posted by John Borst

If you are a religious education teacher today something tells me traditional concepts of God as male do not sit very well in the classrooms of Catholic schools in the 21st C.

Among Christians of many faiths, it is generally accepted that the person doing the very best bible work on images of God and gender theology is Elizabeth Johnson.

Johnson, a Roman Catholic sister in the Congregation of St. Joseph, is interviewed about images of God in the January U.S. Catholic (Honor your Father and Mother). This is the theme she also takes up in her new book Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God (Continuum, 2007).

Stale images of God aren’t working for today’s seekers, says Johnson. New ones are emerging from the experiences of all God’s people – male and female. In the excerpt below, she reflects on God-language and invitational language in worship. But read the whole interview. It’s excellent.

What does it mean that we call God by male terms?

I have this sentence that I quote over and over again: The symbol of God functions. The male symbol of God functions to privilege a certain way of male rule in the world and to undercut women’s spiritual power, women’s own sense of themselves as made in the image of God.

We women have to abstract ourselves from our bodies to see ourselves in the image of God if God is always depicted as male. It has serious ramifications for spirituality and for the identity of believers and for the community.

Why is there so much resistance to using feminine images of God?

I think the rejection of the inclusive language lectionary, which the U.S. bishops applied for in 1992 and which was rejected by the Vatican, was a clear recognition that once you start making room for even nonsexist language about humanity, let alone feminine images of God, there’s a fear that women will want to move in socially and politically, and then you’ve got a challenge to church structure as we know it. I think there’s a great deal of fear of women’s power.

Can you imagine a church that took female images of God to heart?

Let me say, I think women and men are equal in sin and grace. I don’t think women are going to be the salvation of the church or of this country. I think we can all get on power trips. I’m convinced of it, maybe because I’ve been in a women’s religious community, and I have six sisters. I am disabused of this romantic notion of women’s greatness as compared to men.

At this moment in history, women have figured out what’s wrong with the current pattern and how their experiences have led to different ways of relating, organizing, and running things. Given the chance, they would bring that pattern into the church and let it play off and see what develops.

Some other questions from the interview are:

• We’re hearing a lot from atheists today who want to persuade us that God doesn’t exist. What do you as a theologian think about that?
• You’ve said that Christians today have many “stale, worn-out images of God that no longer satisfy.” What are they?
• Where did this image come from?
• Before the Enlightenment, were biblical images more alive in the church?
• What is attractive about this idea of God?
• How does one’s theology of God affect one’s everyday life and faith?
• What are some of the theologies of God that you’ve been investigating?
• You frequently use the term “the living God.” What does that mean?
• These new theologies of God start with human experience. What’s the significance of that?
• What is revelation then?
• How can different images of God all work together and still be Catholic?
• Isn’t there the potential for so many different theologies to get out of control?
• Let’s talk about “God acting womanish,” as you call it. Where does this theology stand today?
• How do you imagine God when you pray?
• You don’t revert back?

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