Holy Heretics: Losing Religion and Finding Jesus

Ep. 64: What Are God’s Pronouns? w/ Gary Alan Taylor


Listen Later

Episode Summary

In the second-part of our conversation about the Divine Feminine, we look at the ramifications of believing God is a guy. Institutional Christianity has given us God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, a triune male God with “He/Him” pronouns. And this male dominated theology has created a male dominator culture that manifests itself politically, socially, sexually, religiously, and economically in pragmatism, patriotism, persecution, capitalism, greed, aggression, egoism, hierarchy, oppression, exclusion, bigotry, ignorance, and emotionally stunted men. All of which has the planet on the brink of destruction. But what if we’re wrong? What if God isn’t a guy after all? And how would seeing God in female form change the way we understand ourselves and the world around us?

Rediscovering the Divine female attributes of God is one of the first steps toward our collective liberation from the dominant power structures that rule our lives. In this episode, we uncover all the ways God is referenced in female language throughout Scripture and church history. We also look at Jesus’ primordial identity as Holy Wisdom, or the Sophia of God, making the historical Jesus the personification of the Divine Feminine.

Quotables

“If God is male, the male is God.”

“Domination of women has provided a key link, both socially and symbolically, to the domination of earth.”

“The symbolic evidence of women’s invisibility in the human race is most clear perhaps in her suppression, her camouflage, her negation even in language. Women are subsumed, excised, erased by male pronouns, by male terminology, by male prayers, even by exclusively male images of God.”

“There has always been a vocal minority recognizing the many pronouns for God, including “He/Him,” “She/Her,” “They/Them.”

“All Language about God is metaphorical, but those metaphors matter.”

“One of the most ancient metaphorical understandings and expressions of Divinity is God as womb of the world.”

“How can women be made in the image of God if God cannot be imagined in female form?”

“What does God do all day long? God gives birth. From all eternity God lies on a maternity bed giving birth.”

“Sophia is the first of God’s works, God’s female companion in the creation of the cosmos.”

“Sophia became flesh and dwelt among us.”

“Just as God is our Father, so God is also our Mother.”

Please follow us on social media (use the buttons below) and help us get the word out! (Also, please don’t hesitate to use any of these channels or email to contact us with any questions, concerns, or feedback.)

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏

Show notes:

http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/what-are-gods-pronouns

Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyheretics

Advertising inquiries: [email protected]

Support our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes! https://www.patreon.com/holyheretics

This episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge (currently accepting new clients: [email protected]).

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Holy Heretics: Losing Religion and Finding JesusBy The Sophia Society

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

127 ratings


More shows like Holy Heretics: Losing Religion and Finding Jesus

View all
On Being with Krista Tippett by On Being Studios

On Being with Krista Tippett

10,416 Listeners

Homebrewed Christianity by Dr. Tripp Fuller

Homebrewed Christianity

568 Listeners

Nomad Podcast by Nomad

Nomad Podcast

424 Listeners

The Holy Post by Phil Vischer

The Holy Post

4,320 Listeners

The RobCast by Rob Bell

The RobCast

4,170 Listeners

The Bible For Normal People by Peter Enns and Jared Byas

The Bible For Normal People

3,268 Listeners

Everything Happens with Kate Bowler by Everything Happens Studios

Everything Happens with Kate Bowler

5,058 Listeners

Straight White American Jesus by Bradley Onishi + Daniel Miller

Straight White American Jesus

1,908 Listeners

You Have Permission by Dan Koch

You Have Permission

531 Listeners

Another Name For Every Thing with Richard Rohr by Center for Action and Contemplation

Another Name For Every Thing with Richard Rohr

3,217 Listeners

No Small Endeavor with Lee C. Camp by Tokens Media

No Small Endeavor with Lee C. Camp

507 Listeners

Learning How to See with Brian McLaren by Center for Action and Contemplation

Learning How to See with Brian McLaren

769 Listeners

The New Evangelicals Podcast by Hosted by Tim Whitaker

The New Evangelicals Podcast

1,012 Listeners

Everything Belongs: Living the Teachings of Richard Rohr Forward by Center for Action and Contemplation

Everything Belongs: Living the Teachings of Richard Rohr Forward

603 Listeners

All the Buried Women by Beth Allison Barr and Savannah Locke

All the Buried Women

532 Listeners