Gender of the Holy Spirit

The gender of the Holy Spirit has been the object of some discussion in recent years, questioning whether the Holy Spirit should be referred to as "he", "she" or "it". To some extent this derives from the gender of the noun used in different languages. Spiritus in Latin, is a masculine noun; while pneuma, in Greek, is a neuter noun.

Grammatical considerations

While scholars generally agree that grammatical gender is not necessarily correlative to personal gender, if by "gender" is meant grammatical gender, then the gender of the Holy Spirit varies according to the language used. Thus the grammatical gender of the word "spirit" is generally feminine in the Semitic languages such as Hebrew (רוּחַ, rūaḥ), in which the Old Testament was originally written, and neuter (πνεῦμα, pneûma, pneuma) in Greek, in which the rest of the New Testament was written in. However, the word for "spirit" is masculine in other languages unrelated to the original writing of the Bible, such as Latin (spiritus) and in Latin-derived languages, as also, for instance, in German (Geist).

Even in the same language, a difference may arise relating to what word is chosen to describe the Holy Spirit. In Greek the word pneuma is grammatically neuter^[1] and so, in that language, the pronoun referring to the Holy Spirit under that name is also grammatically neuter. However, when the Holy Spirit is referred to by the grammatically masculine word Parakletos (Counsellor, Comforter), the pronoun is masculine, as in John 16:7-8.^[2]

William Mounce argues that in John's gospel, when Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as Comforter (masculine in Greek), the grammatically necessary masculine form of the Greek pronoun autos is used,^[3] but when Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit as Spirit, grammatically neuter in Greek,^[4] the masculine form of the demonstrative pronoun ekeinos ("that masculine one") is used.^[3] This breaking of the grammatical agreement expected by native language readers is an indication of the author's intention to convey the personhood of the Holy Spirit, and also the Spirit's masculinity.^[5] Daniel Wallace, however, disputes the claim that ekeinos is connected with pneuma in John 14:26 and 16:13-14, asserting instead that it belongs to parakletos. Wallace concludes that "it is difficult to find any text in which πνευμα is grammatically referred to with the masculine gender".^[6]

Semitic languages

In Hebrew the word for Spirit (רוה) (ruach) is feminine, (which is used in the Hebrew Bible, as is the feminine word "shekhinah" used in rabbinical writings, to indicate the presence of God, سكينة Sakinah in Arabic language, a word mentioned six times in the Quran).

In the Syriac language too, the grammatically feminine word rucha means "spirit", and writers in that language, both orthodox and Gnostic, used maternal images when speaking of the Holy Spirit. This imagery is found in the fourth-century theologians Aphrahat and Ephraim. It is found in earlier writings of Syriac Christianity such as the Odes of Solomon^[7] and in the early-third-century Gnostic Acts of Thomas:

Holy Dove that bearest the twin young;

Come, hidden Mother;
Come, thou that art manifest in thy deeds

and dost furnish joy and rest for all that are joined with thee;
^[8]

Historian of religion Susan Ashbrook Harvey considers the grammatical gender to have been significant for early Syriac Christianity: "It seems clear that for the Syrians, the cue from grammar—ruah as a feminine noun—was not entirely gratuitous. There was real meaning in calling the Spirit 'She'."^[9]

Bible translations

The majority of English Bible translations generally use the masculine pronoun for the Spirit, as in John 16:13.

However, the King James Version uses the neuter pronoun "it" of "the Spirit" four times (John 1:32; Romans 8:16, 26; 1 Peter 1:11), as do other versions in at least some of these verses.

Characterisitics associated with gender

Sentiments and attitudes that certain societies associate with women ("femininity") rather than men ("masculinity") are sometimes attributed to each of the three Persons of the Trinity, without thereby assigning to the Person a particular gender. The God spoken of in the Old Testament, generally regarded as God the Father, is spoken of also as a mother giving birth to her people in Deuteronomy 32:18.^[10][11] In Luke 13:34^[12] and in the parallel passages of the other Synoptic Gospels Jesus compares his care for Jerusalem to that of a mother hen for her chickens, and Jesus has been seen as the incarnation of Divine Wisdom (sophia, grammatically feminine in Greek). So too the Holy Spirit has been associated with a feminine attitude on the part of the Divinity and has been spoken of under the images of mother and mistress.^[13]

Some recent theologians, while retaining masculine reference to Father and Son, have explored feminine alternatives for the Holy Spirit. Some have related this to perceived maternal functions in Scripture or Christian tradition. These include: Clark H. Pinnock,^[14] Thomas N. Finger,^[15] Jürgen Moltmann,^[16] Yves M.J. Congar,^[17] John J. O'Donnell,^[18] Donald L. Gelpi,^[19] and R.P. Nettlehorst,.^[20][21][22]

Christianity

Discovering Biblical Equality maintains that viewing God in masculine terms is merely a way in which we speak of God in figurative language. The author reiterates that God is spirit and that the Bible presents God through personification and anthropomorphism which reflects only a likeness to God.^[23]

There are some Christian churches (see below) who teach that the Holy Spirit is feminine based on the fact that both feminine nouns and verbs, as well as feminine analogies, are thought to be used by the Bible to describe the Spirit of God in passages such as Genesis 1:1-2, Genesis 2:7, Duet. 32:11-12, Proverbs 1:20, Matthew 11:19, Luke 3:22, and John 3:5-6. However, the original text of such passages and literal translation thereof does not contain any femininity reference to the Holy Spirit.^[24] (This includes the Eastern Orthodox Church, which continues the traditions of the early church of the Apostles). These are based on the grammatical gender of both the nouns and verbs used by the original authors for the Spirit, as well as maternal analogies used by the prophets and Jesus for the Spirit in the original Bible languages.

There are biblical translations where the pronoun used for the Holy Spirit is masculine, in contrast to the gender of the noun used for spirit in Hebrew and Aramaic.^[1] In Aramaic also, the language generally considered to have been spoken by Jesus, the word is feminine. However, in Greek the word (pneuma) is neuter.^[1] Most English translations of the New Testament refer to the Holy Spirit as masculine in a number of places where the masculine Greek word "Paraclete" occurs, for "Comforter", most clearly in the Gospel of John, chapters 14 to 16.^[25] These texts were particularly significant when Christians were debating whether the New Testament teaches that the Holy Spirit is a fully divine hypostasis, or some kind of created force. However, since Jesus didn't teach the Jewish people in Greek but in Aramaic, which portrays the word "Spirit" as feminine, and since the Greek word for "Spirit" is masculine by contrast, the masculine terminology is likely due to linguistic limitations and inconsistency in translation work.

Various usage

The Syriac language, which was in common use around AD 300, is derived from Aramaic. In documents produced in Syriac by the early Miaphysite church (which later became the Syrian Orthodox Church) the feminine gender of the word for spirit gave rise to a theology in which the Holy Spirit was considered feminine.^[26]

In the Catholic Church, the Holy Spirit is referred to in English as "he" in liturgical texts,^[27] however the Holy See wishes to likewise maintain "the established gender usage of each respective language." ^[28] For semitic based languages, such as ancient Syriac, the earliest liturgical tradition and established gender usage for referring to the Holy Spirit is feminine.^[29]

The Unity Church's co-founder Charles Fillmore considered the Holy Spirit a distinctly feminine aspect of God, considering it to be "the love of Jehovah" and "love is always feminine".^[30]

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gender is seen "as an essential characteristic of eternal identity and purpose".^[31] The LDS Church believes that before we lived on earth, we existed spiritually, with a spiritual body with defined gender,^[32] and that the Holy Spirit had a similar body, but was to become a member of the three personage [[Godhead (Latter Day Saints)|Godhead] ^[33] (Godhead consisting of God, the Eternal, Heavenly Father, Eloheim, whom they worship; Jehovah, the Divine, only begotten Son of Heavenly Father, Creator and Savior of the World, Jesus Christ; And, the Holy Ghost, Comfortor, Teacher and Testator of the Divine role of Jesus Christ].

Female attribution

Branch Davidians

Some small Christian groups regard the gender of the Holy Spirit to be female, based on their understanding that the Hebrew word for Spirit, ruach, is feminine. Their views derive from skepticism toward Greek primacy for the New Testament. Foremost among these groups, and the most vocal on the subject are the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists.

In 1977, one of their leaders, Lois Roden, began to formally teach that a feminine Holy Spirit is the heavenly pattern of women. In her many studies and talks she cited numerous scholars and researchers from Jewish, Christian, and other sources. They see in the creation of Adam and Eve a literal image and likeness of the invisible Godhead, male and female, who is "clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made".^[34]

They take the Oneness of God to mean the "familial" unity which exists between them, which unity is not seen in any other depiction of the Godhead by the various non-Hebrew peoples. Thus, having a Father and Mother in heaven, they see that the Bible shows that those Parents had a Son born unto them before the creation of the world, by Whom all things were created.^{[35][36][37][38]}

Unity Church

The Unity Church's co-founder Charles Fillmore considered the Holy Spirit a distinctly feminine aspect of God considering it to be "the love of Jehovah" and "love is always feminine".^[39]

Messianic Jews

The B'nai Yashua Synagogues Worldwide,^[40] a Messianic group headed by Rabbi Moshe Koniuchowsky, holds to the feminine view of the Holy Spirit.^[41][42] Messianic Judaism is considered by most Christians and Jews to be a form of Christianity.

There are also some other independent Messianic groups with similar teachings. Some examples include Joy In the World;^[43][44] The Torah and Testimony Revealed;^[45] Messianic Judaism - The Torah and the Testimony Revealed;^[46] and he Union of Nazarene Jewish Congregations/Synagogues^[47] ,^[48] who also count as canonical the Gospel of the Hebrews which has the unique feature of referring to the Holy Spirit as Jesus' Mother.^[49]

Some scholars associated with mainline denominations, while not necessarily indicative of the denominations themselves, have written works explaining a feminine understanding of the third member of the Godhead.^[50]

In art

When in art a human material form is used to represent the Holy Spirit, that form is usually that of the male human body, without meaning to attribute such physical features to the reality represented. For example, in the rare cases of depiction of the Trinity as three identical persons, the Holy Spirit is represented as male, in line with the depictions of the Father and the Son.

This holds also for Andrei Rublev's icon, known as The Trinity, which depicts the "three men" who visited Abraham at the oak of Mamre,^[51] often pictured as a theophany of the Trinity.^[52]

References

External links

• More Than Just a Controversy: All About the Holy Spirit