Summary of Women and the Gender of God

Top Takeaways from Women and the Gender of God

There are many thought-provoking ideas in this book. The top ones we are looking at today are the supposed masculine attributes of God the Father, the role of Mary, and the impact of the language we use to talk about God.

God the Father is Not Masculine

It may be obvious that God the Father is not male, but it is worth stating explicitly. God is a spiritual being. He has no body and therefore he has no sex. God created male and female when he created humans with physical bodies.

Peeler makes the additional claim that God the Father is not masculine. Some Christians make the argument that attributes of God, like his sovereignty and being the one who takes initiative, are inherently masculine. Men image these attributes of God in a way that women can’t. This creates an implied superiority between men and women based on the difference between God and humans.

Peeler claims that God is not masculine. Problems arise when we take male attributes from a patriarchal culture and project them back onto God. This gives divine endorsement to the patriarchal structures that come from culture and not the Bible. One of the most interesting examples of this is the idea that men are like God because men are the ones who initiate. Taken to the extreme, you get books like Joshua Butler’s Beautiful Union where he spiritualizes graphic sexual language focused on male pleasure. An article from The Gospel Coalition endorsing the book was later removed with an apology and Joshua Butler resigned from his church (Read More at Christianity Today). This is one example coming from the bad theology of viewing God as masculine.

Mary and the Incarnation

The next takeaway is the role of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the role of the virgin birth in shaping our view of sex and gender in the Bible. The basic Christian claim that Jesus is Lord is not possible without assuming Mary. Without birth through a woman, Jesus did not live. While God the father is not male, Jesus is male. When thinking critically about gender, we need to understand what it means for us that Jesus was a man and not a woman. Peeler claims that the answer comes from properly understanding Mary.

Jesus obviously represents men since he was a man. How can Jesus also equally fully represent women? Peeler shows how Jesus was a man unlike any other because he was born of a virgin. The body of Jesus was made up entirely from the body of a woman. This profound fact is the mechanism that allows Jesus to fully represent woman and it also demonstrates the honor and value of all women.

How We Talk About God

The language we use to talk about God is analogical (meaning it is made up of analogies or comparisons.) God is wholly other from us, so all we can do is make comparisons between God and things that are knowable to us. Using analogical language about God that is limited to males alone leads to problems.

The number one analogy for God is Father, which is a masculine analogy. How can we retain this traditional language without succumbing to the heresy that God is masculine? Once again, Mary is the answer. God sent his son, and he did it through a woman.

Christians can and should address God, the first person, as Father not because God is male and not because God is more masculine than feminine but because God the Father, as an expression of the triune will, sent forth his Son born of a woman.

Woman and Gender of God – page 115

We call God Father because Jesus called God Father. Jesus didn’t call God Father because God was male or masculine. Jesus calls God Father because he already had a mother.

Evaluation of Women and the Gender of God

Sex and gender roles have been a popular topic within Christianity. Women and the Gender of God brings a welcomed perspective to the conversation. This is primarily a theological book. What the Bible says about gender is the focus. It is more factual, academic, and balanced than The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr (https://amzn.to/41YGU1V), and also doesn’t have the same anecdotal and personal underlying story. There are many extended footnotes and a lengthy bibliography to help readers dig deeper. The more academic approach may make it less accessible for some, but it also makes it more compelling.

Peeler avoids the common criticism from many evangelicals that promoting egalitarian gender roles within the church is coming from secular pressures, feminism, or cultural compromise. A proper corrective to the historical injustices regarding gender and gender roles must start from the Bible. Amy Peeler provides a great contribution in that direction. Mary provides a strong example for women in ministry. How can we apply this theology in our own communities and churches?