Theology for the Masses

Another reason Western Christians often have difficulty thinking of the Spirit as a person is because persons have gender.[1] Gender tells a lot about a person: their history, roles, stereotypes, privileges, function in society, experiences, etc. Without knowing the Spirit’s gender, we have difficulty discerning some of these core identity markers.

Strictly speaking, the entire Trinity is without gender. Yet, we still use masculine terminology when we speak about God. God is Father, even though we know that God is not male. But there are still important ideas about God communicated through the masculine metaphor of Father. “Son” is also a masculine term. Obviously, in Jesus incarnation he took on male sexual organs. But the term “Son” is not primarily about sex, as much as it’s about his position with the Father. You see, these metaphors communicate certain theological truths in a patriarchal culture. They were/are important.

But what do we do with the Spirit? In Greek the term for Spirit is Pneuma, a neuter term. The Spirit is not associated with a gendered identity. This carries over into English where, even though our nouns do not carry a gender, there is still a neuter understanding of Spirit as opposed to a masculine understanding of Father. We often, unfortunately, refer to the Spirit as “It” because we wish to avoid calling the Spirit “He” or “She.” While this is grammatically correct, it produces a de-personalization of the Spirit in our minds, which naturally categorize persons as “he” or “she” and things as “it.”

Interestingly, the Hebrew term for Spirit, Ruach, is feminine. The ancient church was more ready to speak of the Spirit in feminine terms because of this reality, but the onslaught of Gnosticism and its manipulation of this feminine terminology soured the church on using feminine language for the Spirit.[2]

Furthermore, Feminist scholars have rightly pointed out that Ruach is often combined with wisdom (another feminine Heb. Word) in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, and Wisdom is personified as a woman in Proverbs 8 and 9. The Spirit/Wisdom is a female prophet who cries out in the streets, pleading with people to embrace her. Thus, there may be precedence for speaking of the Spirit in feminine terminology.

Furthermore, Syrian Christianity has actually employed feminine pneumatological language for hundreds of years. This is primarily because the word “spirit” in their language is grammatically feminine and this accustoms them much more easily to such an idea.

Additionally, employing feminine terminology for the Holy Spirit would give concrete, though not exegetically significant, evidence of what it means for both male and female to be created in the image of God.

All that said, the question still remains as to whether or not feminine terminology is helpful. Clark Pinnock suggests, after analyzing these arguments and more, that “using the feminine pronoun exclusively could create more problems than it solves.” He opts instead, for the argument that gendered language is merely symbolic. It points to a reality beyond itself. This language/symbol is “not static, and the Spirit can be spoken of in different ways depending on the context.”[3] In other words, at times it may be appropriate to refer to the Spirit with feminine pronouns, but at other times entirely inappropriate. I am satisfied with his answer on many levels, but I, nevertheless, wish to ask him if he felt free to consistently apply this same formula to God in general – that is, is he willing to call God “she” in appropriate contexts?

In the end, the person of the Spirit cannot be captured by our gendered language. But viewing this symbolism as dynamic rather than static goes a long way in helping us understand the Spirit as a person as opposed to an “it.” Though it is stylistically odd, unless it is unavoidable, I will just opt for employing “Spirit” every time, instead of resorting to theologically wrong, hurtful, or limiting pronouns. But in the end, what is at stake for me is not the pronoun, but reviving our understanding of the Spirit as a person.