Feminine God…

In our previous post, containing a fragment of Archbishop Kallistos’ (Ware) book The Orthodox Way , we expressed our disagreement with the author’s conclusion that

If, for example, we were to start saying “Our Mother who art in heaven”, instead of “Our Father”, we should not merely be ad­justing an incidental piece of imagery, but replacing Christianity with a new kind of religion. A Mother Goddess is not the Lord of the Christian Church.
Source: Ware K., The Orthodox Way , New York 1995, p 34.

It seems intriguing that Archbishop Kallistos himself acknowledges that the tradition speaks of God as of a Mother, that feminine terms are used to describe him as well and still insists on petrificating the “masculine” symbols. What is more, he goes as far as to claim that God has set his seal upon certain symbols and not upon others . Doesn’t this approach create a danger of almost deifying a part of the tradition? In our mission statement opening this blog we wrote that (…) we do understand the care for tradition – the Church isn’t a museum, though – that is why we support such an approach to tradition that includes both preserving what is precious and creativity – a fruitful dialog with what was happening and with what happens now, in social life, culture, philosophy, science, art. We demonstrate our faithfulness to the Church Fathers (and Mothers) not only by cultivating their memory and reflecting on their words, but most importantly by taking up dialog with the world around us as they did and using its heritage to express what is important for us.

We consider a fragment of Presiding Bishop’s Katharine Jeffers Schori sermon an example of such an attitude. At the 2006 General Convention the recently elected Primate Bishop Katharine said:

That bloody cross brings new life into this world. Colossians calls Jesus the firstborn of all creation, the firstborn from the dead. That sweaty, bloody, tear-stained labor of the cross bears new life. Our mother Jesus gives birth to a new creation — and you and I are His children.
Source: www.episcopalchurch.org

By calling Jesus a Mother and referring to him by a masculine personal pronoun, Primate Bishop expressed what appeared as a more developed idea in the description of Br Robert Lentz’s icon we placed above:

Various names are used for God in the Jewish Scriptures. “Wisdom” is among the names used most frequently, and God is always feminine when she is called Wisdom. “She is a reflection of the eternal light, untarnished mirror of God’s active power, image of his goodness” (Wisdom 7:26). It is Wisdom who creates and orders the world, making manifest the divine will. And it is Wisdom who delights to be among the human race, teaching us her ways.

In the Byzantine Church, these references to Wisdom are considered references to Christ. Churches like Hagia Sophia in Istanbul are dedicated to Christ. From the Middle Ages on, icons depicting Christ as an androgynous figure, flanked by Mary and John the Baptist, have been painted in Russia and elsewhere. It is important now to take the next step and depict Wisdom — Sophia — as the woman Sacred Scriptures describe.

Looking honestly at our ancient tradition, it is clear that the mystery of Christ cannot be described in masculine terms alone. Because of historical and cultural circumstances, the Second Person of the Trinity became a male human being. Before the Incarnation, however, that person was described as “she.” As the Incarnation continues to unfold after Christ’s resurrection and ascension, it is again the feminine Sophia who expresses the mystery — as pointed out by the Russian theologian Soloviev.

Christ Sophia is depicted in this icon in an egg-shaped mandala. The inscription in her halo is Greek for ” I am who am,” The divine name given Moses at the burning bush on Sinai. The Greek inscriptions in the upper corners are abbreviations for “Jesus Christ,” her historical manifestation. She holds the ancient statue called “Venus of Willendorf,” and points to herself as if to say, ” I am she. Know me more fully.”
Source: www.trinitystores.com

You can find more interesting material on this issue here and here . And we would like especially to recommend you a text about the motherhood of God in the writings of St Julian of Norwich at Joe Rawls’ blog, thebyzantineanglocatholic.blogspot.com .