Within the scripture texts prescribed by the lectionary of late, as well among some of the song selections, there have been a considerable number of pronouns used to refer to God. For our readings, I have aimed to adjust those pronouns in accordance with our Community Baptist policy of more inclusive language and out of a recognition that God defies our gender categories. Because these adjustments have seemed more visible of late, I thought I’d take a moment and share a bit about all of this from a biblical/linguistic perspective.
No matter how we break it down, pronoun use is difficult when we speak of God. Some might often use “he” to refer to God, but it is a rare person who would do so to imply that God has male anatomy. Both pronoun and our imagined gendering is merely a symbol or metaphor to help us grasp God, who is ultimately beyond our complete comprehension. I tend to use “she” for the Spirit because that is, frankly, what the Bible does. The Hebrew word for “spirit” is of the female grammatical gender (requiring a “she” pronoun). The Greek word for “spirit” is of the neuter grammatical gender (requiring “it”), but given how we understand the Holy Spirit to be a “person” and the limitations of the English language, I simply cannot call the Spirit an “it.” And so I go with the Hebrew version. Historically, the early Church tended to follow this convention of imagining the Spirit in feminine terms, and it isn’t really until a lot of theology and bible work is done in Latin that there is a shift toward the Spirit being a “he” (as the word “spirit” in Latin is of the masculine gender).
Personally, I have come to consider God’s pronouns to be they/them, as this simply makes the most sense biblically and theologically. As with my identification of the Spirit, this is not a political (or as you might say a “progressive”) accommodation, but rather it is representative of what the scriptures tell us of God and my attempt to fit that into the English language. God is Trinity, and many places in scripture God refers to Godself in the first person plural (“we/us”). In English, the only way we have to refer to a plural entity is “they.” So when I say “They” for God, I am usually intending the fully Godhead/Trinity. This includes the Hebrew Bible’s use of the divine name Yahweh, which I do not understand to correlate to “God the Parent” but rather the Godhead as a whole.
As the English language stretches and changes, it is interesting to me the ways it moves both forwards and backwards at the same time. The use of “they” as a singular pronoun has always been present, though its usage is experiencing a resurgence of late. How curious and appropriate, then, for our three-in-one God to be referred to by a pronoun that is itself both singular and plural? Or so it seems to me.
As with all things, I am eager to have further conversation if anyone wants to delve into this a bit further.
Pastor Michael