God as She
The Telegraph published an old article of mine this week, following the debate about whether the Church of England’s official liturgy should include female references to God. In fact, it’s a discussion which has been going on for decades, as this fascinating blog post by Rachel Mann explains, but it has been re-enlivened this week. My article ( here ) makes the point that in all the Abrahamic faiths God is understood to transcend gender, despite the fact that historically we have always used male pronouns. ' For he is not a man, as I am.' (Job: 9.32) A friend and theology student recently shared with me the idea that using gendered language for God is the same as using any metaphor (just like rock or lion or lamb) - of course it's not meant to be read literally. The idea of gender as a metaphor for God appealed to me, speaking of God’s ultimate otherness – we are just grasping at who she is through linguistic techniques. But we also need to be cautious