Answers to Tough Questions - Other Stumbling Blocks

Is it appropriate to refer to God as 'she'?

In Palestine, as well as throughout paganism, the gods were seen as a part of nature. Thus, the female god (Ashteroth) was impregnated by the male god of rain and storm (Baal) every spring. If the gods were angry with me (e.g., crops not bearing fruit because of no rain), then I would need to placate them by offering to them the fruit of my womb, my first-born child, as a sacrifice. This gave rise to a cyclical view of history. People were trapped in the cycle of the gods.

When the God of the Bible revealed himself to the Jewish people, he essentially said, "It is terrible to sacrifice your children to Baal. Baal and Ashteroth are not gods. Created things aren't god." The Creator made the world outside of Himself. He made us in His image both male and female, but God Himself is neither male nor female.

Under paganism, women were pushed down. Baal (or his cultural equivalent) was superior to Ashteroth. Male ruled over female. When Christianity penetrates a culture, the effect of the gospel has always been that women are treated with a new dignity. Some of the clearest examples of that are in the way Jesus treats women. A woman (Mary) is the first to explicitly hear about Jesus' birth. It is to a woman that Jesus first clearly says that he is the Messiah (John 4:26), and it is to a woman that he first appears after his resurrection (John 20:10). Not only were we created in God's image as male and female (Genesis 1:27), but we are also equal in salvation. Paul says, There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).

A tribal leader in Uganda was asked what he was going to do with what he was learning from the Bible. He replied, "I think I am going to eat with my wife". The tribal custom is that the wife eats by herself.

Jesus' death levels us. We are all sinners. We all need grace. We've all been in rebellion to God. Now, when God grants us forgiveness through Jesus' blood, we are all co-heirs with one another. The Roman slave who believes is equal to the Roman centurion. The Bible tells people not to treat rich people better than poor people at their meetings (James 2:1-4).

That is the context of the Bible's referring to God as He - the pronoun always used for God. There are two views among scholars as to why God is referred to as He.

Some say that He is simply an anthropomorphism (e.g., sailors refer to ships as she, but they don't literally mean the ship is a woman.). These people believe that the choice of a male pronoun to refer to a person is typical of many languages. The Biblical writers used He because it implies both groups. She is more specific. He is more ambiguous. In this view, it is purely a limitation of language. Male and female are both created in God's image. Both male and female are needed to truly image God.

The other group of people agrees with much of what the first group says, believing that only as male and female together do we fully image God. They also agree that the usage of He is partly anthropomorphic because God is a spirit being. Yet, the choice of the male pronoun all through the Bible is not arbitrary. All three members of the Trinity - God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit - are referred to as He. When God became incarnate, He was a male. Why? God is demonstrating a divine headship that is reflected in any organization. There is always a head. For instance, the recent merger of Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz was publicly announced as a marriage of equals with a co-chairmanship. But behind the scenes, the chairman of Mercedes was the leader. Bob Eaton, the chairman of Chrysler said, "Two people can't lead a company". The Biblical model of the family is that the husband is the head of the wife, but it is a headship unlike the model of society. It is a dying headship - just as Jesus' headship over the church is a dying headship. Jesus died for his people; the husband exercises his headship by a dying love for his wife (Eph 4:22-23). This second view is my own view.

So, although God does not have a gender in the human sense, it is appropriate to refer to Him as He, not she. At the same time, it is inappropriate to ascribe to God any of the negative connotations that come with being called He. There may be men in your life who are domineering, demanding, unreasonable, abusive, and uncaring. God is none of these things. He is the author of perfect love, compassion, reason, comfort, and caring.

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