Embark on an enlightening journey through the spiritual and scriptural landscape as we grapple with a question that's as ancient as faith itself: How do we understand the gender of the Divine? In this episode, I peel back layers of historical context and theological discourse, inviting you to consider a God who transcends our gender binaries. We navigate the Hebrew scriptures, revealing how terms like 'adam' reflect a God whose image is not confined to male or female, but encompasses a broader spectrum—challenging us to expand our perceptions and language around the divine.
Witness a profound shift in spiritual narrative as we examine the cultural implications of God's masculine portrayal and how it intersects with gender equality in our sacred spaces. Insights from contemporary works like "The Shack" bring fresh perspectives, portraying God with a nurturing femininity that defies traditional norms and prompts a wider conversation on inclusivity. By embracing a God who embodies love and compassion beyond gendered constraints, we pave the way for a more welcoming and representative spiritual community, affirming that the message of the gospel is, indeed, for everyone. Join us for a conversation that promises to not only deepen your faith but also inspire a more inclusive embrace of the Divine.
Embark on an enlightening journey through the spiritual and scriptural landscape as we grapple with a question that's as ancient as faith itself: How do we understand the gender of the Divine? In this episode, I peel back layers of historical context and theological discourse, inviting you to consider a God who transcends our gender binaries. We navigate the Hebrew scriptures, revealing how terms like 'adam' reflect a God whose image is not confined to male or female, but encompasses a broader spectrum—challenging us to expand our perceptions and language around the divine.
Witness a profound shift in spiritual narrative as we examine the cultural implications of God's masculine portrayal and how it intersects with gender equality in our sacred spaces. Insights from contemporary works like "The Shack" bring fresh perspectives, portraying God with a nurturing femininity that defies traditional norms and prompts a wider conversation on inclusivity. By embracing a God who embodies love and compassion beyond gendered constraints, we pave the way for a more welcoming and representative spiritual community, affirming that the message of the gospel is, indeed, for everyone. Join us for a conversation that promises to not only deepen your faith but also inspire a more inclusive embrace of the Divine.
Speaker 1:
Welcome and greetings to you. Today I want to pause for a moment. I know that I promised to take us into some pretty deep topics related to original sin, hell and then annihilationist viewpoints, and I promise I will take us there. But for now I need to address another topic before we go on, and the reason I want to address this topic now is because I will continue to reference God in the way that I have been as we continue forward, and I don't want people shocked by this. So what is the topic I need to address today? Well, let me start by saying I've had several folks comment and ask questions regarding my use of inclusive pronouns and language when referring to God. Several people have raised their eyebrows at my use of she, he and they, etc. When speaking about God. I want to address that before moving into more detailed discussions around original sin, hell and other related topics, because I don't want this to be the thing that hangs people up To address using inclusive pronouns.
Speaker 1:
I want to first make a claim. Are you ready? Here we go God is both genderless and encompassing of all genders at the same time. You must be asking yourself how in the world could she possibly make that claim she's off her rocker. Many people may continue to believe that about me, and that's okay, but I will prove scripturally that what I claim is true.
Speaker 1:
First, we must remember that God is not a single entity. God is not just God alone. God is three persons, completely and totally separate, but unified to the point that they share the same nature and characteristics. When I say persons, that is obviously a bit of a stretch, considering two of the three quote unquote persons are not actually people. All three people in the Godhead are not created, but two of them are also unseen. There is only one quote unquote person in the Trinity, and that's Jesus, and he is the only one with a gender, simply because he is the only one with a physical body. Isn't that what makes a person a person, having a body? And isn't that what makes a gender a gender Having sexual organs that identify a person as one or the other? Well, is that really what makes a person have a particular gender? Think about this, and I'll leave this here for you to ponder what gender is a hermaphrodite when a mother gives birth to a child that has all the sexual organs, or a combination of organs, that would be a separator of genders. How do you, as the parent, know what gender to identify that child as? Is it based on your personal preference? Do you perform surgery on that child based on your preference? I could go on and on about this, but I want you to seriously think about it. We'll come back to this in a future episode. Let's move on.
Speaker 1:
We often refer to the Trinity in terms of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Grammatically speaking, the nouns are masculine for God the Father, masculine for the Son and feminine for the Holy Spirit. However, that is just how the nouns are described, not how the people in the Trinity are necessarily meant to be viewed In our limited human minds. We cannot fathom a God who does not have a gender, because, after all, we're made in the image of God. Since humans have sexual organs that indicate a particular gender based on our society's definition of gender, then God must have a gender too. How in the world could God be both genderless and also encompassing of both masculine and feminine gender traits and characteristics?
Speaker 1:
We'll slow down a little. If you can stop for a moment and allow yourself to be open and hear, I'll explain. Let's take this into scripture. To do that, we must start at the beginning. Let's travel into Genesis 1, verses 26 and 27 in the King James Version. I'm going to be using the Strong's Concordance reference numbers here to make a point, so just follow me for a minute.
Speaker 1:
Chapter 1, verses 26, says and God said Let us make man, which is Strong's number 120. That's the Hebrew word Adam. In Hebrew it's pronounced Adam in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Verse 27,. So God created man, adam in his own image. In the image of God created he him male and female, created he them. Genesis, chapter 2, verse 7 says and the Lord God formed man again Strong's number 120, adam of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And man number 120,. Adam became a living soul. Notice that said soul and did not say man or woman.
Speaker 1:
Genesis, chapter 2, verse 21 says and the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, which is Strong's number 121, which is also the same Hebrew word Adam and he slept and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof and the rib which the Lord God had taken from man. Strong's number 120, adam. Made he a woman and brought her unto the man. Strong's number 120, adam and Adam. Strong's number 121 said and the Lord God created him again. Strong's number 120,. Adam and Adam. This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Strong's number 376, which is the Hebrew word ish. Strong's number 376 states that the meaning of the word is a man as an individual or a male person separate from a woman, which is Strong's number 802, which is the Hebrew word ishah, and that word means basically woman or a female. Okay, I know I'm getting deep there. Let me break this down.
Speaker 1:
Every reference you hear to the word man in these verses are referenced by Strong's concordance with the numbers 120 or 121. The lexicon and concordance both state that number 120 is defined as humankind. It does not refer to a person as a man or a woman where gender is inferred. Specifically, strong's states this about the word man ad-am, number 120, also 121. It means a ruddy, a human being, an individual or the species of mankind, a person, or generically, the human race. Number 120 is a word that is derived from another Hebrew word referencing Strong's number 119. And that word simply means to show blood in the face, ie to become flush or to turn rosy, to be red or to be dyed or made red or ruddy.
Speaker 1:
The only time where the Hebrew word ad-am number 120, splits off to become separate genders male and female is after the rib was removed and turned into a woman, and after ad-am number 120, was made the declaration that this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Number 376, which is the first time that Hebrew word is referenced, meaning a male person. Both genders were encompassed into one body until the rib was removed and ad-am named that creation, which was humankind's first job after becoming a living being. By the way, before that, both genders were embodied into a single person or a single body. Once the rib was removed and ad-am number 120, named the separate being, the genders were then split and each body became a separate gender with the sexual organs that traditionally go with it. Based on our traditional understandings and translations Before that, the body could very well be assumed to be either genderless, with no sexual organ differentiation, or it could be assumed that the one body was a hermaphrodite, with all the sexual organs being included in a single bodily form. Scripture does not indicate either way. So, basically, that is up for debate and up for subjective reasoning and, quite honestly, pure Holy Spirit revelation. Okay, let's continue.
Speaker 1:
In addition to what I have previously mentioned, we often think of the word ad-am as the proper name of a male person. In fact, my brother's name is Adam, but it wasn't so. In the Hebrew language, ad-am simply was a derivative word from the Strong's 120, so Adam did not mean male, it just meant person. Now, how does all this relate to God, you ask? Well, before the rib was removed from the person ad-am and became male and female, it was one body with both genders enclosed in a single form. In Genesis 1, verse 26 and 27, it says that one single person with both genders in a single form were made in God's image and likeness. Doesn't that basically mean that God is genderless but also encompassing of both gender characteristics? If humankind as a single body encompassing both genders, is made in God's image, wouldn't that mean that God encompasses both genders? Even Scripture flip-flops on the matter.
Speaker 1:
If the starting point is always male, scripture, like Jesus, always tends to create a paradox. Oftentimes referring or comparing God to a female, as if male, is the starting point. In the book of Isaiah, chapter 42, verse 14, god is speaking to Israel through the prophet Isaiah and states I have kept silent for a long time, I have kept still and restrained myself. Now, like a woman in labor, I will groan. That's God speaking of itself. God is compared to a mother having labor pains and giving birth. Jesus, being a physical person in the gender of a man, even said of himself in Luke, chapter 13, verse 34 and comparable gospel accounts O Jerusalem, jerusalem, which killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen, which is a female chicken doth, gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not. There are many more verses all throughout Scripture, both Old and New Testament, that refers or compares God to a female. If we are willing to see them.
Speaker 1:
The history of referring to God as male is as old as patriarchal society is. Women have always been subjugated to a lesser position by those who would try and control them. Hell. Even women have succumbed to that lesser status for many centuries now, but no more. My friend, susan Dubrew, wrote a series of books regarding a woman's place not only in society, but specifically in the church. Not only did she scripturally prove that women are equal to men, both in stature and position, but I would take what she has proved and take it even a step further to show that women are represented in the Godhead, the Trinity, as equally as men are Because of these reasons. This is why I refer to God in inclusive language, not just to give a safe space for belonging in the Trinity for our LGBTQ plus siblings, who are in various spots on the gender spectrum, but to also give women a safe space in the Trinitarian life we are all included in. This is why I use the language that I do and will continue to do so. I want all to know that they are welcome, to feel at home here as they listen to this podcast, and for all to know that they are no longer on the fringes, no longer the outcasts and misfits. All belong in and for and through God.
Speaker 1:
As a last note, I would like to remind folks that even William Paul Young, who is the author of the New York Times bestselling book the Shack represented God as a woman. He shot the world with that representation. In fact, the author shattered all cultural norms by not only representing God as a female, but he also represented God as a black female. Talk about breaking the mold. That book was on the New York Times bestseller list for nearly two years and was adapted to become a bestselling movie as well.
Speaker 1:
In my opinion, well worth the read and the watch, by the way, for it not only breaks cultural norms, but it also shows God in the Trinitarian dance in a more loving and compassionate way than most Western evangelical churches do. So keep in mind not everyone views God as a man. God is not a man because God is not a person except only in the form of Jesus Christ. Let's make sure that we start opening our concepts a little bit, stretching ourselves beyond our religious upbringing, and open our hearts and minds a lot more and allow all people to be included in this wonderful good news, because ultimately they are. I hope you've enjoyed this. Have a blessed day.