God as Personal, Father, and Love (AQA A-Level Religious Studies): Revision Notes
God as Personal, Father, and Love
Introduction to anthropomorphic language
What is anthropomorphism?
Anthropomorphism refers to the practice of attributing human characteristics to non-human entities. When applied to God, this means describing God using human terms, emotions, actions, and physical features.
The Bible frequently uses anthropomorphic language to describe God:
Biblical Examples of Anthropomorphism:
- God 'rested' after creation (Genesis 2:2)
- God 'walked' in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8-9)
- God was 'sorry' and 'grieved' about creating humanity (Genesis 6:6)
- God 'changed his mind' (Exodus 32:14)
- God's love is 'poured' into human hearts (Romans 5:5)
- God's 'eyes' look toward the righteous and his 'ears' listen to their cry (Psalm 35:15)
The ultimate anthropomorphism in Christianity is the incarnation: God assumes human form as Jesus, the Son.
Problems with anthropomorphic language
Describing God in human terms creates several theological challenges:
Limitation of God's power
If God has human physical characteristics, he may share human physical limitations. This contradicts the concept of an all-powerful God.
The question of God's consciousness
Human emotions like judgement, forgiveness, and lamentation are brain states. Does this mean God has an analysable brain like humans?
Creation difficulties
The universe cannot have been created from within itself. The Creator must be transcendent (outside space and time). Anthropomorphic descriptions suggest God is part of the universe rather than separate from it.
Wish-fulfilment concerns
Sigmund Freud argued that humans invent God in their own image. We desire a God who forgives, saves, heals, and creates peace. Perhaps such a limited being cannot actually fulfil these requirements.
Critical Questions:
- Can such a limited God save humans from sin?
- Is such a God worthy of worship?
- Human language has developed over thousands of years to express human concerns - how can it adequately describe or be used by God?
Despite these challenges, anthropomorphic language remains central to Christian understanding of God as Personal, Father, King, and Love.
God as Personal
Understanding God as personal
When Christians say God is 'personal', this does not mean God literally is a human person. Rather, this analogical language suggests that God can be related to as a person.
Key characteristics of a personal God:
- Answers prayer
- Gives religious experiences
- Can be experienced in a personal sense
- Enables believers to feel they have a relationship with God
Personal God and immanence
A personal God is immanent (present within the world), in contrast to the transcendent, unknowable Godhead. In Trinitarian theology:
- The Christian Godhead is transcendent and unknowable
- God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are immanent and personal
Jürgen Moltmann's 'social' model of the Trinity emphasizes the three persons existing in a community of mutual self-giving and receiving love. This provides a model for human personal relationships.
Personal God and morality
Most Christians believe moral standards are not merely opinions but are objective truths given by a personal God. This is reflected in:
- Catholic Natural Moral Law
- Protestant Divine Command Theory
Both approaches require a personal God who establishes and communicates moral standards to humanity.
God as Father
The metaphor of fatherhood
The image of the human father serves as a metaphor for several qualities:
- Strength
- Power
- Authority
- Wisdom
- Love
However, calling God 'Father' in the Bible is more than just a familial metaphor; it reflects the patriarchal structure of Ancient Near Eastern society.
Patriarchal context
In Ancient Near Eastern culture, society was organised along patriarchal lines:
Patriarchal Social Structure:
- The patriarch was the oldest male in a family
- He had complete control over other family members
- Adult males held political, economic, domestic, and moral power
- Although some women (like Deborah in Judges 4) achieved positions of power, this was exceptional
Old Testament understanding
The Old Testament presents God's fatherhood in several ways:
God as Creator Father
Deuteronomy 32:6 describes God as the Father who creates the human race. Exodus 4:22 presents Israel as God's first-born son, rescued from Egypt (Hosea 11:1).
God as Father requiring honour
Malachi 1:6 emphasises that God as Father should be honoured. Jeremiah 3:19 shows God lamenting when Judah fails to call him Father.
God as Father of the Davidic dynasty
2 Samuel 7:14 announces God will be the Father of the royal line.
God's fatherly discipline
After Adam and Eve's disobedience, God exercises punitive justice:
- Genesis 3:16-19 shows God ordaining different roles and hardships for men and women
- God does not hesitate to punish breaches of religious and moral laws
- Examples include the destruction of Israel by Assyrians (2 Kings 17) and Judah by Babylonians (2 Kings 24:18-25:21)
Jesus and the Father
In the New Testament, God's fatherhood takes on additional significance:
The Apostles' Creed connection
The Creed connects belief in 'God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth' with belief in 'Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord'. God is Father in two senses:
- Father Creator of all things
- Father of Jesus
Jesus' use of 'Father'
Jesus frequently uses 'Father' to refer to God, most notably in teaching the Lord's Prayer: 'Our Father' (Matthew 6:8-9). This form of address reflects:
- Reverence
- Respect
- Love
The Aramaic term 'Abba'
Jesus would have used the Aramaic word 'Abba' when addressing God as Father. Important points about this term:
- It can have the intimate meaning 'My Father'
- Contrary to popular belief, it does not mean 'daddy' in first-century Aramaic
- It signifies God's approachability as Father for all people
Adoption as children of God
In Romans 8:15 (and Galatians 4:6), Paul suggests that when Christians cry 'Abba - the Father!' they become 'adopted' sons of God. This emphasises that God's fatherly nature is:
- Intimate
- Powerful
- All-inclusive
Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane
The only other reference to 'Abba - the Father' in the New Testament occurs when Jesus makes a passionate appeal to God before his arrest (Mark 14:36):
'Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt.'
This prayer demonstrates the qualities of God as Father that Jesus appeals to: complete power, loving care, and authority to determine the course of events.
God as Love
Omnibenevolence
Alongside complete power and knowledge, Christian tradition emphasises God's love. God is described as omnibenevolent, meaning 'all-loving' or 'perfectly good'.
The problem of evil
God's loving nature can be difficult to comprehend because of the problem of evil, which can be stated as an 'inconsistent triad':
The Problem of Evil - The Inconsistent Triad:
- God is omnipotent (all-powerful)
- God is omnibenevolent (all-loving/all-good)
- Evil exists
An all-powerful God should be able to abolish evil, and an all-loving God should wish to abolish evil. The problem intensifies when we add:
- God is omniscient (all-knowing)
At creation, God must have known the extent of evil that would occur. Why, then, did he create the world?
Various theodicies attempt to address this problem, including the Free Will Defence, the Irenaean-Hick theodicy, and Process Theology. Despite philosophical difficulties, most Christians trust in God's loving nature based on biblical evidence.
Biblical evidence for God as love
God's covenant love (hesed)
God's love forms the basis of the covenant between God and Israel. This special kind of love is known as hesed, meaning 'steadfast love':
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments (Deuteronomy 7:9)
God's love in Jesus' sacrifice
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world ... that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17)
Love as the Spirit's greatest gift
The greatest gift of the Spirit is love, because it is God's love poured into human hearts (see 1 Corinthians 13:1-18, Paul's 'hymn to love').
God is love
Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love ... Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:7-8, 11-12)
Love within the Trinity
If God is love, then love describes the relationship between the persons of the Trinity, since they are 'mutually indwelling'. When John 3:35 says 'the Father loves the Son', this is not merely metaphorical but part of the Trinity's nature. In John 17:20-26, Jesus suggests that God's love for him is pre-existent, 'given ... before the foundation of the world' (verse 24).
Love as the basis for human relationships
The greatest commandments
In Matthew 22:34-40, Jesus responds to a lawyer asking about the greatest commandment:
The Two Greatest Commandments:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. (verses 37-40)
By 'the law and the prophets', Jesus means the entire content of biblical law and prophecy. Therefore, the whole sphere of human activity is encompassed within the commands to love God and other people.
This is not merely metaphorical; Jesus establishes it as the foundation for right conduct.
Agape love
The kind of love Jesus describes is agape: Jesus' 'other-person-regarding' love, which comes from the nature of God as love. Joseph Fletcher placed agape at the centre of Christian Situation Ethics, directly referencing Jesus' answer to the lawyer.
Humans made in God's image
The belief that humans are made in God's image (Genesis 1:26-27) means God's love must be reflected in the human capacity for agape. Michelangelo's fresco The Creation of Adam depicts this through the mirroring pose between God and Adam, suggesting the creation of Adam in God's image. God is portrayed as accessible and personal, not remote and unknowable.
God as King
Royal imagery in the Bible
The Bible contains numerous kingly titles for God:
- Majesty
- Lord
- Sovereign
- God of gods
- King of the whole earth
- Yahweh Sebaoth (The Lord of hosts)
Calling God 'King' is an obvious metaphor, reflecting the absolute power of ancient kings.
Isaiah's vision of God as King
The prophet Isaiah had a vision of Yahweh as an enthroned deity in the Jerusalem Temple:
Isaiah's Vision of the Enthroned God:
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.' (Isaiah 6:1-5)
The throne in this vision is the Ark of the Covenant, built during the wilderness wanderings after the Exodus. It was seen as the throne seat where God was enthroned as 'the King, the Lord of hosts'. Yahweh was envisaged as presiding over a heavenly council, composed of the gods of the nations, all subservient to Yahweh.
Enthronement Psalms
Psalms 24, 27, 93, 95-99 are known as 'Enthronement Psalms' because they celebrate Yahweh's kingship:
Celebrating Yahweh's Kingship:
- 'The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice ...' (97:1)
- 'For thou, O Lord, art most high over all the earth ... exalted far above all gods.' (97:9)
- 'He sits enthroned upon the cherubim ... Mighty King, lover of justice ...' (99:1,4)
In Psalm 24, Yahweh is the 'King of glory' ... 'strong and mighty' ... 'in battle' (verse 8). The title 'Yahweh Sebaoth' (The Lord of hosts) refers to his leadership of the hosts/gods of heaven, picturing Yahweh as a warrior king of ultimate power.
Jesus as Messiah and King
Royal imagery is crucial in the New Testament's portrayal of Jesus as the Messiah:
The title 'Messiah/Christ'
- 'Messiah' means 'king' or 'anointed one'
- 'Christ' is the Greek translation of 'Messiah'
- In Luke 9:20, Peter identifies Jesus as 'The Christ of God'
The Kingdom of God
While Jews expected a warrior king to defeat the Romans, Jesus' role as Messiah is to bring about the Kingdom of God. John the Baptist announces: 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand' (Matthew 3:2), and Jesus is the one who brings it about.
Different interpretations of the Kingdom
These interpretations are not necessarily mutually exclusive:
- The new relationship between God and humanity brought about by Jesus' death and resurrection to atone for sins
- An ongoing reality inseparable from Jesus and the life of the Church
- A future event heralded by Christ's Second Coming, when evil is finally defeated and the dead are raised to eternal life: 'The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.' (Revelation 11:15)
Christ's Kingdom can be understood as both a present and a future reality for all who believe in him.
Challenges of anthropomorphic and gender-specific language
Problems with anthropomorphic language
The challenges discussed earlier apply particularly to language about God as Father and King:
Key Challenges:
- It appears to limit God to human characteristics
- God becomes a being with human emotions, actions, and physical features
- This raises questions about God's ability to create, save, and deserve worship
- It may reflect human desires rather than divine reality
Gender-specific language
Anthropomorphic language about God is distinctly gender-specific. God is portrayed as male and described as both King and Father: a figure of authority and power who commands and rules his subjects, with power of life and death over all.
This raises the question: Why is God not referred to as Queen and Mother?
Gender-neutral translations
In response to concerns about gender-specific language, recent Bible translations have introduced gender-neutral terms:
- 'man' (meaning the human race) becomes 'mortals' or 'humankind'
- 'man' (meaning a male) becomes 'person' or 'anyone'
- 'son' becomes 'child'
- 'father' becomes 'parent'
Arguments for contextual understanding
Some scholars argue against removing gendered terms because:
- Terms like 'Father' and 'King' reflect the patriarchal culture of the Ancient Near East
- Removing them strips them from their proper historical context
- The royal line in Israel was exclusively male (with the exception of Queen Athaliah, who ruled for six years after murdering male heirs before being overthrown)
- Referring to God as Father and King was a cultural norm in the Old Testament context
Feminist critique: Daphne Hampson
Daphne Hampson offers one of the most coherent feminist critiques of anthropomorphic and gender-specific language about God. Her main arguments include:
Male supremacy in God-language
God is defined as possessing all perfections (omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent) and is clearly male. This represents what every male might aspire to be: all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect in every way, and unequivocally male. God is the male patriarch taken to extremes:
- All-powerful warrior
- Leader of heavenly armies
- Supreme judge
- King and ruler
- Unchallengeable male despot
Christianity's unchanging patriarchal structure
Hampson argues that Christianity's 'truths' are fundamentally flawed because:
- Christians insist there can only be one Christ and one resurrection
- The Christian story that was 'true' in the first century must remain 'true' in the twenty-first century
- This means all patriarchal elements must be accepted in modern society
- We no longer live in the tribal, male-dominated society of Old and New Testament times
Hampson states strongly:
I have concluded that fundamental to the Abrahamic religions is the will to subvert women and establish man as norm. That is to say that, in so far as this is the case, these religions are a form of fascism.
Monotheism as male monopoly
- Monotheism effectively means male monotheism
- Why should women be subject to what is represented as unreservedly male?
- Why should women pray to a male God?
- The archetypal prayer Jesus taught is to 'Our Father' - what about 'Our Mother'?
Trinity and gender exclusion
Trinitarian thought struggles to be inclusive of women:
- We have a male God the Father
- We have a male God the Son
- Some Christian groups see the Holy Spirit as feminine (based on the Hebrew word 'ruah' being feminine), but this is a minority view
Hampson comments:
What is to be understood as female is something vague; indeed the Spirit is often designated as neuter. The two 'male' persons of the trinity by contrast are anthropomorphically conceived entities, 'persons' to whom people direct their prayers. Moreover the Spirit has ever played second fiddle to the male Christ within trinitarian theology.
Jesus and gender equality
Feminist theologians note Jesus' apparent lack of commitment to female equality:
- Jesus consistently refers to God as Father
- While Jesus was kind to women, there is no evidence he had a feminist perspective on society
Rethinking anthropomorphism
Hampson suggests that just because we can picture God as a person (Father, King) does not mean God is actually such an anthropomorphic agent. She proposes:
- Instead of dialogue in prayer, we might think of being 'open and present to what one conceives to be a greater reality than one's self, knowing oneself as loved and upheld'
- As our intellectual understanding of God changes, our practice may also change
Alternative feminist perspectives
Not all feminists agree with Hampson's critique. Some point to:
- Jesus' general approach to women, including his defence of the woman taken in adultery (John 8:1-11)
- Jesus clearly accepted women as disciples
- If Jesus had advocated modern feminist principles in first-century Judaism, he might have achieved very little given the cultural context
Key Points to Remember:
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Anthropomorphism means describing God using human characteristics (emotions, actions, physical features), which creates theological challenges about God's nature and power.
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God is understood as personal (relatable and immanent), Father (reflecting patriarchal authority, love, and creator), King (sovereign power and rule), and Love (omnibenevolent, characterized by hesed and agape).
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The problem of evil challenges God's omnibenevolence: if God is all-powerful, all-loving, and all-knowing, why does evil exist?
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Important biblical terms include hesed (steadfast covenant love), agape (other-person-regarding love), Abba (intimate term for Father), and Messiah/Christ (anointed king).
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Gender-specific language about God raises significant challenges, particularly from feminist perspectives that question why God is portrayed exclusively in male terms (Father, King) and whether this reflects cultural context or perpetuates patriarchal structures.