A MALE GOD? by Jerry M. Paul
Following is a portion of the letter sent to me by a church member in 1993 questioning our exclusive language used in always referring to God as a male. My reply addressed Scriptural, social, and congregational issues. You have my permission to use all of the following or any part of it in a way that will help others understand this issue more clearly. (I have edited the original letter and my response to eliminate personal information, and to create a smoother word flow in some sentences.)
--Jerry M. Paul
619 E Dupont Rd - # 148
Fort Wayne, IN 46825
THE LETTER TO ME:
“In the study I am doing, I have come to realize a pattern in Christianity, Judaism and the Muslim religion: at the time of God’s revelations to humankind, women were directly and intimately involved as equally worthy recipients of God’s messages as were men. But as organized religions grew from these divine revelations, especially as religion spread to other countries and cultures, religion adopted the societal norms of the day that were highly patriarchal. Thus practices, history (his story), and even interpretation of original revelation conformed to patriarchal society instead of divine will.
“In my reading, my heart was pierced by a letter to God from a 6-year old girl: ‘Dear God, Who do you love more—girls or boys? I know you are one, but please try to be fair.’
“I have come to believe that God is much bigger than our attempts to describe God as white and male. And I am increasingly feeling disconnected with our worship services that praise God the Father in both song and prayer. How can I—and my daughters—see myself as having been made in God’s image when all of the images are male?
“It may be that I will need to find a church home that sees value in inclusive language and interpretation to describe God and God’s revelation and will . . . I think that much good can come from freeing God to be bigger than our man-made traditions; and I know that God’s will can be even better served by freeing women followers from man-made limitations on their service…….I am willing to work wholeheartedly for (our congregation) in this area of growth and would appreciate the opportunity to talk with you about becoming a force for positive change.”
MY REPLY:
I find your letter very interesting….There is much which could be said, but I limit my response to four issues.
1. Addressing God as Father
You present this in such a way as to suggest it is inappropriate to refer to God in this manner. I would suggest to you that we have a very good authority behind this practice . . . namely, our Lord Jesus Christ. As you probably know, “Father” is used in the Old Testament only
on a limited basis. It was not a common term for God. However, when Jesus came, He began using this term for God on a consistent basis. The Gospels alone record 175 verses in which God is referred to as “Father.” Many of these spoke of Jesus’ personal relationship to God. However, 21 times He specifically referred to the relationship of His followers with God saying, “your Father.”
You spoke specifically of “feeling disconnected with our worship services that praise God the Father in both song and prayer.” I would remind you that it was Jesus Himself who taught us how to pray: . . . Matthew 6:9 – “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven….”
In another place Jesus related our love for Him to our relationship with God as Father. John 8:42 - Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.”
In explaining how we demonstrate our love for Him Jesus said: John 14:15 - "If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
The bottom line is quite simple. This isn’t one of “our attempts to describe God as white and male.” Nor is it the result of “societal norms” or a “patriarchal society.” In fact, addressing God as “Father” and considering our relationship with Him to be that of Father and child is a simple matter of following the clear instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. Your letter refers to your study of various religions and your conclusions about how and why their practices and interpretations developed as they did.
It seems to me that every Christian has one place to go when studying any subject . . . Jesus Christ. After all, we are followers of Jesus Christ. Christianity is not a religious system to be compared to other world religions. Christianity is not a set of philosophical beliefs or social practices to be selected from a cafeteria of choices. As one book in my library declares in its title, “Christianity is Christ”.
Therefore, before we as followers of Jesus go anywhere else to consider spiritual matters we should go to Jesus. That’s what makes us ‘Christ-ians’. That’s what shows our submission to Jesus Christ as Lord. That’s what shows our love for Him. So, I can’t help but suggest, shouldn’t your search for truth focus first on what Jesus said directly and what He taught through His divinely, inspired, handpicked apostles? Having established that, what difference does it make what the world believes and practices? I hope you won’t think I’m being impertinent when I say it really doesn’t make any difference what woman’s role or man’s role in world religions has been in the past. It doesn’t make any difference how the different religions dealt with abortion, war, poverty, wealth, organization of their practices, or anything else. In the final analysis the only thing that counts is Jesus and what He teaches us. It was Jesus who declared:
Mark 13:31 – “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
and:
John 14:6 - Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me.
[Incidentally, I think the next verse also fits this discussion: John 14:7 - “If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." It is clear that Jesus Himself gave us a male image of God.]
I can’t help but think of other Scriptures, which are relevant, even though they do not address this specific subject.
Romans 12:2 – “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Colossians 2:8 – “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”
1 Corinthians 1:20 – “Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?”
1 Corinthians 1:25 – “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.”
1 Corinthians 1:30 – “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”
Jesus alone is to be our source of spiritual knowledge and wisdom. God speaks to us through Him. Hebrews 1:1-2 - “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.”
It is so easy to get caught up in the world’s approach to issues. We hear it on radio and TV; read it in newspapers and magazines; find it solidly entrenched in the minds and lives of friends and business associates. Before long, if we are not careful, we start following the thought processes of the world instead of thinking like Christ-ians.
I think we can appropriately paraphrase . . . 1 Corinthians 15:33 - Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character [Christ-like thinking].
That’s one of the reasons Scripture instructs us . . . 2 Corinthians 6:17-18 - "Therefore come out from them and be separate,” says the Lord. “Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." [Note: God called Himself “Father”’]
3 You write: “I . . . would prefer that (our congregation) embrace this concept of inclusion . . . in this area of growth . . . a force for positive change.”
With all due respect, what you propose may be a “concept of inclusion” from the world’s view, but from a Biblical view it is not to be considered “growth” or “positive change.” It is in fact a denial of what Jesus taught and would require forsaking His teaching in order to adapt worldly philosophy. Our goal should not be to adapt the church to worldly ways of thinking, but to change our thinking to fit the teaching of Jesus.
Many years ago a wise Elder gave this preacher some very good advice. I sought guidance about a specific Biblical issue and how to determine what Scripture taught. I’ll paraphrase part of his answer: “Always begin by asking who started teaching the doctrine and who is helping to spread it. If it didn’t start with godly people truly trying to seek the will of God, then that ought to tell you something right away. Then find out what the Lord had to say about it and go from there. Once you’re in step with Him, don’t worry about what someone else is proclaiming even if it makes you unpopular with other people.”
I would urge you to consider where and how these ideas got started. They didn’t originate in the church among godly people who were studying the Word of God and discovered they had been wrong all these years. The whole idea is an outgrowth of the feminist movement, which was originated by ungodly women who were not followers of Jesus Christ, as has been evident in both their words and their life-style.
One of the institutions attacked by these worldly women was the church. Since there were already churches which had thrown out the authority of Jesus Christ, denied the authority of Scripture as the Word of God, and concluded that the apostles didn’t know what they were talking about in their writings, it was to be expected that soon these same churches would have women and men who would turn a willing ear to worldly philosophy. It was what they wanted to hear. Their action fulfilled Scripture . . .
2 Timothy 4:3 - “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”
One can only wonder where else they will distort the truth of God. They began by denying the authority of God’s Word, then the deity of Christ, which of course wiped out the blood atonement. A woman who was a member of a church in our city following this path visited our services several years ago. She informed me that she wouldn’t be back because of our emphasis on Christ. Her church stopped that kind of talk years before, she assured me. She indicated that it was inappropriate to think that you had to follow Jesus Christ alone to please God because, “God is the Father of everyone.” I suspect she might tell me today that God should not be called Father. Many in her denomination are propagating that doctrine.
4. You indicated that you might need to seek “a new church home.”
Consider the kind of church you’ll have to find in order to feel comfortable with their program. You’ll have to find a church that does not accept the Bible as the divinely inspired Word of God and the final authority for faith and practice . . . ignores the teaching of Jesus Christ . . . and allows its doctrine to be shaped by the latest philosophy being proposed by the world. You will not find a solid, Bible-believing church which rejects the male terminology for God in favor of the “concept of inclusion”….I think I’m safe in predicting that the only place you’ll find that philosophy is in the liberal churches which long ago forsook faithfulness to Christ and His Word….churches which many of our congregation left for that very reason. It seems to me to be more appropriate for a Christian to look for a church which teaches the Word of God clearly and plainly, even when it conflicts with the current trends of the day.
I would hope that you would not choose to leave…If you make that choice I would still cherish your friendship. However, I’m sure you’ve worked with me long enough to understand that as a minister of the Gospel, I believe my first loyalty must be to Jesus Christ and His Word…I cannot change my commitment to the truth just to keep people in the church.
No additional discussion followed this letter as the writer chose to leave our church almost immediately. Within a few months she was an elder in a congregation of a well-known denomination.
“In the study I am doing, I have come to realize a pattern in Christianity, Judaism and the Muslim religion: at the time of God’s revelations to humankind, women were directly and intimately involved as equally worthy recipients of God’s messages as were men. But as organized religions grew from these divine revelations, especially as religion spread to other countries and cultures, religion adopted the societal norms of the day that were highly patriarchal. Thus practices, history (his story), and even interpretation of original revelation conformed to patriarchal society instead of divine will.
“In my reading, my heart was pierced by a letter to God from a 6-year old girl: ‘Dear God, Who do you love more—girls or boys? I know you are one, but please try to be fair.’
“I have come to believe that God is much bigger than our attempts to describe God as white and male. And I am increasingly feeling disconnected with our worship services that praise God the Father in both song and prayer. How can I—and my daughters—see myself as having been made in God’s image when all of the images are male?
“It may be that I will need to find a church home that sees value in inclusive language and interpretation to describe God and God’s revelation and will . . . I think that much good can come from freeing God to be bigger than our man-made traditions; and I know that God’s will can be even better served by freeing women followers from man-made limitations on their service…….I am willing to work wholeheartedly for (our congregation) in this area of growth and would appreciate the opportunity to talk with you about becoming a force for positive change.”
MY REPLY:
I find your letter very interesting….There is much which could be said, but I limit my response to four issues.
1. Addressing God as Father
You present this in such a way as to suggest it is inappropriate to refer to God in this manner. I would suggest to you that we have a very good authority behind this practice . . . namely, our Lord Jesus Christ. As you probably know, “Father” is used in the Old Testament only
on a limited basis. It was not a common term for God. However, when Jesus came, He began using this term for God on a consistent basis. The Gospels alone record 175 verses in which God is referred to as “Father.” Many of these spoke of Jesus’ personal relationship to God. However, 21 times He specifically referred to the relationship of His followers with God saying, “your Father.”
You spoke specifically of “feeling disconnected with our worship services that praise God the Father in both song and prayer.” I would remind you that it was Jesus Himself who taught us how to pray: . . . Matthew 6:9 – “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven….”
In another place Jesus related our love for Him to our relationship with God as Father. John 8:42 - Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.”
In explaining how we demonstrate our love for Him Jesus said: John 14:15 - "If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
The bottom line is quite simple. This isn’t one of “our attempts to describe God as white and male.” Nor is it the result of “societal norms” or a “patriarchal society.” In fact, addressing God as “Father” and considering our relationship with Him to be that of Father and child is a simple matter of following the clear instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. Your letter refers to your study of various religions and your conclusions about how and why their practices and interpretations developed as they did.
It seems to me that every Christian has one place to go when studying any subject . . . Jesus Christ. After all, we are followers of Jesus Christ. Christianity is not a religious system to be compared to other world religions. Christianity is not a set of philosophical beliefs or social practices to be selected from a cafeteria of choices. As one book in my library declares in its title, “Christianity is Christ”.
Therefore, before we as followers of Jesus go anywhere else to consider spiritual matters we should go to Jesus. That’s what makes us ‘Christ-ians’. That’s what shows our submission to Jesus Christ as Lord. That’s what shows our love for Him. So, I can’t help but suggest, shouldn’t your search for truth focus first on what Jesus said directly and what He taught through His divinely, inspired, handpicked apostles? Having established that, what difference does it make what the world believes and practices? I hope you won’t think I’m being impertinent when I say it really doesn’t make any difference what woman’s role or man’s role in world religions has been in the past. It doesn’t make any difference how the different religions dealt with abortion, war, poverty, wealth, organization of their practices, or anything else. In the final analysis the only thing that counts is Jesus and what He teaches us. It was Jesus who declared:
Mark 13:31 – “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
and:
John 14:6 - Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me.
[Incidentally, I think the next verse also fits this discussion: John 14:7 - “If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." It is clear that Jesus Himself gave us a male image of God.]
I can’t help but think of other Scriptures, which are relevant, even though they do not address this specific subject.
Romans 12:2 – “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Colossians 2:8 – “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”
1 Corinthians 1:20 – “Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?”
1 Corinthians 1:25 – “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.”
1 Corinthians 1:30 – “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”
Jesus alone is to be our source of spiritual knowledge and wisdom. God speaks to us through Him. Hebrews 1:1-2 - “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.”
It is so easy to get caught up in the world’s approach to issues. We hear it on radio and TV; read it in newspapers and magazines; find it solidly entrenched in the minds and lives of friends and business associates. Before long, if we are not careful, we start following the thought processes of the world instead of thinking like Christ-ians.
I think we can appropriately paraphrase . . . 1 Corinthians 15:33 - Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character [Christ-like thinking].
That’s one of the reasons Scripture instructs us . . . 2 Corinthians 6:17-18 - "Therefore come out from them and be separate,” says the Lord. “Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." [Note: God called Himself “Father”’]
3 You write: “I . . . would prefer that (our congregation) embrace this concept of inclusion . . . in this area of growth . . . a force for positive change.”
With all due respect, what you propose may be a “concept of inclusion” from the world’s view, but from a Biblical view it is not to be considered “growth” or “positive change.” It is in fact a denial of what Jesus taught and would require forsaking His teaching in order to adapt worldly philosophy. Our goal should not be to adapt the church to worldly ways of thinking, but to change our thinking to fit the teaching of Jesus.
Many years ago a wise Elder gave this preacher some very good advice. I sought guidance about a specific Biblical issue and how to determine what Scripture taught. I’ll paraphrase part of his answer: “Always begin by asking who started teaching the doctrine and who is helping to spread it. If it didn’t start with godly people truly trying to seek the will of God, then that ought to tell you something right away. Then find out what the Lord had to say about it and go from there. Once you’re in step with Him, don’t worry about what someone else is proclaiming even if it makes you unpopular with other people.”
I would urge you to consider where and how these ideas got started. They didn’t originate in the church among godly people who were studying the Word of God and discovered they had been wrong all these years. The whole idea is an outgrowth of the feminist movement, which was originated by ungodly women who were not followers of Jesus Christ, as has been evident in both their words and their life-style.
One of the institutions attacked by these worldly women was the church. Since there were already churches which had thrown out the authority of Jesus Christ, denied the authority of Scripture as the Word of God, and concluded that the apostles didn’t know what they were talking about in their writings, it was to be expected that soon these same churches would have women and men who would turn a willing ear to worldly philosophy. It was what they wanted to hear. Their action fulfilled Scripture . . .
2 Timothy 4:3 - “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”
One can only wonder where else they will distort the truth of God. They began by denying the authority of God’s Word, then the deity of Christ, which of course wiped out the blood atonement. A woman who was a member of a church in our city following this path visited our services several years ago. She informed me that she wouldn’t be back because of our emphasis on Christ. Her church stopped that kind of talk years before, she assured me. She indicated that it was inappropriate to think that you had to follow Jesus Christ alone to please God because, “God is the Father of everyone.” I suspect she might tell me today that God should not be called Father. Many in her denomination are propagating that doctrine.
4. You indicated that you might need to seek “a new church home.”
Consider the kind of church you’ll have to find in order to feel comfortable with their program. You’ll have to find a church that does not accept the Bible as the divinely inspired Word of God and the final authority for faith and practice . . . ignores the teaching of Jesus Christ . . . and allows its doctrine to be shaped by the latest philosophy being proposed by the world. You will not find a solid, Bible-believing church which rejects the male terminology for God in favor of the “concept of inclusion”….I think I’m safe in predicting that the only place you’ll find that philosophy is in the liberal churches which long ago forsook faithfulness to Christ and His Word….churches which many of our congregation left for that very reason. It seems to me to be more appropriate for a Christian to look for a church which teaches the Word of God clearly and plainly, even when it conflicts with the current trends of the day.
I would hope that you would not choose to leave…If you make that choice I would still cherish your friendship. However, I’m sure you’ve worked with me long enough to understand that as a minister of the Gospel, I believe my first loyalty must be to Jesus Christ and His Word…I cannot change my commitment to the truth just to keep people in the church.
No additional discussion followed this letter as the writer chose to leave our church almost immediately. Within a few months she was an elder in a congregation of a well-known denomination.
