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I just put together some of the evidence that supports the feminine side of God. These are just sentences taken out of larger articles, but they give you the basic ideas and texts from the Bible. This article could be greatly expanded by commentary on each of the texts, but you will learn more by looking up the texts yourself, and exploring commentary.
Genesis 1:27: "God created man in his image and likeness; male and female he created them." The feminine is as much a part of the image of God as the masculine. Both are made in God's image, and so the image of God is not complete until you include both the feminine and masculine. If some argue that woman was taken out of man, it does not change anything, for if man is made in the image of God and woman is made in the image of man, then she is made in the image of one made in the image of God, and is thereby also made in the image of God. But the text of the Bible makes it clear that God made both in his image.
"He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created." (Gen 5:2) Man is God's name for both the male and female. It is man who is made in the image of God, and man is both male and female. To say that the feminine is not part of the image of God is to make the feminine temporal and not eternal. What is feminine will only be for time and not eternity, and so there would be nothing feminine in heaven. This is clearly false thinking, for the whole people of God are called the Bride of Christ, and heaven begins with the wedding supper of the Lamb. The feminine is a major image of the eternal bliss believers will share with their Redeemer for all eternity. All that is beautiful about both the feminine and masculine will be everlasting, for they are all part of the image of God that will never pass away.
E. Margaret Howe, one of the more prominent feminist theologians today, notes that a false idea is largely based on Old Testament imagery that represents God as "Father," and ignores the Scriptures which typify God as "Mother." The Lord, for example, is portrayed as a nursing mother (Isa. 49:15), midwife (Ps. 22:9-10), and a female homemaker (Ps. 123:2). Check these texts in Deut. 32:18, Isa. 49:15 and 42:13-14, 66:13 Matt. 23:37, and James 1:17-18. the Holy Spirit gives us new birth and this is the function of the feminine side of God.
First, the God of the Bible is not male in any sense. God is not a sexual being. Jesus taught that God is spirit (John 4:24) and not one who brings things into existence through procreation. God is not to be represented as either a male or a female (Exodus 20:4; Deuteronomy 4:16). Nevertheless, the Bible uses feminine imagery when it speaks of God as giving birth to Israel (Deuteronomy 32:18) and the Christian (James 1:18). Jesus said he longed to gather rebellious Israel to himself as a mother hen gathers her chicks (Matthew 23:37-39). These kinds of metaphors reveal that although God is not a sexual being, he possesses all the qualities that we appreciate in both men and women, because God is the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17).
There is no doubt that God is like a mother in many ways. In Genesis 1:1 he is brooding over the creation like a mother hen. In Isaiah 49:15 his compassion and love are like a mother with a child at her breast, and in Isaiah 66:13 it says, "As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you_" God is imaged as having a womb: Isaiah 46:3 "Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb" (KJV), and in labor in Isaiah 42:14, "For a long time I have held my peace, I have kept still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor, I will gasp and pant" (NRSV). And lest one think only Isaiah has images of God as a Mother, note that in Hosea 13:8 God is pictured as a mother bear protecting her cubs and in Luke 13:34 as a hen gathering chicks, both maternal acts. The goal of God is to have a family of many children of all kinds from every tribe, tongue and nation. Ponder these words from the lips of God: Isaiah 66:13 As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you . . .The Amplified Bible leaves no doubt as to how its scholars interpret the words immediately prior to these: Isaiah 66:12 For thus says the Lord, "Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; you shall be nursed, you shall be carried on her hip, and be trotted on her [God's maternal] knees. . ."
The Interpreter's Bible Dictionary sees it as highly significant that the Hebrew term for the uniquely female organ, the uterus (womb), is used in the original Scriptures to describe God's compassion. God's wisdom is obviously an integral, eternal aspect of God. Scripture frequently speaks of this highly rated aspect of God's character as if it were a person. Scholars believe John's concept of the Logos, the Word that was God and became flesh (John 1:1-14) was derived from the Old Testament understanding of Wisdom as much, probably more, than from the Greek idea of Logos. And yet Wisdom, the one before whom are riches and honor and righteousness (Proverbs 8:18) and who shared with God in the creation of all things (Proverbs 8:27-31) is consistently given a female gender in Proverbs and by Jesus (Proverbs 1:20; 4:6; 8:1,11; 9:1; 14:33; Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:35).
In the New Testament we also find feminine images of God. There is that familiar story of the encounter of Jesus and Nicodemus. Nicodemus asks, "What must I do to be saved?" And Jesus says, "You must be born from above." The image Jesus employs is that of God, giving birth to Nicodemus. It is an image of God as mother of the newborn Christian! The Bible uses many names and a multitude of metaphors for God; and in so doing, preserves the mystery of God. God is like a housewife, seeking something she has lost; like a shepherd, going after a stray; like a mother, feeding her infant. But, obviously, God is not literally father, mother, shepherd, or homemaker. God is so much more than any of these names or images can possibly encompass. So using many names gives insight into the complex nature of God; but also preserves the mystery and majesty of God, who is always finally beyond our ability to fully understand or describe.
HOLY SPIRIT
It would appear that God the Father is neither sex, but that this is balanced out by the Son being male and the Holy Spirit being female. You have the external visible God to correspond to the visible sex organs of the male and the invisible organs of the female represent the hidden or invisible God of the Holy Spirit. Wisdom and the Holy Spirit are in the feminine form, and the first view of the Spirit is like a mother eagle hovering over her young in creation. When we study the external nature of God we focus on the male image, but when we look at the internal nature of God we focus on the female side. Wisdom is feminine in Proverbs 8 and 9, and is associated with the Holy Spirit. You have Father and Son, and many feel it is logical that the Holy Spirit be the mother aspect of this Triune family of the Godhead. The church is the bride of Christ, and the bride is all in whom the feminine Holy Spirit resides. The male believer is filled with the feminine Spirit and becomes a part of the bride.
JEWISH THEOLOGY
* There are masculine names of God and feminine ones. For example, the name Elokim usually associated with God's attribute of justice is masculine, while Shechinah, a name that evokes God's presence in a close and intimate way, is feminine.
* In the Midrash, God is sometimes referred to as groom with the Jewish people as his bride and at other times (e.g., Friday night Sabbath prayer service) God is presented as bride.
* Images of God as father and God as mother are found throughout Torah and Jewish tradition.
* God embodies the ideals, the perfection of both mother and father -- unconditional love, infinite patience, strength, support.
Rabbi Arthur Waskow "And if we look back at all the blessings in which Shaddai is over and over invoked, they are about fruitfulness and fertility. God is seen as Infinite Mother, pouring forth blessings from the Breasts Above and the Womb Below, from the heavens that pour forth nourishing rain, from the ocean deeps that birth new life. In the Aleinu prayer, we envision a glorious future by chanting the phrase, "Letakken olam bemalkhut Shaddai." In the past we have understood this as: "To heal the world in the Kingship of the Almighty." But now we can draw on "Shaddai" as the Breasted One, and hear ourselves call out: "To heal the world through the Majesty of Nurture."
SCOFIELD REFERENCE NOTES
Almighty God
"Almighty God" (Heb. El Shaddai)
(1) The etymological signification of Almighty God (El Shaddai) is both interesting and touching. God (El) signifies the "Strong One" (See Scofield "Genesis 1:1") . The qualifying word Shaddai is formed from the Hebrew word "shad," the breast, invariably used in Scripture for a woman's breast; e.g. Genesis 49:25; Job 3:12; Psalms 22:9; Song of Solomon 1:13; 4:5; Song of Solomon 7:3,7,8; 8:1,8,10; Isaiah 28:9; Ezekiel 16:7. Shaddai therefore means primarily "the breasted." God is "Shaddai," because He is the Nourisher, the Strength-giver, and so, in a secondary sense, the Satisfier, who pours himself into believing lives. As a fretful, unsatisfied babe is not only strengthened and nourished from the mother's breast, but also is quieted, rested, satisfied, so El Shaddai is that name of God which sets Him forth as the Strength-giver and Satisfier of His people. It is on every account to be regretted that "Shaddai" was translated "Almighty." The primary name El or Elohim sufficiently signifies almightiness. "All-sufficient" would far better express both the Hebrew meaning and the characteristic use of the name in Scripture.
(2) Almighty God (El Shaddai) not only enriches, but makes fruitful. This is nowhere better illustrated than in the first occurrence of the name Genesis 17:1-8. To a man ninety-nine years of age, and "as good as dead" Hebrews 11:12. He said: "I am the Almighty God El Shaddai . . . I will . . . multiply thee exceedingly." To the same purport is the use of the name in Genesis 28:3,4.
(3) As Giver of fruitfulness, Almighty God (El Shaddai) chastens His people. For the moral connection of chastening with fruit bearing, see John 15:2; Hebrews 12:10; Ruth 1:20. Hence, Almighty is the characteristic name of God in Job, occurring thirty-one times in that book. The hand of El Shaddai falls upon Job, the best man of his time, not in judgment, but in purifying unto greater fruitfulness Job 5:17-25Ps. 131 "O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high... But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a child quieted at its mother's breast...”
I Peter 2:2-3 "Like newborn babies you should crave - thirst for, earnestly desire- the pure (unadulterated) spiritual milk, that by it you may be nurtured and grow unto [completed] salvation; Since you have [already] tasted the goodness and kindness of the Lord."
Clement of Alexandria (Paidagogus 1.6) back in the second century wrote, "The word is everything to the child, both father and mother, teacher and nurse - - The nutriment is the milk of the Father - - and the word alone supplies us children with the milk of love, and only those who suck at this breast are truly happy. For this reason seeking is called sucking; to those infants who seek the Word, the Father's loving breasts supply milk." If you research God's name El Shaddai you will discover that modern Bible scholars have concluded that this name indicates that God is the breasted one, and by means of his breast he is the all bountiful one who supplies his children with all that they need for nourishment. This seems strange to us who have not heard of this image before, but it has been brought to light by modern feminist theologians.
The image of sucking from the breast by God's adult people is seen in Isaiah 66:10-13 “Rejoice ye with Jerusalem and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: them shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides and be dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” This image is seen again in Isaiah 60:15-16, Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of Gentiles and shalt suck the breasts of kings: and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.”
This sucking the breast image is even of kings, and not just queens, and so we see it as an allusion to receiving that which meets our basic needs. When you suck the breast of a king, it means the king is your source of supply for nourishment and strength. As El Shaddai, God is our source of supply for all that we need to live the life he desires for us to live. He is the all sufficient one, and by his breast we gain the strength to face whatever challenges life brings to us. It is kind of a shocking picture that is seldom presented to us in preaching or teaching, but it is a part of God's revelation of his nature, and in it we can see the motherhood of God.
CATHOLIC THEOLOGY
Following are excerpts from a talk on "Feminist Theology and the Family", given for a parish audience at St. Francis Xavier, Carbondale, IL, by Joan O'Brien, professor of classics at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Dr. O'Brien is a Connecticut native, a former Dominican sister and one-time professor at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven.]
When world leaders were working out the Camp David Accords, each referred to God's care as a motive for negotiation. Sadat spoke of a little ant on a huge black stone, which God sees and cares for. Begin and Carter quoted their traditions: how God never forgets his covenant with his people; and how the hairs of our heads are all numbered. Pope John Paul I, whose brief reign was to end a few days later, picked up the theme at his Sunday blessing: "I share the sentiments [of the world leaders]; each and every one of us is an object of God's undying love. We know that God's eyes are always upon us, even when things seem very bleak. God is, indeed, our father."
"Even more," he continued, "God is our mother - not wanting to hurt us, but only to do good for us, all of us. If children are ill, they have additional claim to their mother's love. And we too, if by chance we as a society are sick or are on the wrong track, have yet another claim to God's love."
These words stunned the world. Was the pope infected by feminist theology? No. He was reclaiming a truth often ignored: God, whose mystery creates both male and female in the divine image, can be spoken of in metaphors derived from either sex. The pope's remarks connect speech about God with a mother's typical experience with a sick child, signifying that God keeps maternal vigil during the long night of human sickness.
Conclusion
Pastor Paul Smith wrote, “Years ago, in a little book called Children's Letters To God, I came across this touching letter: "Dear God, are boys better than girls? I know you are one but try to be fair." It was signed, "Sylvia." Smith went on to preach about the motherhood of God, for there is enough evidence in Scripture to make it clear that God was fair, and he did give the feminine side of his nature enough exposure in His Word so that all can see who look at the evidence that he has both the masculine and feminine nature that is reflected in his creating man as male and female. God is neither male nor female in any bodily form, but he is clearly both male and female in his spirit.
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