Women and the gender of God
Description
A robust theological argument against the assumption that God is male.
God values women.
While many Christians would readily affirm this truth, the widely held assumption that the Bible depicts a male God persists—as it has for centuries. This misperception of Christianity not only perniciously implies that men deserve an elevated place over women but also compromises the glory of God by making God appear to be part of creation, subject to it and its categories, rather than in transcendence of it.
Through a deep reading of the incarnation narratives of the New Testament and other relevant scriptural texts, Amy Peeler shows how the Bible depicts a God beyond gender and a savior who, while embodied as a man, is the unification in one person of the image of God that resides in both male and female. Peeler begins with a study of Mary and her response to the annunciation, through which it becomes clear that God empowers women and honors their agency. Then Peeler describes from a theological standpoint how the virgin birth of Jesus—the second Adam—reverses the gendered division enacted in the garden of Eden.
While acknowledging the significance of the Bible’s frequent use of “Father” language to represent God as a caring parent, Peeler goes beneath the surface of this metaphor to show how God is never sexualized by biblical writers or described as being physically involved in procreation—making the concept of a masculine God dubious, at best. From these doctrinal centers of Christianity, Peeler leads the way in reasserting the value of women in the church and prophetically speaking out against the destructive idolatry of masculinity.The Michael Ramsey Prize Longlist (2023)
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Publisher's Weekly Review
Peeler (You Are My Son), professor of New Testament theology at Wheaton College, delivers a thoughtful exploration of the complex ways Christian scripture genders God. Peeler argues that a close reading of the Bible emphasizing the relationships between God, Mary, and Jesus "resist any portrayal of a sexualized male deity." The author contends that God is not exclusively masculine, noting that the Holy Spirit's "linguistic representation is feminine in Hebrew" and that God causes Mary's pregnancy without intercourse. God values the feminine, Peeler suggests, as demonstrated by God entrusting Mary to tell God's story in her ministry and by the incarnation's "radical affirmation concerning the female body's proximity to holiness." The author points out the complex gender dynamics of the gospels' depiction of Jesus and calls Jesus "unlike any other naturally conceived male" because Jesus was birthed from a woman without contribution from a man. Peeler's close reading of the New Testament and finely tuned theological arguments are excitingly unconventional. Additionally, the author's assertion of what could be understood as the gender fluidity of God and Jesus will stimulate scholars at the intersection of Christian theology and queer theory. This deeply nuanced study finds fresh meaning in the incarnation. (Oct.)
Publishers Weekly Reviews
Peeler (You Are My Son), professor of New Testament theology at Wheaton College, delivers a thoughtful exploration of the complex ways Christian scripture genders God. Peeler argues that a close reading of the Bible emphasizing the relationships between God, Mary, and Jesus "resist any portrayal of a sexualized male deity." The author contends that God is not exclusively masculine, noting that the Holy Spirit's "linguistic representation is feminine in Hebrew" and that God causes Mary's pregnancy without intercourse. God values the feminine, Peeler suggests, as demonstrated by God entrusting Mary to tell God's story in her ministry and by the incarnation's "radical affirmation concerning the female body's proximity to holiness." The author points out the complex gender dynamics of the gospels' depiction of Jesus and calls Jesus "unlike any other naturally conceived male" because Jesus was birthed from a woman without contribution from a man. Peeler's close reading of the New Testament and finely tuned theological arguments are excitingly unconventional. Additionally, the author's assertion of what could be understood as the gender fluidity of God and Jesus will stimulate scholars at the intersection of Christian theology and queer theory. This deeply nuanced study finds fresh meaning in the incarnation. (Oct.)
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