Read part 1 here: “The Gender of God: What if God is Female?”(Part 1 of 4).
What if God is female?
Returning to the problem, one can
debate that the deeper issue herein is a psychosexual-demigod complex. More
simply put, the Theology of Glory. Strict usage of gendered language, when talking
about God, is the result of a cultural movement. What is a psychosexual-demigod complex? It is a process that
happens when one forgets to acknowledge the mysteries of God.
First, one can seek to “know” God
and to understand God so much that they forget that God is awe-inspiring.
Second, one can become so fixated on talking about God as he or she that the act of
worship starts to get cloudy. Third, one can develop an, “I’m married to Jesus”
phenomena. In no way, is it healthy to have that sort of attraction towards ones
savior. It’s problematic. Fourth, always seeking to please God so, “he won’t
punish us,” and so we can become “better Christians” is also a problem. All of
the above, are components of the aforementioned psychosexual-demigod complex.
Why is this problematic? If we achieve perfection, this makes us God (thus, a demigod).
If my abusive or scary heavenly father is going to hurt me, I want no part of
that God or that father.
Moreover, what if God is female? What
if God is male? What if God doesn’t have a gender? What if all this talk about
God’s gender makes people think of God in a, subliminally, sexual fashion? What
if gendered language prompts the association of God with abuse, molestation, or
abandonment? What if the result of all of these things is the distortion of
faith in God? These gender connotations can be a distortion of
God, faith, and healthy relationships (when used improperly) which is dysfunction. The result is dysfunctional theology and a diluted
perception of God’s message. In order to rectify this distortion, one must look
to the work of the cross; knowing, this is the work of an infinite,
transcendent God – who cannot be contained in our languages –and we need to do
away with gendered language or use it correctly.
The discussion continues here: “The Gender of God: What if God is Female?”(Part 3 of 4).
You raise a lot a good questions here and I hope parts 3 & 4 answer at least some of them. My big question though, is about redemption of gender. You ask about people you have issues with their father (or, implicitly at least, mother) and how that affects their view of God. The sinful and broken state of any (and every) parent-child relationship affects our view of God. Not always, but often our view of an earthly parent becomes a hermeneutic for our theology, specifically our patrology. (If this is not a word it should be and I just made it one to differentiate this branch of theology from christology and pneumatology.) Should not then, redemption of the view of father or mother be possible through knowledge of (not merely about) God, specifically as Heavenly Father (or Mother)?
ReplyDeleteNice questions Jeff. Hopefully parts 3 and 4 answer your questions and the questions of others who commented on part 1. If you didn't see the link above and would like to read part 3, go here: http://dialectofpraxis.blogspot.com/2011/11/gender-of-god-what-if-god-is-female_29.html
ReplyDeleteP. S. Thank you all for making November the most viewed month in "Dialect of Praxis" history. Today, we reached over 1000 all-time page-views!