Summary Post: Is the Holy Spirit God the Mother?

Note: This post summarizes what is written in this entire section.

A.    Biblical Evidence: is the Holy Spirit a distinct Person and God?

1.     The Holy Spirit is all knowing (1 Corinthians 2:10-11).

2.     The HS (Holy Spirit) is omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-8).

3.     The HS is omnipotent (Job 33:4).

4.     The HS is eternal (Hebrews 9:14).

5.     The HS embodies love (Romans 15:30), truth (John 15:26-27, John 16:13), and holiness.

6.     The HS created the universe (Genesis 1:2, Psalm 33:6).

7.     The HS raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11).

8.     The HS is the only One who knows the mind of God the Father (1 Corinthians 2:10-11).

9.     The HS intercedes for people (Romans 8:27).

10.  The HS gets sad and is saddened by sin (Isaiah 63:10).

11.  The HS gets insulted (Hebrews 10:29).

12.  The HS distributes gifts in the Body of Christ as the HS wills (1 Corinthians 12:11).

13.  The HS teaches and reminds (1 Corinthians 2:13, Luke 12:12, John 15:26-27).

14.  The HS testifies and is a Helper to all who love God (John 15:26-27).

15.  The HS is a Counselor (John 14:26).

16.  The HS is a guide and warns Christians of danger (Acts 20:22-23).

17.  The HS is a Comforter (John 14:26).

18.  The HS gives commands and speaks (Acts 8:29, Acts 10:19-20, Acts 16:6, 7).

19.  The HS appoints leaders (Acts 20:28).

20.  The HS does miracles (Matthew 12:28, Acts 2:4, Romans 15:19).

21.  The HS convicts of sin (Genesis 6:3, John 16:8).

22.  The HS sanctifies believers (1 Peter 1:2). 

23.  The HS wrote the Bible, the Word of God (2 Peter 1:21, Ephesians 6 – the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God).

24.  The HS can be lied to (Acts 5:3).

25.  The HS can be resisted (Acts 7:51).

26.  The HS can be blasphemed (Matthew 12:31).

27.  The HS is identified as Yahweh. God speaking is equivalent to the HS speaking (2 Samuel 23:2-3).

28.  The HS is, obviously, Spirit, and so is God (John 4:24).

Therefore, the Holy Spirit is a distinct person from God the Father and is also God, having all the attributes of God.

B.    Historical Evidence: is the Holy Spirit our Mother?

Some early Christians thought the Holy Spirit was feminine:

1.      The Church father Jerome

2.     The Church father Epiphanius (the Spirit is a “Female Being”)

3.     The Church father Clement, believed to have written the Pseudo-Clementines (the Spirit is feminine and is the feminine Spirit of Wisdom in the Bible)

4.     The Church Father Melito of Sardis (wrote a homily about singing to the Father and to the Mother)

5.     The author of the book of Thomas (non-canonical Scripture)

6.     The author of the book of Acts of Thomas (non-canonical Scripture)

7.     The author of the gospel of Philip (non-canonical Scripture)

8.     At least one old translation of John translated the Spirit with feminine pronouns

9.     Makarios, an Egyptian monk, believed the Holy Spirit was Mother as she gives us spiritual birth (John 3:6)

10.  The Gospel of Hebrews quotes Jesus as referring to the Spirit as his Mother. This gospel was almost included in the biblical canon, was categorized with the book of Revelation when the biblical canon was being decided, and was quoted at least by the church Father Jerome along with authoritative Scripture, perhaps suggesting he found it authoritative.

11.  Some sources cite that the very first Christians used to speak of the Holy Spirit as feminine.

C.    Biblical Evidence: is the Holy Spirit (HS) our Mother?

1.     Pronouns: The masculine pronouns used for the HS can all be legitimately translated as feminine by translators. The word for “Spirit” in Hebrew is feminine (the Old Testament), the word for “Spirit” in Greek is neuter (the New Testament), and Jesus and his disciples spoke Aramaic which designates “Spirit” as feminine just like Hebrew. So, given the Spirit’s personhood and deity and the language designations, choosing feminine pronouns is a more natural choice. Given this, one may ask why translators have chosen male pronouns historically.

2.     Something both feminine and plural is inherent to God as people were created male and female in God’s image, “in our image”, says God (Genesis 1:26-27).

3.     Deuteronomy 6:4 says the Lord is “one”. This is the same word for “one” used to describe Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:24. Could God be one, Father and Mother, like Adam and Eve are one, also father and mother (of the human race), as they were made in the image of God?

4.     From a philosophical standpoint, how can God be love (1 John 4:8) if He eternally existed as one person, not two (or three)? Can’t love only exist where there is more than one person? (this is discussed in detail in my post on biblical evidence)

5.     The Spirit gives birth spiritually to Christians, a decidedly female characteristic (John 3:6).

6.     The Holy Spirit is described in Isaiah 11:1-3 as the Spirit of wisdom (the Spirit is described in more ways than the Spirit of wisdom, but not less). So, the HS is the Spirit of wisdom, which is described in Proverbs.

7.     Wisdom in Proverbs is a female Spirit (Proverbs 1:23). Wisdom is desirable, incomparable, and can be sought out (Proverbs 3:14).

8.     There is one Spirit of the Lord (1 Corinthians 12:13, Ephesians 4:4, Ephesians 2:18).

9.     Both of the Spirit of Wisdom and the Holy Spirit are passed on to God’s people by the laying of hands, showing they are one and the same Spirit (Deuteronomy 34:9, Acts 8:14-24).

10.  Both the Spirit of Wisdom and the Holy Spirit created the world with God, showing they are one and the same Spirit (Genesis 1:2, Proverbs 8:22-31).

11.  Wisdom in Proverbs is not a personification because the Spirit of Wisdom in Proverbs is a living entity – a Spirt person like God the Father (Proverbs 1:23).

12. Other Bible passages reference God as Mother. God is like a mother eagle that cares for her young (Deuteronomy 32:11). God bears and gives birth to Her people (Deuteronomy 32:18). The Lord is compared to both a master and a mistress, so both masculinity and femininity are in God (Psalm 123:2-3). God is like One who weans a child and comforts Her children (Psalm 131:2). God is One who gives birth and has a womb in creating the world, specifically ice and frost (Job 38:9). God is described as One who teaches Her children how to walk and feeds them with a mother's milk (Hosea 11:3-4). God is described as a mother bear in Her love and protection of us (Hosea 13:8). God is described as a woman in labor (Isaiah 42:14). God is described as a comforting mother (Isaiah 66:13).

Therefore:

1) given using feminine pronouns are a better translation of the Holy Spirit’s pronouns,

2) given men and women are made in God’s image so femininity is just as much a part of God as masculinity, and neither the Father nor Jesus, the other persons in the Godhead (as believed by most Christians), are shown in the Bible as feminine;

3) given there is one Spirit, so the feminine Spirit of Wisdom portrayed with explicitly feminine pronouns and the Holy Spirit are One;

4) given the Spirit, not the Father, has the explicitly feminine and motherhood characteristic of giving spiritual birth to humans;

5) given, as shown in part A, that the Holy Spirit is fully God and a Person distinct from God the Father;

6) given, as shown in part B, that many leaders and others in the early Church upheld the Spirit’s femininity and Motherhood;

7) given that many Scriptures point to God being Mother, not only Father, and having explicitly feminine characteristics,

The Holy Spirit is God the Mother. 

Additional Biblical evidence: The Deuterocanonical books, which the Catholic and Orthodox traditions hold to be inspired by God (and so do I, see the full argument for this in the “Biblical Evidence” post in this section), provide even more evidence that the Holy Spirit is feminine, particularly in the book of Wisdom, which talks about the Spirit at length. Specifically, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of wisdom, anticipates humans’ every thought, is explicitly called "Mother” in some translations, is the fashioner of all things (Creator), is holy, is all-powerful, oversees all, pervades and penetrates all things, is good, can do all things on Her own, renews all things, enters holy souls and makes them friends of God, is more beautiful than the sun, is superior to light, prevails against evil, is loved by the Lord of all, God the Father, is an associate in His works, gives good counsel and encouragement, gives immortality, gives rest, gives companionship and friendship, formed mankind with God the Father, sits by God the Father’s throne, is sent out by God, knows and understands all things, led and guided multiple Old Testament children of God such as Adam, Noah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and the people of Israel in general, and is immortal. The description provided in the book of Wisdom syncs with the description of the Holy Spirit in other parts of Scripture. The Spirit of Wisdom, the Holy Spirit, is fully God with all of God’s attributes and is consistently and explicitly described using feminine pronouns.

D.    Final Thoughts

1.     If you disagree: why? Is it because Scripture and creation do not witness to this being true, or because it seems off based on your background? If people are made in God’s image, which understanding of God syncs best with God’s creation: a two person, united God, Father and Mother, or a three person male Godhead of Father, Son, and male Spirit? Given women’s oppression through world history, is it surprising that the truth of the Divine feminine has been suppressed, even in the Church?

2.     How can it be true if this is not explicit in Scripture? I would say it is explicit in Scripture. We have the Holy Spirit, who gives us spiritual birth as Christians, who is described using feminine pronouns, is described as fully God, and we know both men and women are made in God’s image. At a minimum, masculine pronouns should not be used to describe the Holy Spirit. In the Protestant canon, it is true that the word “mother” is not explicitly used, but why is that necessary? The Spirit has all the characteristics of being God the Mother. It is certainly not untrue to call the Spirit our heavenly Mother, as She gave us spiritual birth. If early Christian leaders, writers, and other Christians had no issue with calling the Spirit “Mother” – if there is even evidence that Jesus himself called the Spirit “Mother” - why should we object? The biblical evidence at least explicitly reveals that the Spirit is feminine, though the word “Mother” is not in any translation of the Protestant Bible (though it is in the Catholic and Orthodox Bible). If according to the Bible, the Spirit is feminine, fully God, a distinct person who created the world with God, and births Christians spiritually, these characteristics explicitly describe a heavenly Mother who is one with the Father as God is both one and plural (per part C points 2 and 3). Finally, not all Christian doctrine is explicit in Scripture.

3.     Why does this matter? First, knowledge of God is eternal life (John 17:3) and Jesus taught us to worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Truth matters. Understanding God and knowing who the Holy Spirit really is helps in drawing us closer to God and a deeper understanding of God. God cares deeply that we know the truth about who God is. Second, marriage will continue in the new heaven and new earth (see my implication 1 post). Third, this truth would impact the debate over men’s and women’s role in the Church, particularly whether women can also teach and lead men (see my implication 2 post). Lastly, isn’t it wonderful that becoming a Christian results in gaining both a heavenly Father and a heavenly Mother? This is something to rejoice over.