender Neutral God/ess.” I recently reduced the price of the eBook so that it would be more available and make it possible for me to “gift” it (give a free copy). If you would like me to give you a free copy, all I need is your email address. You would need a kindle reader or a kindle app (also free). To send your email address to me, my actual name is Jennifer Sharp and my email address is jensharp@frontier.com
For a limited time, this offer is open to anyone else interested.
I think that my eBook best explains the questions you have asked. There is a bibliography of the books I used in my research. There are also over 500 endnotes referring to particular Hebrew/Greek words and concepts. These endnotes are easily accessible with just a click. Then a person can return to their place in the text with another click so the flow of reading is not lost.
Thank you for your questions. Biblical translation is a VERY important issue for women. I have tried to explain it as clearly as I can. If reading the whole eBook is too much for you to take on, thumb it and read the Introduction and first and last chapters for brief discussions of the issues.
Jennifer