Do you agree with "Why God is Father and Not Mother" by Mark Brumley?
Posted by Wally Arida, Publisher
In this article, he writes:
"The Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man" is how the 19th century liberal Protestant theologian Adolph Harnack once summarized the Christian faith. Nowadays Harnack would find his brand of reductionist religion dismissed as hopelessly sexist and exclusive by many feminist theologians. The "brotherhood of man" might be reworked into "the family of humanity" or its equivalent.
But what would they do about the Fatherhood of God? Can we replace the allegedly "sexist" language of Divine Fatherhood with so-called gender-inclusive or gender-neutral terms such as Father/Mother or Heavenly Parent without further ado?
Many people–including some Catholics–say "yes." "We not only can," they contend, "we must. God is, after all, beyond gender. Calling God ‘Father’, without adding that God is also Mother, unfairly exalts one image for God above all others and ignores the culturally conditioned nature of all our images of God," they argue.
What do you think? Is God a Father or a Mother? Join this discussion and let's turn this intriguing topic inside out. I'm sure at the end of the day we will have learned something enlightening about our Catholic faith and how we can apply it to our daily lives.
Now let's go have some fun with this baby. Post your comments today.
