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God not to be attributed as ‘He’ or ‘him’ but Godself

Top US divinity schools issue guidelines on using ‘gender neutral language’ while referring to God

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When asked a question like ‘How do you refer to God in your daily life?’, a typical answer is something like this: “He is watching everything!” or “He is the one who created the world”. But this will no longer be the case at the top two divinity schools in the United States.

The divinity schools at Vanderbilt and Duke universities have issued guidelines on using ‘gender neutral language’ while referring to God.

Vanderbilt University’s 2016-2017 catalog has categorically asked to make use of ‘inclusive’ language, especially in relation to the Divine.

Stating how God has generally been referred to as ‘He’ in the Christian tradition, the Duke Divinity School has asked the exclusive use of either masculine or feminine pronouns for God be avoided. It has also suggested metaphors, substitutes and gender-specific metaphors for God.

“God and Godself can be used as substitutes for he/she and him/herself, for example: God knew Godself to be great and After God created the word, God rested,” reads an example in the guidelines.

Father Savarimuthu Sankar, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Delhi, said that there has been debate about this earlier and that he now tries to make use of more inclusive language. “While praying, we not only refer to the father but the mother as well,” he said.

However, it is more difficult while writing to pick as to what pronouns to be used, Fr Sankar said. “The Christian doctrine of the Trinity holds God as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, so while speaking of this, we can’t call God or the Son as ‘she’,” he pointed out.

Father John Gilbert, Society of St. Paul, Bandra, Mumbai finds it a welcome step towards changing the tendency of using male dominated language.

Seeing it as pushing forward the idea of feminsim, Bishop Chacko of Indore Church called the move by the divinity schools “a feminist approach by the US”.

In an emailed statement to heatstreet.com, Melissa Snarr, Associate Dean for Academic affairs at Vanderbilt’s divinity school, said the 2016-2017 guidelines actually stem from a 1999 policy.

“That document states that ‘masculine titles, pronouns, and imagery for God have served as a cornerstone for the patriarchy,’ while also noting that not all of God’s names are gendered. It recommended ‘exploration of fresh language for God’,” Snarr wrote.

“It is up to the individual professor’s interpretation for their classes and is suggestive rather than mandatory,” Snarr further wrote.

However, the Harvard Theological Review, one of the oldest theological journals in the US, is taking a harder line on the issue.

It is asking to avoid use of terms such as ‘man’ when referring to human beings, saying “Editors are aware that it is not always appropriate to employ inclusive language when referring to God or divine beings. In such cases, authors should adjust their usage to the historical character of the material studied”.

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