The radicals would like it been said, “Our Mother who art in heaven” or, at least, “Our Parent who art in heaven”‘,1 of course, Jesus foresaw that. The biblical fact that Jesus addressed God as His “Father”, and the fact that He was the “Son of God” who became “Son of Man” is in line with the biblical doctrine of the headship of man over woman and his family. Modern theological gender studies strongly inspired by feminisms of all sort attempt to deconstruct the biblical narrative in favor of gender liberation. It follows that what is deconstructed might need to be reconstructed in a form that is opposed to the deconstructed one. So, the opposite of “Our Father” gets identified with whatever stance the reconstructionist takes: feminist, queer, or gender-fluid, whatever. But let’s ask the question: Would it be blasphemous to refer to God as “Our Mother” or “Our genderless Parent”?
One needs to tread carefully here. It is safer to ask the question, “Why didn’t Jesus say, “Our Mother” or “Our Parent”?” Was He merely contextualizing or being culturally intelligible?
From the very life and ministry of Jesus, one fact is clear: He never submitted to any culture or tradition that contradicted Scripture. Also, unless one sees Genesis 2 as another mythical tale of creation, the fact that the Creation narrative points to Adam as the Source and Head of all humanity and the fact that the New Creation narrative points to the Second Man, Jesus, as the Source and Head of the Church should settle the patriarchal debate.
Domenic Marbaniang 