God the Mother?

[Cristiano]

How can a “He” be a mother?

You should read the Angelus that John Paul I gave thirty years ago. I have internet problems accessing the Vatican web site right now and so I have to give you a different link that has the transcript. The text seems correct but I cannot tell you that it is exactly the same of the one on the Vatican web site. The link is the following:

Angelus - Sunday, September 10th, 1978

There is an interesting internet article (two parts) in reference to this specific Angelus and the “God the Mother” topic.

God as Father and Mother - Part I
God Father and Mother - Part II

We have to understand that one simple sentence can represent bad theology or good theology. We must be careful to read things in the proper context. I am not saying that red flags should not go up when we hear unusual statements but, as the OP did, we should ask for more information and dig deeper. John Paul I was citing the prophet Isaiah and he was not supporting any form of new age feminist theology. He was way too knowledgeable to fall for that garbage.

BTW I honestly think that the expression “God the Mother” should not be used in the manner described in the first post. A prayer like that, without any proper explanation is creating more confusion than education and so a prudent person, especially one that is supposed to be an educator, should avoid it.

 

[sedonaman]

You should read the Angelus that John Paul I gave thirty years ago. I have internet problems accessing the Vatican web site right now and so I have to give you a different link that has the transcript. The text seems correct but I cannot tell you that it is exactly the same of the one on the Vatican web site. The link is the following:

Angelus - Sunday, September 10th, 1978

There is an interesting internet article (two parts) in reference to this specific Angelus and the “God the Mother” topic.

God as Father and Mother - Part I
God Father and Mother - Part II

We have to understand that one simple sentence can represent bad theology or good theology. We must be careful to read things in the proper context. I am not saying that red flags should not go up when we hear unusual statements but, as the OP did, we should ask for more information and dig deeper. John Paul I was citing the prophet Isaiah and he was not supporting any form of new age feminist theology. He was way too knowledgeable to fall for that garbage.

BTW I honestly think that the expression “God the Mother” should not be used in the manner described in the first post. A prayer like that, without any proper explanation is creating more confusion than education and so a prudent person, especially one that is supposed to be an educator, should avoid it.

And the only purpose it serves today is to feed that new age feminist theology.

 

[Cristiano]

And the only purpose it serves today is to feed that new age feminist theology.

I completely disagree with you on this. We should not choose to be naive or ignorant and avoid some theological abstracts because they could be manipulated by heretics. We must inform ourselves even more and stick to proper apologetics and exegesis. We are not to avoid a battle we are go into it armed with knowledge of the truth and love.

 

[LPS]

I was at a retreat about 10 years ago in Raleigh NC and a nun said something about God and how we worship “him … or her.”

I was stunned. I quit listening at that point and left very disappointed.

I appreciate that Wisdom is referred to as feminine.

 

[PrayForMeStJude]

Actually it’s a class sponsored by the diocese for lay ministry. I’m not in the program but auditing the class bc I thought it would be good to take. The instructor is very good and I see him try to steer the conversation back on track but some people just believe what they do and nothing one can say will change it. There is another in the class who talks about how her church is not dependent on a priest at all. I guess I will just have to take the good with the bad but I’m super sensitive at the moment so sometimes it’s hard.

Which diocese?

How can there be any feminine qualities in creation unless the feminine exists in God?

I think this question only makes sense if one looks backwards at God through Man, rather that looking at Man as the image of God. The bodies and souls of men and women reflect different aspects of God, though both are fully made in God’s image. We only get caught up in this feminine vs masculine thing when we try to go backwards and make God fit into our modern socio-political concepts.

 

[vsedriver]

Hello all,

I’m currently auditing a class on Church history and some regulars in the program were asked to have opening prayer each week. Last week the woman doing the prayer which was quite elaborate said some things at the end like, “god the father, god the defender, god the potter, god the mother?”. What’s up with the mother part? It just sounded really strange to me???

as an auditor are you allowed to ask questions? I’m all for asking questions. I would have asked the woman what she meant by referring to God as ‘mother’. She may have meant something completely innocent, she could have read something that was written in one of the Church writings. Or she could have an agenda. By determining the actual meaning you can learn what level of credibility she has.

It has been my experience that people are too afraid to ask questions thinking it will lead to a confrontation. Ask politely as if you are completely ignorant and let the other person enlighten you. If you don’t like the answer or you know the answer is wrong you can either say you have different information or let it go and just be aware that their information may not be orthodox.

 

[sedonaman]

… Or she could have an agenda. …

How many people have had an original thought? These ideas don’t just drop out of the blue.

 

[Cristiano]

How many people have had an original thought? These ideas don’t just drop out of the blue.

Well, we had a total of 16 posters until now and I think that approximately 16 people had the same reaction to that sentence in that context. Scary!