{"id":55800,"date":"2023-03-28T01:15:30","date_gmt":"2023-03-28T05:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=55800"},"modified":"2023-02-13T09:21:30","modified_gmt":"2023-02-13T14:21:30","slug":"women-and-the-gender-of-god-the-dialogue-part-seven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/28\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-the-dialogue-part-seven\/","title":{"rendered":"Women and the Gender of God&#8211; The Dialogue Part Eight"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2023\/02\/51mESmSAQeL.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-55734\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2023\/02\/51mESmSAQeL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"333\" height=\"500\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Q. It appears to me that historically speaking it is the ministry of Jesus (Lk. 8.1-3) which involved female disciples and the theology that arose out of Pentecost wherein calling and gifting, not gender was to determine roles in the Jesus movement, not the incarnation, and Mary\u2019s involvement in it, that led to women\u2019s various new roles in the Jesus movement. I say this especially in light of the Pauline literature. How would you differ at this point?<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>A. I think this can be a both\/and. Certainly Jesus\u2019 ministry and Pentecost are major reasons why the movement included the gifts of women, but I have a hunch that Paul is also working with Jesus\u2019 birth in some of his most challenging passages on gender roles. As you might have guessed by now, that will be in the next book! <\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Q. The fact that Jesus teaches his disciples to pray to God as Abba, as does Paul later does not suggest that Jesus\u2019 Abba language as an address to God merely has to do with his own unique begetting as the divine Son, though it surely is grounded in that. The fact that the intimate relationship with Abba can also be had by his disciples suggests that through Jesus the Son, we may become sons and daughters of God, and co-heirs even family with Jesus.\u00a0 Both Jesus and Paul encourage us to address God as Abba (which is not Aramaic slang for Daddy, but is rather a term of endearment\u2019\u2019 father dearest\u2019.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think we are encouraged in the Bible to name God or address God as Mother.\u00a0 I imagine you\u2019ll have reasons to think otherwise?<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>A. No. I totally agree with you. I would not prohibit anyone from doing so, but I agree that Scripture teaches us to address God as Father, and I aim to present an argument that in so doing, there is a radically affirmation of the role of Mary\/women in God\u2019s salvation.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Q. It appears to me that historically speaking it is the ministry of Jesus (Lk. 8.1-3) which involved female disciples and the theology that arose out of Pentecost wherein calling and gifting, not gender was to determine roles in the Jesus movement, not the incarnation, and Mary\u2019s involvement in it, that led to women\u2019s various [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[13305],"class_list":["post-55800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-mary-and-paul"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Women and the Gender of God-- The Dialogue Part Eight<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Q. It appears to me that historically speaking it is the ministry of Jesus (Lk. 8.1-3) which involved female disciples and the theology that arose out of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Women and the Gender of God-- The Dialogue Part Eight\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Q. It appears to me that historically speaking it is the ministry of Jesus (Lk. 8.1-3) which involved female disciples and the theology that arose out of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/28\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-the-dialogue-part-seven\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-28T05:15:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-13T14:21:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2023\/02\/51mESmSAQeL.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/28\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-the-dialogue-part-seven\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/28\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-the-dialogue-part-seven\/\",\"name\":\"Women and the Gender of God-- The Dialogue Part Eight\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-28T05:15:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-13T14:21:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b\"},\"description\":\"Q. It appears to me that historically speaking it is the ministry of Jesus (Lk. 8.1-3) which involved female disciples and the theology that arose out of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/28\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-the-dialogue-part-seven\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/28\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-the-dialogue-part-seven\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/28\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-the-dialogue-part-seven\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Women and the Gender of God&#8211; The Dialogue Part Eight\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/\",\"name\":\"The Bible and Culture\",\"description\":\"A One-Stop Shop for All Things Biblical and Christian\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b\",\"name\":\"Ben Witherington\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ben Witherington\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/author\/benw333\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Women and the Gender of God-- The Dialogue Part Eight","description":"Q. It appears to me that historically speaking it is the ministry of Jesus (Lk. 8.1-3) which involved female disciples and the theology that arose out of","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Women and the Gender of God-- The Dialogue Part Eight","og_description":"Q. It appears to me that historically speaking it is the ministry of Jesus (Lk. 8.1-3) which involved female disciples and the theology that arose out of","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/28\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-the-dialogue-part-seven\/","og_site_name":"The Bible and Culture","article_published_time":"2023-03-28T05:15:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-02-13T14:21:30+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2023\/02\/51mESmSAQeL.jpg"}],"author":"Ben Witherington","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ben Witherington","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/28\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-the-dialogue-part-seven\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/28\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-the-dialogue-part-seven\/","name":"Women and the Gender of God-- The Dialogue Part Eight","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-03-28T05:15:30+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-13T14:21:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b"},"description":"Q. It appears to me that historically speaking it is the ministry of Jesus (Lk. 8.1-3) which involved female disciples and the theology that arose out of","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/28\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-the-dialogue-part-seven\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/28\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-the-dialogue-part-seven\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/28\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-the-dialogue-part-seven\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Women and the Gender of God&#8211; The Dialogue Part Eight"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/","name":"The Bible and Culture","description":"A One-Stop Shop for All Things Biblical and Christian","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b","name":"Ben Witherington","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Ben Witherington"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/author\/benw333\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55800\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}