God as Mother: Thinking with the Bible and the Church 

There’s no question: The images the Bible uses for God are overwhelmingly male. God is judge, shepherd, warrior—all male roles in Biblical times, though not necessarily so today. Mostly God is king in the Hebrew Bible and Father in Christian scriptures. Is God ever Mother?

This is the fifth in a series on the Creed of Christians. An introduction consists of my retelling of the Creed’s story. That and links to other posts in the series are here.

God as mother in the Bible 

Female imagery for God is not entirely lacking. Here’s a list of Bible verses that describe God as a mother: 

• Hosea 11:3-4, God described as a mother. “Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I who took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them.”         
• Hosea 13:8, God described as a mother bear. ”Like a bear robbed of her cubs, I will attack them and tear them asunder…”       

• Deuteronomy 32:18, God who gives birth. “You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you; you forgot the God who gave you birth. 
• Isaiah 66:13, God as a comforting mother. “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”  
• Isaiah 49:15, God compared to a nursing mother. “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.” 
• Matthew 23:37, Jesus shows his feminine side. ”Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but you were unwilling!” 

Popes refer to God as Mother.

It’s only a few passages, but it shows that imagining God as mother is at least possible in biblical religion. Pope John Paul I affirmed this possibility strongly:  

God is Father, and even more, He is Mother.  

John Paul II, also spoke of the maternal in God:  

Although rare, the Old Testament images in which God is compared to a mother are extremely significant.

And

The father who embraces his lost son is the definitive icon of God…. The merciful father of the parable has in himself, while transcending them, all of the characteristics of fatherhood and motherhood. In embracing the son he shows the profile of a mother.” When he throws his arms around his son’s neck, he resembles a mother who caresses her child and surrounds him with her warmth. (Quotes of these two popes are from Lori Pieper, OFS, in her blog “On Pilgrimage.)

Is God ever “she”? 

If we recognize that an image is just an image, then I’m sure the more images that we have for God the better. I would like to see the Church find plentiful use for female images. When speaking of God as mother, though, both popes referred to God as “he.” Logically you would expect a “she” there. This is something that the Bible never does, even when it uses feminine imagery for God. 

The Bible also refuses to acknowledge a female god alongside Yahweh. You do find God’s wisdom referred to as “she,” and some people claim this is Yahweh’s consort. But the Bible is very clear. Even though it was a long time before the Jews decided that there simply were no other gods besides Yahweh, and even though ordinary Jews did worship other gods, the Bible as we have it claims only Yahweh as Israel’s God. 

What is going on with the female imagery?

If there’s such a thing as a range between literal and non-literal, then the male imagery for God seems to be more literal and the female imagery more figurative. The Bible can use the masculine pronoun for God and address God directly as father. For example: “Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” The Bible doesn’t do that with “mother.” 

Jesus’ Father has “all of the characteristics of fatherhood and motherhood.” Still, when Jesus addressed God, he said “Father,” never “Mother.” The Church follows that example. At least in public prayer, we don’t say of God “Oh, Mother” as we might “Oh, Father.” All of the references in the Bible to God as mother are comparisons only. It never sounds real. In the Bible God is never “she.”  

The Bible and the Church imagine God habitually and nearly exclusively as male. And always God is “he” even if, to requote John Paul I, “he is mother.” Is that the way it should be?   

Next post will look for an answer. It will consider the difficult question of inclusive language. 

A prayer to conclude 

I would like to conclude this post with a prayer to God as mother. Such a prayer, perhaps written by a pope, would be a blessing to the Church. I’ve tried to imagine this papal prayer. I assume that a pope could do better, but maybe the prayer would go something like this: 

 To Our Mothering God 

Most compassionate God, you brought forth a universe of galaxies and stars and planets with creatures that live and love, like you. You send your children all unprepared on paths untrod, as all mothers do. Our earthly mothers remember the care they have for their children, from the womb and ever on, even when it causes them sorrow. So surround us always with the womb* of your compassion that we never even think of straying or, if straying, never fear to return. Remember your First Born, Jesus. Please do this for us, Jesus’ sisters and brothers. Amen. 

 * An interesting fact: The Hebrew word for compassion is the plural of “womb.”

Image credit: The Junia Project via Google images