J.K. Gayle on uses of feminine language in describing God

J.K Gayle has entered the feminine language conversation, writing a series of posts. The first tackles how Jesus described himself in the gospels with reference to women; the second featured Clarence Jordan’s translations of the same passages, and the third collects some references within the tradition that were new to me, but more importantly, looks at the “de-feminising” effect of translation into Greek from Hebrew of a lot of Jesus imagery. There’s some bits and pieces I want to reproduce here, basically because I’d like to be able to access them easily.

• Leviticus 14:10, Isaiah 53:7 and 2 Samuel 12:2-3 all reference the sacrificial lamb as a ewe-lamb. Christ’s title as ‘Lamb of God’ is a feminine one.
• Links for uses of feminine language in Augustine: Homily 3 on the 1st Letter of John, and from Sermon 369:

Whoso knows that he is born, let him hear that he is an infant; let him eagerly cling to the breasts of his mother, and he grows apace. Now his mother is the Church; and her breasts are the two Testaments of the Divine Scriptures. Hence let him suck the milk of all the things that as signs of spiritual truths were done in time for our eternal salvation, that being nourished and strengthened, he may attain to the eating of solid meat, which is, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 Our milk is Christ in His humility; our meat, the selfsame Christ equal with the Father. With milk He nourishes you, that He may feed you with bread: for with the heart spiritually to touch Christ is to know that He is equal with the Father.

and

Our savior, born of the Father apart from any day…. Go on being filled with wonder; the one who bore him is both mother and virgin; the one she bore is both speechless infant and Word.  Rightly did the heavens speak….  Give suck, mother, to our food; five suck to the bread that came down from heaven (Jn 6:58), and was placed in a manger….  Give your breast to the one who made you such that he might be made in you, who both gave you the gift of fertility when he was conceived, and did not deprive you of the honor of virginity when he was born; who before he was born chose for himself both the womb from which he would be born and the day on which he would be born.

• Links to the prayers of St. Anselm and Julian of Norwich.

Thanks for your involvement, J.K.! I really appreciate your input – you’ve taught me a lot in these posts.

• Пенелопа Крус (Penelope Cruz)
• Ева Лонгория (Eva Longoria)