Frank's Cottage

Is God male or female? Does it matter?

It certainly did to a blogger with Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald. I stumbled upon one of Lawrence Money’s essays, called “We need to upgrade God”, and am fascinated by the points he made.

Money read an article about an unspeakably sad funeral of a two-year-old Australian girl. He reacted ferociously to the story’s mention of a sign that hung on the wall of the church that said Our God Reigns From Above With Wisdom, Love and Power.

“Surely if the God above had such wisdom, his power would have been be used to protect such an innocent life,” he wrote. “And love? You create a little life, allow just enough time for her family to embrace her, then sit by and watch her slaughtered. That’s some weird kind of love.”

Money pinned the blame for all this on the fact that God is usually seen as a male. “Would a female God, who gave her only begotten daughter, have allowed such atrocities? I doubt it,” he wrote.

In the end, he declared “I’d like a female god, please. I want an upgrade.”

I understand where Money is coming from. Sometimes, when I look at our broken world, it seems so many problems are rooted in the male gender.

But should I, or Money, be attributing human (male or female) weaknesses to the creator of the universe? Doing so would reduce God to little more than a Clark Kent-style superman (or woman). That’s why I don’t think the issue of gender is worth debating.

So then, what about God allowing the murder of children or terrorist attacks or the flourishing slave trade?

Money believes a God of wisdom, power and love would stop such horrors in their tracks. Okay, let’s suppose God does what Money demands. What then?

• Should He stop marital infidelity? (It does lead to broken families, psychological trauma and sometimes murder.)
• What about speeding? (It often causes accidents and death.)
• Shouldn’t He also take away beer and wine? (They contribute to alcoholism, broken lives and death.)

Where should it stop, Lawrence? All these things come from a gift of freewill – a gift that many people believe God proved for all time when He allowed the political and religious authorities of the day put His Son, Jesus of Nazareth, to death.

Do you really want God to take back that gift? Do you want to be a robot? Because without freewill, we’re just a race of goose-stepping, brain-dead automatons.

Yes, without freewill, we would not turn our backs on God, His gift of Jesus and His plan for each and every life. But the evidence makes it clear that God is not interested in such a soulless and unhuman arrangement. He wants a real relationship with us that we’ve entered with our minds and hearts fully aware and alive.

Do you want that kind of relationship? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.