God and Gender

A newspaper headline this week said,

“In Her Image: its time to make God a woman, says church group”1

This was the suggestion of a steering group that meets in Lambeth Palace. Have they forgotten that God entered this world as a man called Jesus? Have they forgotten that Jesus’ usual term when talking about addresses God is ‘Father’. He uses the word ‘Father’ for God ninety seven times in John’s gospel alone. Have they forgotten that Jesus taught his people to address God as ‘Father’.

“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven . . .’” Matthew 6:9

Is the church now trying to sideline Jesus? It wouldn’t be the first time that people have tried.

“Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at work to this very day, and I, too am working.’ For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” John 5:17-18

“’We are not stoning you for any of these (his miracles), but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.’” John 10:33

Why are the church leaders not publicly rebuking those who have rejected the teaching of the Bible, the Word of God? When a Christian Church has lost the clarity of its message, is it any surprise that God allows it to collapse? ‘Analysis from the long running British Social Attitudes Survey indicates that the number of adults describing themselves as Church of England fell by 4.5 million between 2004 and 2014. Between 2012 and 2014 the Church lost around 1.7 million followers.’1

BVP

June 2015

1 The Daily Telegraph Monday, June 1, 2015 p.5