THE GOD OF CBE
“I think that if you
want to
in your personal devotions address God
as ‘Mother’ I don’t have a problem with that.”
–T.J. Ostrander, CBE speaker, (quoted verbatim from tape# ACF290: “Sophia
Wisdom of God or Goddess of Wisdom”; sold via the CBE web site:
www.cbeinternational.org
).
”I
believe it is important to call God, ‘Mother’ as well as ‘Father’ in public
worship.” -
Paul R. Smith, CBE author (Source: Smith’s book,
Is it Okay to Call God Mother;
p.1; offered via
www.cbeinternational.org
)
”We
sing the words of John W. Peterson in worshipful praise, ‘Shepherd of love
you knew I had lost my way…’ Would it be worse or blasphemous, to sing
something like ‘Mother of love…’? Both are figures of speech. But because of
our fear of taking on the trappings of radical feminism or goddess worship,
we dare not sing those words—except perhaps in our closets of prayer.”
-
Ruth Tucker, CBE
author (Source: Tucker’s
book,
Women in the Maze;
20-21;
www.cbeinternational.org ;
See: Evangelical
Feminism and Biblical Truth,
Wayne Grudem, Multnomah Publishers, 509-513)
”…there
is a good Biblical reason, then, to speak of God as both Father and Mother,
both ‘she’ and ‘he’.”
--Richard and Catherine Kroeger, CBE
authors; “Women Elders…Called by God?” (Catherine
Kroeger is one of the founders of CBE; this particular
article where she advocates calling God
“mother” can be found at:
http://firstpresby.org/womenelders/htm
; See:
Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth,
Wayne Grudem, Multnomah Publishers, 511)
“God, our Mother, we thank you that you
love us so much to want the best for us.
Thank you for trusting us enough to let us do things on our own…Stay near to
us and help us to become all that we can be. Amen.”
-Jann
Aldredge-Clanton, CBE author [(source: Clanton’s book:
God, A Word for Girls and Boys
(p. 23) In the introduction of the
book, Jann Aldredge-Clanton writes:
Masculine God language hinders many children from establishing relationships
of trust with God. In addition, calling God “he” causes boys to commit the
sin of arrogance…Calling the Supreme power of the universe “he” causes girls
to commit the sin of devaluing themselves. For the sake of “these little
ones” we must change the way we talk about God and about human beings.
(p.11) offered via the CBE web site:
www.cbeinternational.org
]
At Cornerstone, an annual festival of
the Christian arts, attended by 27,000 evangelical youth, Mimi Haddad,
president of the evangelical organization,
Christians for
Biblical Equality
(CBE), proposed that God could be called “Mother” as well as “Father”.
[Source:
The Feminine Mistake,
Mary Kassian, Crossway Publishers: (p. 287); Source: Julia Bloom, “Biblical
Equality Finds a Platform at Rock Festival”, (Mutuality, Fall 2002), p.16.
Haddad gave a seminar at festival entitled, “Forgotten People, Overlooked
Language: Women Leaders and Feminine Images of God.”]
“We must resist
the implication that God is masculine or that Scripture sanctions
patriarchy.” --Mimi Haddad,
CBE president (Source: What Language
Shall We Use;
www.cbeinternational.org )
“We may speak of God as Father or as
Mother.” --Mimi Haddad, CBE
president (Source: What Language Shall
We Use;
www.cbeinternational.org )
THE GOD OF THE BIBLE, FIRST PERSON OF THE
TRINITY
Not once in the Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic,
does God refer to Himself as “Mother.” God is Spirit (John 4:24), but God
refers to Himself in the masculine, because that is the order of creation.
Similes (such as “…like a hen gathers her chicks…” in Matt. 23:37) portray
an action to illustrate God’s
character. Actions are not names.
God does not leave it up to us whether or not to re-name Him or “update” Him
more “non-offensively” or “inclusively” for these (pagan) modern times.
Jesus teaches us to call God “Father” (and
never referred to God as “mother”!):
In Matthew 6:9 Jesus prays, “Our Father
who art in heaven…” In John 10:30 Jesus says, “I and My
Father are one.”
God is King:
Malachi 1:14: “’…for I am a King,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘And My name is
feared among the nations’”
God is Ruler:
Daniel 5:21 says, “….the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind…”
God is Lord:
Isaiah 42:8 says, “I am the Lord; that is My name; I will not give My glory
to another…”
God has ALL AUTHORITY, (WOMEN HAVE NO
AUTHORITY OVER THE GOD OF THE BIBLE):
Isaiah 45:23-24: “…That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear
allegiance…and all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.” Isaiah 45:9:
“Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker, an earthenware vessel among the
vessels of the earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you
doing?’” Isaiah 64:4 says, “For from of old they have not heard nor
perceived by ear, neither has the eye seen a God besides Thee, who acts in
behalf of the one who waits for Him.” Romans 9: 15-16: “For He says to
Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy…’ so then it does not depend
on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”
The God of the Bible is not impressed with
“learned” people who don’t submit to Him:
Isaiah 65:2: “I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious
people, who walk in the way which is not good,
following their own thoughts.”
Isaiah 2:22: “Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils;
for why should he be esteemed?” Isaiah 55: 7-8: “Let the wicked forsake his
way and the unrighteous man his thoughts…For
My thoughts are not your thoughts…”
The God of the Bible uses people
against the world’s standards:
John 7:15: “And the Jews were astonished, saying, ‘How has this Man become
learned, having no education.’” 1 Corinthians 1:19: “I will destroy the
wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”
He gives grace to the humble and not the
proud: Isaiah 64:6: “For all
of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are
like a filthy garment.” James 4:6: “God is opposed to the proud, but gives
grace to the humble.” In Mark 10:15 Jesus warns, “Truly I say to you whoever
does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”
God requires SUBMISSION:
James 4:7 commands us to submit
to God.
The God of the Bible is the “Ancient of
Days” and will not be “re-defined.”—In
Daniel 7:13 God is called the “Ancient of Days”; See also: Exodus 3:14 and
John 8:58; God’s Word does not change: See Deut. 4:2, Proverbs 30:6, John
1:1-3,14, and 2 Peter 1:20-21. Isaiah 46:5,9-10 says, “To whom would you
liken Me, and make me equal and compare Me, that we should be alike?...I am
God and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and
from ancient times things which have not been done…”
The God of the Bible does not change. Malachi 3:6 says, “For I,
the Lord, do not change…” Isaiah 46:4 says, “Even to your old age, I shall
be the same…”
THE BIBLICAL ABOMINATION OF “MOTHER-GOD”
WORSHIP:
The “Mother god” of the Bible is Satan:
Revelation 17:5—Satan is the “Mother of harlots”
Satan is the father/mother god and can take
on both the masculine and the feminine:
Satan is the mother (of harlots) in Revelation 17:5 and the father (of lies)
in John 8:44.
The “Mother god” is at war with the God of
the Bible: Jeremiah 7:18 says
those who worship the “Queen of heaven” spite God.
“Mother god” worship is forbidden by the God
of the Bible: Jeremiah
44:15-19, 25
It is “detestable” and “evil” to God to
transgress His covenant and worship any of the heavenly host He has not
commanded. Deut. 17:2-4
THE JESUS OF CBE:
“It was Christ’s humanity, not His gender
that made Him humankind’s redeemer.”
--Mimi Haddad, CBE president (Source:
What Language Shall We Use;
www.cbeinternational.org)
“It was Jesus’ incarnation as a human being,
not as a male, that allowed Him to provide the means of salvation.”
--Aida Spencer, CBE author and speaker (Source:
Beyond the Curse: Women in Ministry,
p. 22;
www.cbeinternational.org )
“…Jesus Christ, who does well against evil,
is our very mother.” --Ruth
Tucker, CBE author and speaker (quoting Julian Norwich in Caroline W.
Bynum’s book, Jesus as Mother: Studies
in the Spirituality of the Middle Ages, p. 131;
www.cbeinternational.org )
“Jesus, the prophet, challenged the abusive and unjust systems of his day.
We aim to do that for our day. Jesus never criticized other religions.
Neither do we. Jesus, however, did challenge his own religious tradition.
Therefore, we challenge ours. Jesus embraced, ignored, and rejected various
parts of his Bible. We do that, too, believing that Jesus, the Word of God,
is the criteria by which we interpret our Bible and all other words which
claim to be from God. We teach that Jesus did not see himself as a
sacrifice for our sins to appease an angry God. Instead, Jesus spoke out
against the oppressive powers of his day, and they crucified him. God
forgives us without need for a sacrifice of any kind, just as Jesus taught
us that we are to forgive one another. Jesus taught that every person would
eventually be drawn into the fullness of God's salvation. You are ultimately
destined for heaven. No one will be left behind.”
–CBE author, Paul R. Smith’s,
“Jesus” and gospel (“Pastor” Smith’s book,
Is It Okay to Call God Mother,
is offered via the CBE web site at:
www.cbeinternational.org
. Source of quote comes from CBE author “Pastor” Paul R. Smith’s church,
Broadway Church in Kansas City:
http://www.broadwaychurch-kc.org/about.php
).
Paul R. Smith begins chapter three of
his book, Is It Okay to Call God Mother,
with a cartoon of Moses arriving in heaven telling God, “Gee, I didn’t
expect you to be a soprano!”
Later on in the book Smith says:
“Something is
wrong when we cannot conceive of the Messiah coming from a different
cultural setting or being of a different race or gender.”
He says he has a
sculpture of “a female Jesus hanging on the cross” and he admits that some
people “have violent reactions” to it. – Paul R.
Smith
[Is it Okay to Call God Mother,
p. 134, 137, 140- 141;
www.cbeinternational.org
(See:
Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth,
Grudem, Multnomah Publishers, p. 510)]
[Consider
these endorsements for Paul R. Smith’s book, Is It Okay to Call God Mother:
"This book is a tour de force. It is
simply magnificent—witty, scholarly, profoundly persuasive, blunt,
prophetic, and convicting this slow-to-believe disciple all over the place."
—Brennan Manning, author of
The Ragamuffin Gospel; "I'm not
sure what to make of it all, but Paul Smith gives the best arguments I have
ever come across for calling God Mother. For anyone struggling with how far
we should go in using inclusive language, this is "must" reading. —Tony
Campolo, professor emeritus,
Eastern University, founder of the
Evangelical Association for the Promotion of
Education, Endorser of CBE
www.cbeinternational.org;
"With tender power and wit, Paul Smith challenges the church to biblical
fidelity and justice in its worship language. How encouraging it is to hear
an evangelical male voice affirm the necessity of feminine images of God!
This outstanding book so clearly and convincingly demonstrates the biblical
imperative for inclusive God-language that the Christian community can no
longer ignore it." —Jann Aldredge-Clanton,
Ph.D., Chaplain, Baylor University
Medical Center, CBE author of
God and Gender and
God: A Word for Girls and Boys
www.cbeinternational.org
; "In the often difficult debate over language and God, this is a thoughtful
and productive contribution to this important and complex subject." —Dr.
Roberta Hestenes, former president of Eastern University, St.
Davids, Pennsylvania
(1987-1996); Senior Pastor of Solana Beach Presbyterian (USA);
Minister with World Vision,
visiting faculty member of Fuller &
Denver Theological Seminaries, Endorser of CBE
www.cbeinternational.org.]
Note:
Bill Hybels is also an endorser of CBE,
along with Brian McLaren,
Pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church, author of A New Kind of Christian,
as well as Dr.
Gregory Boyd, Senior Pastor of
Woodland Hills Church, St. Paul, MN, author of Letters from a Skeptic, and
Dr. Richard Foster, author of
Celebration of Discipline; “Statement on Men, Women, and Biblical Equality”
www.cbeinternational.org.
Jann Alderedge-Clanton, CBE Author and
speaker, is a worshiper of Christ-Sophia. In her book,
Praying with Christ-Sophia: Services for
Healing and Renewal, she goes so far as displaying a list of
hymns that can be sung to Christ-Sophia.
(
www.cbeinternational.org
;
www.amazon.com
).
THE JESUS OF THE BIBLE:
Jesus is Master:
Jude 1:4: “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long
before marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace
of our God into licentiousness and deny our only
Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Isaiah 9:6 says that the Messiah had to be a
Son.
There was absolutely no chance that the
Jesus of the Bible, fulfilling over 300 prophecies from the Old Testament to
the New, could have been a female. Absolutely zero chance. (The Jesus, that
is, who spoke more about hell than He did heaven).
THE
JESUS OF THE BIBLE COULD NEVER BE A FEMALE IN HEAVEN TODAY:
“…from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come…I am the first and the
last” Revelation 1:4, 17. “And when He
said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples
therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord…but Thomas…said to them, ‘Unless I
shall see in His hands the imprint of nails, and put my finger into the
place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’…Then
He said to Thomas, ‘Reach here your finger, and see My hands, and reach here
your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing.’
Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (John 20:19-29)
You can contact Dwayna
Litz and
Christy Cahela through
www.ltwinternational.org