1-Who is God?

This post summarizes the entire "Who Is God?" section of this website. The individual articles in this section examine the evidence in much greater depth. Here I want to give the larger picture for readers who would rather begin with one article. My conclusion is simple, even though the biblical argument behind it is extensive: There is one God: Yahweh. God is Father and Holy Spirit—Father and Mother—personally distinct, fully divine, eternally inseparable, and perfec

Before turning to the biblical case, I want to begin with Christian history. For many Christians, describing the Holy Spirit as feminine—or as Mother—can initially sound like a modern idea shaped by contemporary debates about gender. But Christians were using feminine and maternal language for the Holy Spirit very early in Christian history, long before modern feminism existed. That historical witness does not by itself prove that my interpretation is correct; Scripture must

The Father is God—the God of Israel, the Creator, the living and true God, and the God whom Jesus himself worships, prays to, obeys, trusts, and calls his God. He is the ultimate source of life, salvation, authority, resurrection, holiness, and glory. He is eternal, immortal, invisible, all-knowing, all-powerful, omnipresent (Jeremiah 23:23–24), righteous, merciful, and good. Most beautifully, the New Testament says simply: “God is love.” One of the clearest patterns across

Genesis is clear from the beginning that both male and female humanity are made in God's image. What might it mean to take this description seriously? Genesis does not present God's image as belonging to men alone. Yet traditional Trinitarian language presents the three divine persons as Father, Son, and a Spirit almost universally referred to as “He.” Are women less made in the image of God than men? If not, then why does Christian theology so often represent the divine pe

Before asking whether the Holy Spirit could rightly be understood as God the Mother, a more basic question has to be answered first: Is the Holy Spirit actually God? This question matters because some Christians, including Biblical Unitarians, believe that the Father alone is God and that the Holy Spirit is not a distinct divine person, but rather God’s power, influence, presence, or activity. I do not think that interpretation accounts for the biblical evidence. Don St

If the Holy Spirit Is God the Mother, Why… 1. Why isn’t the Holy Spirit as Mother explicitly in Scripture? I would actually argue that, upon studying Scripture carefully, God’s femininity and motherhood are explicitly present in Scripture, and that the Holy Spirit’s femininity is strongly revealed there as well. It is true that the Protestant Bible never contains the exact sentence, “The Holy Spirit is God the Mother.” But the absence of that exact phrase does not mean

Note: Please see in the general tabs my page regarding what makes up God's Word, "What is Scripture?" if helpful. I explain there why I believe the Deuterocanon is Scripture, God's inspired Word. What Part 2 Is—and Is Not—Trying to Prove Part 1 argued from the Protestant canon that the Holy Spirit is a divine person and is God—indeed, that Scripture repeatedly identifies the Holy Spirit with Yahweh. It also argued that the Spirit of the LORD is explicitly the Spirit of wisd

If Wisdom Is the Eternal Holy Spirit, Why Does Scripture Say She Was Created? This is probably the most serious textual objection to the identification of Wisdom with the eternal Holy Spirit. I do not want to hide it or minimize it. Sirach says: “Wisdom was created before all things.” (Sirach 1:4) A few verses later: “It is he who created her.” (Sirach 1:9) And Wisdom herself says in Sirach 24: “Before the ages, in the beginning, he created me.” (Sirach 24:9)

In the previous articles in this section, I have argued that the Holy Spirit is not merely God's power, influence, or impersonal force. I believe Scripture reveals Her as a divine person, as God, as the Spirit of Wisdom, and ultimately as our divine Mother. If that conclusion is correct, an important question follows: Is the Holy Spirit equal to God the Father in glory and worship? I believe the biblical answer is yes. That does not mean that the Father and the Holy S

For many Christians, the Holy Spirit is the person of God we speak about far more often than the person of God we speak to. We pray to the Father. Many Christians pray extensively to Jesus. We ask God to send the Holy Spirit, fill us with the Holy Spirit, guide us by the Holy Spirit, and help us hear the Holy Spirit. But can we simply speak directly to Her? Can we pray: “Holy Spirit, teach me.” “Spirit of Truth, show me what is true.” “Mother, guide me.” “Mother

This article is the culmination of everything I have argued in this section about who God is. Earlier studies considered the Father and the Holy Spirit separately. I argued that the Father is God, that the Holy Spirit is not merely a force or lesser heavenly being but God Herself, that Scripture repeatedly identifies the Spirit with Yahweh, and that the Spirit of Wisdom is the Holy Spirit. I also argued that Scripture reveals this Spirit through distinctly feminine and mate

If the biblical argument developed throughout this section is correct—if God is Father and Mother, eternally and perfectly one in Love—then an unavoidable implication follows: What does this mean for the Christian doctrine of the Trinity? Traditional Christianity teaches that there is one God who eternally exists as three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I agree with several foundational insights behind that doctrine. I believe there is only one God.

Does the Bible really say that marriage and, by extension, family will not continue in any form in the new heaven and earth? Is that what Jesus meant in his conversations with the Sadducees on this topic? If a man and woman united in marriage uniquely reflects the image of God, how could this image not continue for eternity? Could there be marriage and family in the new heaven and new earth? I believe when God says He will restore ALL things in Acts 3:21, He means ALL. Ac

Women: Apostles, Leaders, and Teachers Given the Holy Spirit and the Father are 2 distinct persons, though both fully God, the Bible reveals that the Holy Spirit and the Father do have different, but equal, roles. This is evidenced throughout the Bible as the Father is described as acting in certain ways and the Spirit is described in acting in other ways. Nevertheless, the Father and the Spirit are one (Deuteronomy 6:4), and the different roles they have in the Bible in no

I have spent this section making a biblical case that God is not only our Father, but that the Holy Spirit is also our divine Mother. I do not believe a doctrine becomes true because I like its consequences. If Scripture does not support this understanding of God, then the positive fruit I describe below cannot make it true. But Jesus tells us that fruit matters: “You will know them by their fruits.” — Matthew 7:16 And Paul describes the fruit of the Spirit as: “l

Admin. “Deuterocanonical Books in the New Testament.” Scripture Catholic, 7 Aug. 2017, https://www.scripturecatholic.com/deuterocanonical-books-new-testament/. Ahn, Keun Jo. “A Rhetorical and Theological Study on the Personified Woman Wisdom in the Book of Proverbs.” Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies, vol. 27, no. 1, 2021, pp. 131–165. https://doi.org/10.24333/jkots.2021.27.1.131. Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologiae. I, q. 41, a. 3, ad 4. Translated by the Fathers of