September 1, 2006
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The Image of God ...
Conflict erupts between members of the household of faith in spectacular ways, and is reflected by deep waters filling a vast theological chasm.. Recently a number of national news organizations picked up the story of Mary Lambert, an 81 year old grandmother who has been teaching Sunday School in her local church for over half a century. She received a letter from church elders dismissing her from her position stating that church leaders had adopted a "scriptural" approach to Sunday school teachers and quoted a verse from 1 Timothy which says in part "I do not permit a woman to teach."
Whether a woman should be "permitted" a leadership position in church is an issue that has divided local congregations and split entire denominations of believers. I've experienced the "biblical correctness" of a pastor determined to keep women in their place. And I've spent a great deal of time trying to understand that viewpoint. For an excellent presentation of the conservative side you might check out Wayne Grudem's work on "Evangelical Feminism and Bibilical Truth" the entire work is available online here.
And for a list of resources supporting women in ministry, you might want to go here.
It's not a simple question to sort out but underneath all the big words and biblical exegesis, I think it comes down to a question of what we understand about God. What do we believe about the gender of God and the image of God. Is God a man?
I love to refer to God as "she" in part because I get that thrill of courting the dangerous. But in part because I love my understanding of God as something bigger and more encompassing than either gender. In Genesis, I read, "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them."
How awkward to be confronted with Someone who is beyond gender, and to have to describe that in language that rather insists upon gender. I think the author did a pretty good job considering those language constraints. In order to reflect the image of God, it was necessary to create a race. Both man and woman are the image of God. Neither can reflect God without the other.
(I've been so preachy this morning I'm kind of feeling a need to pass the plate and lead us all in a closing hymn ... o_0. Take it for what it's worth. God and I will be having a tea party later, and I think we're both planning to wear dresses.)
Comments (11)
My cousin Jeanie is a United Church Minister.
It is absurd that women are not allowed to be priests or ministers, all the work of the "organized religions" which have condemned women for centuries. The balance between the male and the female, the masculine and the feminine has long been out of whack and that is why the world is in such terrible shape right now.
Some of the religious forefathers feared women; hence the laws and the rules. I do believe that the Sacred Feminine is coming alive again, though.
I personally think women should be able to be strong leaders in church but I don't feel that should lead the church. I think it is all in how you feel personally. I would rather have a man lead then a women. I know that this wont sit well with many women but it is how I feel. Mabey I have been a babtist too long........
But....how can my FATHER be a woman?
Damn the man... confused now.
Sail on... sail on!!!
Dread -
It's true that many Bible verses speak of God as "Father" but there are also verses that speak of God as a Mother - they describe God as having given birth and nursing. El Shaddai, one of the Hebrew names of God found in the Old Testament, literally means God of the Breast. It is part of the Mystery of God that God is ALL.
Maybe if we could understand it this way ... God is our Parent, Lover, Friend, Saviour, Source and Guide, Comfort and Wisdom ... and know that God is perfectly able to relate to each of us, whether we are man or woman, in each of these ways.
God is much more than we can know through any one way of looking, and much more than we can put into words. To say that God is male puts a limit (male but not female) on the Infinite Being Who IS.
Anyway, that's my opinion.
Ok, one more chorus of, "Just As I Am."
Isn't it wonderful that God is utterly beyond our pittiful understanding?
Beyond Gender are the keywords. I have seen God as a Goddess off and on in my spiritual travels just because she was working in and through me and I had a problem with mixing up my heavenly father and my earthly father. But women should be able to teach the gospel. I understand your point. Judi
I am sure none have forgotten that the Bbibe was written by men. That most religions I have investagated do everything to hold woman in servitude.
Like no birth control. Have lots of children, be happy and let the man be the BOSS!!......... Why is it the poorest countrys in the world live by this law!
In my lifetime I have met some men that I do believe were men of God, and they all came from different riligions. Its not the chirch, its the soul within.
But also my observations have been when it comes to true spirituality woman have it all over men.
I cannot imagine you with out a come back! You must have not had your second cup of coffee !! lol p.n
How did you get that list of your old post on the side?
Despite the hints given in that Genesis passage and the few references to God as like a "mother"... obviously the predominant image of God in the bible (if you want to take a "scriptural" view of it) is as Father - this, I believe, the result of the fact that MEN (that is, male humans) wrote the text and had no other way to conceive of God than as male. Whether benevolent and loving or angry and vindictive - he became understood as male and as having male emotions, etc.
That said, I don't see why women teaching Sunday School (which is different from the question of whether women should be ministers) is still such an issue. Even the most conservative churches have often conceded Paul's instructions that women may at least teach other women... and children... even if women may not "lead" by teaching men.
Personally, I'll have nothing to do with any of it - the Bible, organized church, etc. I'm just constantly amazed (and annoyed) at how people get what they want out of the Bible, and so easily discard the rest.
Well, so much for a triune God. We seem to need father, (mother), holy ghost, and son Perhaps Jesus was reared in a dysfunctional family!
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