As a Christian feminist, I believe in a Greater Being, an Ultimate Creator, who I call God, and for whom I use feminine pronouns.
I believe this Greater Being is so great as to surpass gender—a human and thus limiting concept—and as a Greater Being beyond gender, both masculine and feminine pronouns are appropriate. Plural pronouns are also acceptable to use for God.
I believe we’re all worshipping the same God, just with different names.
I believe that God appears to us at different times and in different forms. We are not all the same people, with the same backgrounds, in the same cultures or time periods. Why would God appear to us in the exact same way? God appears to us in the way we need Her to appear to us.
I believe that God created* men and women to be equals, to be partners. I believe that patriarchy is a result of sin.
I believe Jesus is the Son of God. I believe Jesus was a man because no one would have listened to a woman proclaiming she was the Daughter of God.
I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe in His resurrection.
I believe that accepting Christ and His sacrifice on the cross is the best path to eternal life, but not necessarily the only one.
I do not believe my atheist husband is destined for hell.
I believe in a God of love. I believe in loving my neighbor** as myself.
I believe the Bible is divinely inspired, but humanly flawed. I only accept biblical interpretations that promote love and equality, not hate or subjugation. I read the Bible with the historical and cultural context in mind. Why would we accept that verses on slavery were cultural, but verses on women’s submission are for all time, when those verses are literally right next to each other?
Today I challenge you not only to celebrate God’s love for you, but to celebrate God’s love for all of us. Jesus didn’t die on the cross for only the good, or the wealthy, or the beautiful, or the smart people.
Jesus died for all of us, because we are all sinners.
All of us.
Thus we should spend less time judging, less time condemning, and more time forgiving, more time accepting.
And no, it’s not “loving” to discriminate against one group of people who are not hurting anyone or impacting your life in any way, just because you disagree with their biology.
If we all focused on loving our neighbors, and truly treating others as we want to be treated, just think of how beautiful our world would be.
*So God created humankind in His image, in the image of God He created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 NSRV.
** “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:36-39 NSRV.
For more thoughts on my beliefs as a Christian feminist, read my review of Sarah Bessey’s Jesus Feminist and check out how I reconcile faith, feminism, and freedom.
