Father (God)

some Christians believe the name "Father" that Jesus Christ gives to God indicates a very specific relationship. Others, however, look back to the Gnostic and Semitic traditions from which the words "Father" and "Son" emerged, and say that these words have nothing to do with any familial roles, but that they were rather the closest worshipers could come to expressing in personal terms the concepts of Uncreated Source (God) and Reflected Image (Jesus). For these people, using metaphors for God (God as nurturing mother or loving father) is acceptable, but the idea of God having a gender is not. God is like a Father; the metaphor does not mean God is a father or that God is male. New metaphors for God are needed and more emphasis can be given to ones we already have (biblically, God is also light, rock, potter, mother, bread, wind, water, sun, fire, wisdom, judge, homemaker, physician, warrior, midwife, lion, leopard, she-bear, mother eagle, and shepherd, for example). Questioning God's gender poses a dilemma for some who see inclusive language (particularly the elimination of God as Father) as unconscionable tampering and find the challenge to faith overwhelming. When using the Father metaphor, avoid masculine pronouns in order to mitigate the strongly male orientation. See also Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God, God/he, God/his, Holy Spirit, Lord, Son of Man (Christ).