A Catholic priest has responded to criticisms from Christians who rebuked him for retweeting a post referring to God as “Her” and suggesting that using female imagery as a representation of God is “theologically correct.”
Fr. James Martin, who has developed a reputation as a progressive Catholic and serves as an editor at large for the Jesuit publication America magazine, wrote an article for International Women’s Day titled, “God is not a man (or a woman).”
Martin began the piece by noting that he inadvertently caused controversy after he shared a reflection from the director of a campus ministry at a Catholic high school in Cleveland, Ohio, on social media on Feb. 28. In the reflection, Vickey McBride referred to God as “Her.”
Following accusations of “heresy, apostasy, and blasphemy,” Martin said that he considered leaving a comment asserting that “I was simply reposting the summary from Catholic Women Preach.” He ultimately decided not to because “that would imply that I had a problem calling God ‘Her.’ And I don’t.”
Describing it as “just as theologically correct to use feminine imagery about God as it is to use masculine imagery,” Martin pushed back on the belief among most Christians that referring to God using female pronouns is “contrary to our faith.”
He claimed that it's “damaging” to “envision God as solely one gender” and argued that “in predominantly patriarchal cultures, Christians have been conditioned to think of God as not only male, but exclusively male.”
“This has wide-ranging consequences for our theology, the way that we worship in common, how we pray on our own and the manner in which we lead our lives as Christians. It also has profound consequences for how we see women. ‘If God is male,’ as the saying goes, ‘then the male is God.’”
SOURCE: CHRISTAIN POST
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