Is the Holy Spirit God the Mother? Introduction

God is clear from the beginning in Genesis that His image is both male and female, as Adam and Eve were made in God’s image. Why don’t we take Him at His Word? Clearly, God’s image is not 3 persons in 1, only male as the Trinity doctrine suggests. Are women less made in the image of God then men? If not, then why are they not equally represented in the Godhead? Some may respond by saying that God transcends gender – which is of course in part true given that God is Spirit – but that cannot be completely true as men and women are His image!

Surely, something feminine is inherent to God as females are made in His image as well. What does the Bible say about this very important topic? Yes – this is no peripheral issue, as who the Holy Spirit is strikes at the heart of who God is and knowing God, which Jesus declares is eternal life in John 17:3 when he prays to God, saying “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”  Understanding who God is – including the Holy Spirit’s divinity and “gender” – is part of experiencing the fullness of eternal life God has given us in Christ Jesus. This is well worth considering and studying. The Bible is not silent on this topic – a close study of Scripture shows that God is Father and Mother, God the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Divine Feminine.

Orthodox Christians believe that the Holy Spirit is God. Christians who are biblical unitarians, who do not affirm Christ’s deity, believe that only God the Father is God and the Holy Spirit is not God. I have always been personally convinced based on Scripture that the Holy Spirit is God, but the unitarian stance, given that I agreed with them concerning Jesus’ deity, pushed me to Scripture to consider more deeply who the Holy Spirt is. Does the Bible say the Holy Spirit is a person? A force? If God is the Father, and Jesus is God’s Son, but not God – does the Holy Spirit have any sort of gender designation?

I discovered that there is historical evidence that some of the earliest Christians thought the Holy Spirit was Mother. This section of my blog includes: first, a post providing evidence for the personhood and deity of the Holy Spirit, second, a post explaining some of the history of the Holy Spirit as (potentially) Mother, third, a post considering biblical evidence affirming the Holy Spirit as Mother, and finally, my conclusion and the implications if this is true, which would profoundly impact the Church for great good.

I believe this to be true because I think God reveals this in His Word and in creation. Despite seeing the truth of this in Scripture, this has taken me a while to accept because the idea of God being feminine was so foreign to me. I do not need this to be true, but in embracing this truth, I am deeply encouraged, particularly because I am a woman. I hope you are also encouraged.