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ANOTHER TROUBLING STEP:

GOD OUR MOTHER

Following the denial of male headship in marriage, and the denial of

any restriction of leadership roles in the church to men, and the denial
of “manhood” and anything uniquely masculine other than the physi-
cal differences among human beings, it is to be expected that egalitari-
ans would begin to blur and then deny God’s identity as our Father. This
is exactly what has recently happened in egalitarian writings.
Ruth Tucker, in her book Women in the Maze, says,

We sing the words of John W. Petersen in worshipful praise,

“Shepherd of love, you knew I had lost my way... .” Would it be

worse, or blasphemous, to sing something like “Mother of love.. .”?

Both are figures of speech. But because of our fear of taking on the

trappings of radical feminism or goddess worship, we dare not sing

those words—except perhaps in our closets of prayer.^1

We see a similar trend in literature sold by Christians for Biblical
Equality through their website (www.cbeinternational.org). This is the
primary website for evangelical feminists today, and it says that their
bookstore contains books that further their mission: “Each resource we
carry has first been evaluated by our team of reviewers to ensure that it
furthers CBE’s mission and vision.”^2 Yet at least two books openly advo-
cate praying to God as our Mother in heaven.

(^1) Ruth A. Tucker, Women in the Maze (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1992), 20-21.
(^2) See the “About CBE’s Bookstore” section at http://www.cbeinternational.org. These books were still
being sold on February 20, 2006.