Why Our Father, not Our Mother, in Heaven?
Summary of “God’s Attributes,” a Sermon by David Pao
In the Bible, God is referred to as father more than 400 times. The term refers to the head of a family, who provides livelihood, protection, stability, legal rights and inheritance, particularly in those days. The term implies relationship between two parties, one who receives respect and honor from the other (Psalm 89:26, John 15:10).
During the time of the New Testament, Roman emperors called themselves the “father” of the land. Referring to God as father precluded Christians from associating the Roman emperors as one (Ephesians 3:14-15).
Note that the Bible also depicts our God with more motherly attributes, such as having compassion for her child and not forgetting the baby at her breast (Isaiah 66:13, 49:15; Deuteronomy 32:18).
One reason is that certain attributes are not typically considered masculine, such as nurturing, caring, and gentleness. Hence, it’s not surprising that humans have searched for a female deity. The most obvious subject in Christianity is Christ’s mother, Mary, a character with attributes not found in a fatherly figure.
But both fatherly and motherly characteristics can’t fully describe our God’s attributes. Limiting God to a certain sex can lead to discrimination because it implies that a certain sex is more like God and therefore inherently superior. Such limitations can lead to sexism.
Both male and female are made in God’s image. Each may have different attributes, but both are equally adopted as God’s children. Because of this, spreading the gospel leads to more equality of the sexes and raises women’s position in the society (Romans 8:15).
We try to understand God by giving Him human labels, but we can never fully quantify God despite an abundance of monikers, such as father, lion of Judah, lamb, king, prophet, and priest. Each metaphor or title can only illustrate certain attributes of God.
That may be the reason why believers in the New Testament didn’t address God as father in their prayers. Instead, they used terms such as Lord Almighty, Lord God, Holy Almighty, and Holy One (Acts 1, 4, 7).
In any case, addressing God as father doesn’t imply that God is male. It’s just a metaphor to highlight certain attributes of God so we may better understand him. No human metaphor or allegory can wholly represent God. From eternity to eternity, God is beyond what we can imagine.
Summary of “God’s Attributes,” a sermon by David Pao:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgjvKK6Sly0
During the time of the New Testament, Roman emperors called themselves the “father” of the land. Referring to God as father precluded Christians from associating the Roman emperors as one (Ephesians 3:14-15).
Note that the Bible also depicts our God with more motherly attributes, such as having compassion for her child and not forgetting the baby at her breast (Isaiah 66:13, 49:15; Deuteronomy 32:18).
One reason is that certain attributes are not typically considered masculine, such as nurturing, caring, and gentleness. Hence, it’s not surprising that humans have searched for a female deity. The most obvious subject in Christianity is Christ’s mother, Mary, a character with attributes not found in a fatherly figure.
But both fatherly and motherly characteristics can’t fully describe our God’s attributes. Limiting God to a certain sex can lead to discrimination because it implies that a certain sex is more like God and therefore inherently superior. Such limitations can lead to sexism.
Both male and female are made in God’s image. Each may have different attributes, but both are equally adopted as God’s children. Because of this, spreading the gospel leads to more equality of the sexes and raises women’s position in the society (Romans 8:15).
We try to understand God by giving Him human labels, but we can never fully quantify God despite an abundance of monikers, such as father, lion of Judah, lamb, king, prophet, and priest. Each metaphor or title can only illustrate certain attributes of God.
That may be the reason why believers in the New Testament didn’t address God as father in their prayers. Instead, they used terms such as Lord Almighty, Lord God, Holy Almighty, and Holy One (Acts 1, 4, 7).
In any case, addressing God as father doesn’t imply that God is male. It’s just a metaphor to highlight certain attributes of God so we may better understand him. No human metaphor or allegory can wholly represent God. From eternity to eternity, God is beyond what we can imagine.
Summary of “God’s Attributes,” a sermon by David Pao:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgjvKK6Sly0