101: Is God a Mother or Father?

OT Lesson: Genesis 1:24-31 (NIV)

And God said, ‘Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.’ And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’

So God created mankind in his own image,

in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’

Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.’ And it was so.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

NT Lesson: Matthew 22:23-33 (NRSV)

The same day some Sadducees came to him, saying there is no resurrection; and they asked him a question, saying, ‘Teacher, Moses said, “If a man dies childless, his brother shall marry the widow, and raise up children for his brother.” Now there were seven brothers among us; the first married, and died childless, leaving the widow to his brother. The second did the same, so also the third, down to the seventh. Last of all, the woman herself died. In the resurrection, then, whose wife of the seven will she be? For all of them had married her.’

Jesus answered them, ‘You are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”? He is God not of the dead, but of the living.’ And when the crowd heard it, they were astounded at his teaching.

Sermon

Introduction

Good morning. I hope you had a good week. Today is not Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, but you might have confused because of the sermon title today. Traditionally God has been depicted as a White Old Man as in the famous painting of the Creation of Adam by Michelangelo. Or other traditional paintings. But then it changed in 2003 because of the film ‘Bruce Almighty.’ God’s image changed from a White old man to a Black old man. So the race changed while the age and gender remained the same. I get why the age did not change because God has been from eternity. So God must be very old, and we all know that. But these days, mostly because of the feminism movement, which is a good thing, God’s gender is also shifting in our culture. So let us think and ponder about it today.

Seminary Policy

I studied at McCormick Theological Seminary from September of 2013. Right before the first semester began, there was a school orientation in August. The orientation covered many things including the school policies. One of the school policies was that we cannot use the gender specific words for God. So you cannot say His love or Her love. You always have to use God’s love. This is a good policy to avoid unnecessary debates and conflicts on the issue of God’s gender. And of course I made mistakes in one of my papers at first because it was so habitual to me. Even without noticing, I wrote ‘His love’ or ‘His grace’ several times. The paper was denied and returned to me with red marks on every ‘His’ and ‘Him.’ I switched them to God and God’s. I also had to study the school policy over again. But then a few weeks later, I became curious. So this time, I intentionally used feminine pronouns—she and her. Interestingly enough, the paper was accepted as was. So those professors are allergic to masculine God but gracious to feminine God even though the school policy clearly says no to both. And there were several students and professors saying Mother God instead of Father God. So they begin the Lord’s Prayer by saying ‘Our Mother in heaven.’ All these were exceptionally interesting to me. So I began my own research on the gender of God.

Biological Gender

Both mother and father are parents. The difference is the gender. Female parent is a mother. Male parent is a father. Then what distinguishes a woman from a man? Well, these days, this became a very complicated question with all the cis-gender, transgender, and gender dysphoria thing. But let us just stick to the traditional and biological way. So what is the simplest answer to the question, ‘how can we distinguish a woman from a man?’ It is not about the face. Generally we can say that women are more beautiful than men. But that is not always true. When I was in Germany, I saw many women who looked more masculine than me. The gender is not also about the breast. As you know, some guys have bigger boobs than most women. The universal and also easiest way to tell it is the genitals. I am sorry using this word, but we are all grown-ups. Any minors here? If someone has an outward genital, then that person is he. If someone else has an inward genital, then that person is she.

This is the biological way to tell it. The biology is about the physical body. With the physical body, we marry to reproduce. In Matthew 22 which is today’s NT lesson, the Sadducees asked Jesus a trick question to trap him in a theological dilemma. The question was this. A woman married and outlived her husband. Then she married again for six more times. In total, she married seven guys. I think I know her. The Holywood star Elizabeth Taylor married to seven different men. So the Sadducees asked Jesus, “At the resurrection who will be the husband of Elizabeth Taylor among those seven guys?” Then Jesus replied, ‘You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.’ As you know, the angels are the spirits without the physical bodies. Not having a physical body means no genital. Angels do not marry because they do not reproduce. Jesus says in John 4:24 that God is Spirit. So I believe that God does not have a genital. The Bible also mentions the face of God, the bosom of God, the hands of God, the arms of God, the feet of God, but nothing about the genital. So it is safe to say that God does not really have a gender—neither male nor female. Genesis 1:27 says that God created the human beings in the image of God, in the likeness of God. And then the Bible makes it clear that the human beings are both male and female, not either of them. If God is a man, women are not in the image of God. If God is a woman, then men are not in the image of God. Only when both male and female are together, then we are in the image and in the likeness of God.

Linguistic Gender

In the languages, the grammatical gender does not really reflect the biological gender. A table has a masculine gender in Germany but in Spanish a feminine. But as you know, a table does not have a genital, and thus it has no biological gender. A bridge is feminine in German but masculine in Spanish. So if you ask German people to describe a bridge, they mostly say like beautiful or elegant while the Spanish people uses strong or mighty a lot. But as you know, a bridge does not have a genital, so again, no real gender. Interestingly Sun is feminine in German but masculine in Spanish. The moon is masculine in German but feminine in Spanish. As we all know, neither sun nor moon have an actual gender. So the genders in a language is in most cases purely grammatical and cultural.

Hebrew and Greek Gender for God

In the first year of the seminary, one of the mandatory classes is the Introduction to the Biblical Studies, which was taught by two professors—OT and NT. In the first session, a female student in the middle of the class asked a question: ‘I know the Bible says that God is the Father. But is there any at least one reference in the Bible, either OT or NT, taking God as feminine gender like she or her?’ The OT professor answered first, “In the OT, no. Not at all. How about NT?” “The Greek Bible, NT, uses masculine gender for God a hundred per cent without a single and slightest exception.” Then the girl got upset. She got up and left the classroom immediately. And on the way out, she slammed the door. I was really shocked. That kind of behaviour is unimaginable in Korea. But then I realised that this is the United States, the land of the free where you can do whatever you want. So of course an angry student can slam the door at the face of the professors.

And I thought that was very interesting, not the girl’s behaviour but the fact that the Bible uses a hundred per cent masculine gender when it comes to God. I became curious why. God is Spirit and God does not have a biological gender. Grammatically it does not matter which gender to use for God. But why a hundred per cent male? Isn’t it interesting? Of course the Bible also depicts God as mother figure, though it is quite rare. God says in Hosea 13:8, ‘Like a she-bear who was taken her cubs, I will tear them and devour them.’ Bible also says something like mother hen, but then still uses masculine gender that God will spread His wing and His feather. But there is a reason, or must be, why the Bible has to refer God a hundred per cent as a male and a Father figure.

Patriarchal Society

In Korea there was a household registration system which was abolished in 2008. Every household was registered in the government database. Each household has the head of the household and the members of the household. Anyone in the family can be registered as a member, but only the oldest male can be the head of the household. So my father used to be the head of the household. Upon his death, I automatically became the head of the household because I was the only male in the family even though I am the youngest one. That means, my older sisters, were all registered under me. That means, my mother was also registered under my name. This was until twelve years ago in Korea. I don’t think there is such a family registration system in America. So we do not really have a legal head of the household. Then who is the head of the household in America? I think that is whoever wearing the pants. In Canada when I heard that expression for the first time, I got confused. Someone asked me, ‘Hey Je, do you know who’s wearing the pants in that family?’ And I looked at t he guy and replied, ‘Everybody. Can’t you see that? Even the five year old girl is wearing the pants.’ Well, now I know the it is the one who makes the most money in the family.

Anyway, the Bible was not written a few years ago, but thousands of years ago in the Middle East. I think the world is still unnecessarily patriarchal. But when the Bible was written, the society was more patriarchal beyond our imagination. There are some films about the Roman Empire which I don’t really like, for example, the Netflix series ‘Roman Empire,’ 2016. I don’t like it because they are wrong in so many very important facts. But there are of course other history films I like, for example, HBO series ‘Rome’ 2005. It is a fictional TV series but they got many historical facts and backgrounds right. One of the scenes impressive to me because of its historic accuracy was this: young Octavian’s mother was about to slap him in the face for punishment or for disciplining, then he grabbed her wrist to stop her and said, ‘I am your son, not your child.’ Octavian just passed the certain age. When a son was a child, his mother can discipline him. But when a son is no longer a child and the father’s not around, then the son is the head of the household, and the mother is subject to her son’s authority. Legally but not morally or ethically, if he wants, he can even discipline his mother.

In the light of that ancient culture, if the Bible calls God as a mother, that means when a guy reader like me becomes an adult, he becomes superior to God, because he is the head of the household, and the mother is under her son’s authority. God becomes subject unto male human being’s authority. Needless to say, that is not true, as well as not possible. In the Bible, a woman is under her father’s authority before marriage. After marriage, she is under her husband’s authority. Upon her husband’s death, she is under her son’s authority. More precisely, women were treated as properties. In the famous Ten Commandments, the tenth one says ‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thy neighbour’s wife, thy neighbour’s slave, his ox, and his donkey.’ As you can see, the wife is listed among other properties. Actually the house has more value than the wife because the order of the list is by the value. So in the society when and where women were not even treated as human, how can the Bible refer God as a woman or a mother? It is unthinkable and simply not possible.

Is God a Father then?

Then do we conclude that God is a Father? I don’t deny that the Bible depicts the motherhood of God which is caring and loving, as well as the fatherhood of God which is disciplining and justice. I think it is safe to say that God is our Parent. And I have no problem for other people saying that God is the Mother, or her grace and her love. But personally I will continue to use the masculine words in my sermons and in my other writings. The reason is simple. My human brain is small and my understanding is inevitable very much limited. I may always be subject to errors. But if I repeat the same wordings in the Bible, I can possibly have less chance to go wrong. And the Bible always says God is the Father and the Bible talks about His love and His grace. So if you are unhappy and uncomfortable of me saying Father God and His love, please forgive me.

Conclusion

But no matter we say God is a Mother or a Father, there is one thing which will never change: That God is our Parent, who is slow to anger, and whose love endure forever. Whenever we come to God, just as mother hen cares for her chicks, God will always take us under His wing safely and comfortably. Amen.