anthropomorphic + gender-specific language

• anthropomorphic language is used for God as it is easier for Christians to understand - both at the time with patriarchal society + also current times as it makes God more relatable for Christians + has an element of intimacy
• problems with using anthropomorphic language to describe God:

  • puts limits on a God who is believed to be transcendent
  • counter to feminism
• Daphne Hampson view:

  • describes the Abrahamic religions as "a form of fascism" due to their repression of women + the way they "establish man as norm"
• limitation of women is still evident in Christianity today as the Catholic Church don't allow women in ordained leadership
• male-dominant language was important to use at the time as it was a male-dominated society

  • Israelite royal line was mainly male
  • important for the survival of the religion at the time - people would be more likely to listen to men
• the patriarchal view of God is arguably challenged:

  • God: "... but now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant"
• Jesus as a feminist:

  • he interacted with women i.e. the woman at the well
  • although all his disciples were men, this was because men were more likely to be listened to in order to allow Christianity to thrive
  • it was women who found Jesus' tomb + that he wasn't there