Delegates of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are to tackle whether to adopt
gender-inclusive language for worship of the divine Trinity along with the
traditional ''Father, Son and Holy Spirit study panel said the classical
language for the Trinity shouldn't be diminished, but advocated "fresh ways
to speak of the mystery of the triune God" to "expand the church's
vocabulary of praise and wonder."
One reason is that language limited to the Father and Son "has been used to
support the idea that God is male and that men are superior to women," the
panel said.
Conservatives object that the church should stick close to the way God is
named in the Bible.
Among the feminist-inspired, gender-inclusive options:
- "Mother, Child and Womb"
- "Lover, Beloved, Love"
- "Creator, Savior, Sanctifier"
- "Rock, Redeemer, Friend"
- "King of Glory, Prince of Peace, Spirit of Love."
Two professors at the Presbyterians' Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Andrew
Purves and Charles Partee, said there is potential danger that "we not only
lose the ground for our language for God, we in fact lose the Trinity. We
lose God."
"We do not need a diluted, metaphorical Trinity; rather, we need our
confidence in the Christian doctrine of God to be restored," they said.
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We need revival. We can pray asking the LOrd to send the Holy Spirit, turning the hearts of men back to God.
gender-inclusive language for worship of the divine Trinity along with the
traditional ''Father, Son and Holy Spirit study panel said the classical
language for the Trinity shouldn't be diminished, but advocated "fresh ways
to speak of the mystery of the triune God" to "expand the church's
vocabulary of praise and wonder."
One reason is that language limited to the Father and Son "has been used to
support the idea that God is male and that men are superior to women," the
panel said.
Conservatives object that the church should stick close to the way God is
named in the Bible.
Among the feminist-inspired, gender-inclusive options:
- "Mother, Child and Womb"
- "Lover, Beloved, Love"
- "Creator, Savior, Sanctifier"
- "Rock, Redeemer, Friend"
- "King of Glory, Prince of Peace, Spirit of Love."
Two professors at the Presbyterians' Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Andrew
Purves and Charles Partee, said there is potential danger that "we not only
lose the ground for our language for God, we in fact lose the Trinity. We
lose God."
"We do not need a diluted, metaphorical Trinity; rather, we need our
confidence in the Christian doctrine of God to be restored," they said.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
We need revival. We can pray asking the LOrd to send the Holy Spirit, turning the hearts of men back to God.