For too long the highly Eco minded people (generally women) have let Ego rich people (generally men) take the lead because they do so more naturally. This means it has been typically men that have controlled government, business, households and even religious institutions. Through the dedicated, hard work of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Stanton and others, all women have gained the right to vote and are granted full equality under the law. Since then woman have made inroads into business and government. It is time now that women also gain full access to God. Men have defined God as our Father, King, and Lord Almighty. They have, of course, been correct God is all of those things. God is, though, in addition to being a Father, also a Mother, in addition to being a King, also a Queen, in addition to being the Almighty she is also the All--Compassionate. Some of these images appear in the bible, but they have been scribed onto God the Father. The terminology used by Christians to describe God has always been the male pronoun. It is time now for Eco to take its rightful spot next to Ego and so we must begin to use the feminine pronoun to describe God. If this does not happen, then women, and there community values, will continue to be devalued. For what is not in the image of God, is not important and valued by society. Yet, we clearly see at the very beginnings of the bible that, “God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Gen 1:27 NLT) Both men and women portray the reality of God. Which in turn, means that we can use both the female and the male pronoun to describe God. The typical phrase today is that “God is beyond gender.” This statement was designed to maintain the status quo of using the male pronoun for God. The thought is that since God is somehow above gender, then it really doesn’t matter what pronoun we use, so we may as well continue using the male pronoun, since everyone is comfortable with it. I claim, that it does matter, because in only using the male pronoun to describe God this only images the divine as a male. This does not allow women to clearly see themselves in the image of God. It is past time for the kingdom of God to appear on earth, and the beginnings will start with the understanding that we can call God by both male and female pronouns. This will raise women up to true spiritual equality with men, and so both men and woman can go out armed with both Ego and Eco and really make a difference in society. Without Ego and Eco within an individual working together, no progress can be made. This means we must use our Egos in such a way that we never lose sight of Eco. In other words this is the union of Ego and Eco within a person.
This idea of a female part of the divine may sound strange, but it is actually goes back to the earliest Christian church. The Gospel of the Hebrews contains a passage that connects the Holy Spirit to our heavenly Mother. This gospel is obviously not contained in the bible, but should not be immediately dismissed as heretical just because it is not canonical. It is not like the so many other extracanical gospels that have Gnostic tendencies and later documentation dates. This gospel is quoted by Origen and frequently by Jerome, two early church fathers. Jerome makes the claim that the gospel was used by the Christian sect the Nazarenes. This sect is one of the earliest Christian sects that originated from the direct descendants of the first Jewish believers in Jesus.1 The important passage from this gospel for this discussion is quoted by Jerome from his Commentary on Isa 40:9
In the Gospel of the Hebrews that the Nazarenes read it says,
“Just now my mother, the Holy Spirit, took me.”
Now no one should be offended by this, because “spirit” in Hebrew is feminine, while in our language (Latin) it is masculine and in Greek it is neuter. In divinity, however, there is no gender.2
The Holy Spirit as our eternal mother is not just found in sources outside of the cannon, but traces of her are also found within the bible. It is not evident at first, until one starts to dig a little they might miss it completely. Once you see it, though, it is clear that there is a feminine face to God in the bible. This is especially true for Catholics, for they have extra books in their bible that the Protestants removed. In the Catholic bible one can find the book of Wisdom, which is the one that has the most references to Wisdom, or otherwise known by Christians as the Holy Spirit. The book of Wisdom has a treasure of information about her. The author’s main purpose was to give us a resource to uncover the secrets of the Holy Spirit. He tells us his goal in very clear words.
Now what Wisdom is, and how she came to be, I will relate; and I shall hide no secrets from you, but from the beginning I shall search out and bring to light knowledge of her, nor shall I diverge from the truth. … So take instruction from my words, to your profit.(Wisdom 6:22-25; Catholic Bible)
Some have said that wisdom here is a personification of knowledge about God. From the beginning and throughout this book, however, the author makes it clear that he is not just talking about knowledge, when he uses the term wisdom, but it is clearly another name for the Holy Spirit.
Because into the soul that plots evil wisdom enters not, nor dwells she in a body under debt of sin. For the holy spirit of discipline flees deceit and withdraws from senseless counsels; and when injustice occurs it is rebuked. For wisdom is a kindly spirit. (Wisdom: 1:4-6; Catholic Bible)
Wisdom is a kindly spirit who dwells in the souls of humans. How much more clearer can this text be. Wisdom is another name for Holy Spirit, this probably came about because wisdom is the most important gift that the spirit offers people. This author has plenty more to say about the Holy Spirit. It is impossible to explore everything here, but the basics are laid out in the beginnings of the text.
For wisdom is mobile beyond all motion, and she penetrates and pervades all things by reason of her purity. For she is an aura of the might of God and a pure effusion of the glory of the Almighty; therefore nought that is sullied enters into her. For she is the refulgence of eternal light, the spotless mirror of the power of God, and image of his goodness. And she, who is one, can do all things, and renews everyone while herself perduring. And passing into holy souls from age to age, she produces friends of God and prophets. For there is nought God loves, be it not one who dwells with Wisdom. For she is fairer than the sun and surpasses every constellation of the stars. Compared to light she takes precedence; for that, indeed, nigh supplants, but wickedness prevails not over Wisdom.(Wisdom 7:24-30; Catholic Bible)
Here Wisdom is the one whose words are spoken through the prophets, and she is the glory and power of God. This coincides with how Catholics understand the Holy Spirit, in the Apostles Creed they declare that the Holy Spirit has spoken through the prophets. Another book, found only in the Catholic Bible, that also makes reference to Wisdom, is Sirach. In this book we find a few passages that describe her as motherly.
Motherlike she will meet him, like a young bride she will embrace him, nourish him with the bread of understanding, and give him the water of learning to drink.
(Sirach 15:2-3; Catholic Bible)
And again in another part of this same book we can read.
From the day one leaves his mother’s womb to the day he returns to the mother of all living, ..(Sirach 40; Catholic Bible)
There are a whole collection of books that are called the Wisdom Literature, in them wisdom’s nature is revealed. In most Christian bibles, however, these books have been deleted. There is, however, a trace of her remnants left in the protestant bible. She can be found in proverbs. There, she appears mother like as well, speaking to humanity as her children.
And so my children, listen to me, for all who follow my ways are joyful. Listen to my instruction and be wise. (Prov. 8:32 NLT)
In this book, as in the story of Adam and Eve, the Holy Spirit is connected to the Tree of Life, that is immortality.
Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her, happy are those who hold tightly.(Prov. 3:18 NLT)
The Holy Spirit purposely remains hidden, she wants us to seek her out and find her.
I love all who love me. Those who search will surely find me. (Prov. 8:17NLT)
Jesus tells us the same thing about her, “Seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened.” In this passage he was certainly referring to the Holy Spirit. The gospel of Luke makes this clear, as he ends this statement with “How much more will the heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”
Jesus is closely linked with the Holy Spirit, and many of his teachings come from the Wisdom Literature. Wisdom compares herself to bread and wine (Prov. 9:5 KJV), and Jesus is symbolically bread and wine, body and blood. Wisdom spreads a great banquet and invites everyone (Prov. 9:2 NLT), and in the gospels Jesus uses a parable about a great feast (Matt 22:3NLT) At one point in the gospel of Luke, Jesus even refers to himself and John as children of Wisdom.
For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and ye say, He that a devil. The son of man is come eating and drink; and ye say Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinner! But wisdom is justified of all her children.(Luke 7:33-35 KJV)
Jesus knew both his eternal Mother and Father, and within Jesus we see a perfect combination of Eco and Ego. First, the bible tells us that people thought Jesus taught with authority. Meaning he had self-confidence. He knew his mission, and was very assertive about his message. People where drawn to Jesus by his charismatic style. He stood up against the cultural biases of the time, for example he ate with sinners, he touched an unclean woman, and he spoke of Samaritans as understanding God better than the Jews. He certainly had his own agenda and did not just go with the flow. Most all prophets have been men, because it takes a strong ego to stand up and proclaim the truth to a society that will probably disagree with you. At the same time, though, Jesus showed compassion to the people he healed and fed. He was extremely humble, asking “why do you call me good …only God is truly good.” He seemed to have a motherly compassion for the people of Israel proclaiming “How often have I wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chick beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.”(Luke 13:34 NLT) Jesus is the perfect example of how Ego and Eco combine in a person to produce someone who is both compassionate and capable.
The philosophy of the trinity links all different Christians together under one banner. Traditionally the trinity has been considered to be three persons of God in one. The three include the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father, of course, is God the Father in heaven that Jesus taught about in the gospels. The Holy Spirit as we have just seen is humanity’s eternal Mother. The third part of trinity is Jesus. Since Jesus’ main message was the kingdom, and everything he said and did was done to point to the kingdom, then it seems only reasonable that the trinity, as a central doctrine of Christianity, must also point to the kingdom. I believe it is actually the foundation of the kingdom of God, except the typical definition is too limiting. Only if we widen the definition of the trinity to include all of humanity can it then be used to describe the kingdom of God, for as Jesus said “The Kingdom of God is already among you,”(Luke 17:21 NLT) meaning the people he was talking too. I assert that the trinity does include humanity. Jesus’ spot in the trinity represents the potential that all people posses, that is to live in complete connection with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is called the Son of God, yet all Christians when baptized are called children of God. We are also included with Jesus as third part of the trinity. This inclusion, though, is not automatic, it is something that must be discovered. In Christian terms it is dying to the old self and being re-born in the kingdom of God. That is becoming part of the trinity, because it is at this point that we realize that there is no separation between us and God. The trinity is the symbolic union of Eco and Ego (Father and Mother) in a person’s soul. Then that person has become a child of the God/Goddess.
Bibliography
1.Prizt, Ray A. Nazarene Jewish Christianity. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, the Hebrew University, 1992. p. 108
2.Robert J. Miller, ed. The Complete Gospels. Santa Rosa, CA: Polebridge Press, 1994. p. 432
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