Recently in our discussions a point was made about how we
normally refer to God as Father. Why do
we seem to avoid what we might mean by Mother?
We asked whether we encounter also feminine aspects of the God Jesus
called Father. The more I cast around
about this, the more I realise just how much feminine reference to God there is
in our scriptures, and how varied it is.
But in most churches you would scarcely know it.
Both Hebrew and Greek scriptures introduce us to a feminine aspect
of God by means of the word Wisdom. In
Hebrew, Wisdom is an almost unpronounceable word, khachmah – in the Greek scriptures it is Sophia (σωφια). In both Hebrew and
Greek the word is feminine[1],
and the personal pronoun used is she.
Lady Wisdom is personified. In our day, ascribing feminine nature to God
is at least a little bold… let alone in biblical times and in a seriously patriarchal
world. Nevertheless there has always
been a quiet persistence about this feminine mode of God… a sense that we are
actually unable to worship a God of exclusive masculinity without
distortion. In Jesus’s lament over
Jerusalem[2]
he cries: How often would I have gathered
your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings… Our NZ poet James K Baxter picked up this
image in his Hymn to the Holy Spirit: Lord, Holy Spirit / You are the mother eagle
with her young / Holding them in peace under your feathers. In the Bible however the classic depiction is
in the Book of Proverbs, chapters 8 & 9. Wisdom/Sophia is found crying in the street…
this is wonderful Hebrew poetry, vivid and daring, and I wish there were time
to read it all to you. Among the many
things Lady Sophia cries, we find: Come,
eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Lay aside immaturity and live, and walk in
the way of insight…
Lay aside immaturity… One of the best discoveries of my time in the
church, although rarely mentioned, is that when we finally got around to admitting
women to all offices in the church, we began to sense – of course! – a different
wisdom, a better discernment, more boldness, and at the same time an impatience
with male posturing and pretentiousness.
It is as though truth cannot be trusted solely to the masculine, or love
be taught only though masculine voices. Patriarchy
does not, cannot reflect fully the way of Christ. Wisdom and truth require male and female
together.
Wisdom/Sophia is for those who are laying aside immaturity – it is grown-up faith. She is a way of understanding the Spirit,
whom Jesus promised to guide us. Her
femininity is part of the truth of God, who made us male and female. This certainly requires stillness and silence,
and the setting aside of idols. Be still, said the Psalmist, and know that I am God.
[1] English speakers may find this strange – English does
not have gender-specific nouns. French
does. German, Greek and Latin nouns are
all masculine, feminine or neuter.
Students simply have to learn the gender of nouns.
[2] Luke 13:34
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