God is Gender Neutral, Declares Archbishop of Canterbury: 'Not Male or Female'

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One of the most prominent figures in Christianity as declared that God should not be referred to using gender pronouns because "our father" was gender neutral, not male or female, according to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, Most Rev Justin Welby has warned masculine and feminine labels used to describe the Christian deity are incorrect, and that despite the use of words such as "king" and "lord," – Christians must stop referring to God solely "he."

Other church leaders have backed the call for Christians to stop labeling God as a man.

Some campaigns have pointed out passages in the Bible where God provides solace "as a mother comforts her child," apparently suggesting that God is "gender fluid" and can also be called "her."

Whilst addressing an audience at St Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square, the Archbishop was asked his opinion on how God should be identified, to which he declared that using gender pronouns for God would be inappropriate. 

He said: "All human language about God is inadequate and to some degree metaphorical.

"God is not a father in exactly the same way as a human being is a father. God is not male or female. God is not definable.

"It is extraordinarily important as Christians that we remember that the definitive revelation of who God is was not in words, but in the word of God who we call Jesus Christ. We can't pin God down."

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According to Breitbart, Professor of Christian history Diarmaid MacCulloch backed Archbishop Welby’s statement, telling The Times that the reason God has been perceived as male is due to “patriarchal assumptions” of early Christian societies of Greece and Rome.

“The world is now different,” Professor MacCulloch said.

“We have to show that our view of God is wider than that and not get stuck with archaic terms.”

The comments by England’s most senior bishop follow those of the first female bishop Right Reverand Rachel Treweek, bishop of Gloucester, and Rt Revd Dr. Jo Bailey Wells, Bishop of Dorking, who said in September that referring to God as a man was a “growing problem.” 

Wells added that the Church should stop referring to the deity as solely male.

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Treweek argued that the use of male language could be damaging to young girls and boys and that gendered language would be insufficiently welcoming to non-Christians.

Wells said she goes out of her way to use both “male and female imagery” when preaching.

In the U.S., the United Methodist Church voted down an amendment to its Book of Discipline in May that would have said God is not “male or female.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. Episcopal Church set up a committee in July to “provide a pathway” towards revising its Book of Common Prayer to include gender-neutral language.

Church leaders called for the revisions to correct the “overwhelming use of masculine language” which they believe to be a “barrier to evangelizing young people,” according to Fox News.

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