If God is ‘all-man’….He isn’t even God
Today I want to talk about God as both male and female. To begin, here’s a recent well-known quote from prominent complimentarian preacher John Piper:
“God revealed Himself in the Bible pervasively as king not queen; father not mother. Second person of the Trinity is revealed as the eternal Son not daughter; the Father and the Son create man and woman in His image and give them the name man, the name of the male. From all of that I conclude that God has given Christianity a masculine feel.”
When we create, it is the art, the writing, the poetry, that comes from the deepest, truest part of us that tends to be the most powerful. It is difficult for any of us to create something if there is not an element of ourselves in it.
What we create in essence comes from deep within us, it is part of who we are.
Think of all the art, stories and poetry that has moved you most. It is the work that is true, authentic. Something of that person which connects with all of us.
Now we are all created in the image of God. So by definition we are all in part a reflection of who He is.
Though the rest of creation – animals and plants and everything else – may reflect something of God, fact is they weren’t made in His image.
Human beings – men and women -were. Scripture itself says it.
Now let’s just stop here and pause.
Male and female He created them, in the image of God. It does say that doesn’t it?
Hold on though. If God is essentially masculine, if He is ‘all man’. If God is a Father but not a mother, if He does not possess any feminine or motherly qualities then
He cannot create women in His image.
He cannot create mothers.
He cannot create something with any feminine dimensions or characteristics at all, which is ‘in His image’
God cannot create something in His image that’s not come out of a part of who He is.
Now as you may have noticed at some point, that we live in a world of both men and women. Masculine and feminine.
Not just men. Not just masculine.
I’m sure you’ve realised this.There is feminine and masculine. The evidence is in, none of us can ignore it.
So by definition, if God created all things, if – as scripture says- He created man and woman in His image…
…then God must have feminine, motherly qualities.
If God is the type of God that Piper describes, if He has no feminine or motherly qualities whatsoever, then there is only one conclusion we can draw.
He did not create any of us.
Above all, He is not God.
It essentially denies the whole of the creation story and effectively the whole of scripture. Which essentially means that anyone who believes in a God who has no feminine qualities is believing in a God who cannot be God, who cannot exist.
Very strange. Yet people believe in this type of God and have for centuries.
I’m sure the argument would be ‘Well He’s God, He can do anything’ – but you cannot create something which is not part of who you are. Indeed it denies what scripture says anyway, that God created male and female in His image.
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Equal reflections, Equal roles
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So what does this mean for the role of women?
Well, if God is feminine as well as masculine, and has motherly as well as fatherly qualities – then why would one gender be any superior to the other? Maybe each gender has specific characteristics in some ways, and some strengths and weaknesses, but there is no question that they are equal.
Equal before God, equal reflections of God.
Indeed, we have seen that there are crossovers – men can occasionally display what are traditionally deemed ‘feminine’ qualities and vice-versa. Which makes perfect sense if both men and women are made in God’s image and God has both masculine and feminine qualities in equal measure.
Piper, Driscoll and those who believe God is ‘all-man’ and doesn’t have feminine qualities really need to re-examine this issue.
Because the simple fact is that if you believe God created all things then you also have to believe that God has both masculine and feminine qualities. That God is both a Father and a Mother in equal measure.
If not, then the person you believe in cannot be God. Because God could not create women and femininity without having those qualities as part of His nature.
Why go on believing in a God who by definition cannot be God?
Lets actually accept that God is bigger than masculine and feminine. Beyond gender.
Both a Father, a Mother and more. Bigger than comprehension.
Then He really is God. Isn’t He?
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Do you agree with me? If not, why not?
Do you believe God is both a Father and a Mother?
Are you comfortable with feminine imagery of God?
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James Prescott is a writer & creative exploring digital media & divine journey of life. He blogs regularly at James Prescott.co.uk & is a regular guest blogger at bigbible.org.uk and other sites. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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