The Holy Spirit

I have been convinced that the person of the Holy Spirit should be referred to in the feminine, due to Her position as the life-giving creative force within the Godhead.

Scripture is fairly clear on this as, in the language that Jesus spoke, Aramaic, the word for Spirit is ‘ruach’, and is feminine. It is also feminine in Hebrew and in Greek the equivalent word is neutral. It is only the later translations, in a male-dominated society and church, that all three persons of the Godhead are addressed as male.

God, when He became aware, begat his Will, which we call the Son, and that which was the Life of God, we call the Spirit. We see this reflected in the conception of a child. At first it is one mass of cells – body, mind and spirit are completely one – the closest we ever are to the true likeness of God – then it separates into mind and body, permeated by spirit and becomes aware.

If Man is made in the image of God it is not unreasonable to extrapolate backwards to get an idea of what God is like. We are all made up of a balance of masculine and feminine. The balance is more one way in men and a different way in women.

Given that we are spiritual beings, inhabiting a physical body, the deep-seated understanding of God has been there throughout all our generations and from the moment of conception. People throughout the ages have ‘instinctively’ worshipped the creative life-force, an innate understanding that we came from somewhere for a purpose. All cultures have shown that life-giving creative force as feminine – Earth Mother, Shakti, the ‘cult’ of Mary within Catholicism. It seems completely illogical and unreasonable that we should be different

We have always recognised the creative power of women, it has been feared and revered throughout creation. The feminine is a flow of life, in and around everything, like a river – indeed, we call it the Water of Life – but, like a river, if it is not controlled or kept within bounds, it becomes wild and anarchic and ultimately, self-destructive. The masculine will was put in place by God to place limits and a control on that flow. It’s like placing stones in a river, standing firm and keeping the flow in order. It is the case that women can strike up a common bond between themselves, regardless of culture and background, connecting that flow of spirit, in a way that men are virtually unable to do.

To consider the Spirit as feminine has always seemed completely reasonable and right to me. It makes complete sense of a lot of what I have understood about life. It demonstrates that masculine and feminine, male and female, men and women, are not the same. That they have hugely different and complementary roles to play, all to be played out in a totally self-giving love. Women do not have to strive to be like men, they have a gift that they share directly with God, to create life and love unconditionally. Equally men should not be like women, but can stand in confidence, like the person of Christ, providing a loving security and order on the formless flow of the Spirit.

It explains why God created the institution of marriage, not as a reflection of the relationship between Christ and His Church – marriage existed long before that relationship, although it is a useful illustration – but rather as a reflection of the love of the Godhead. Love that is totally self-giving, love that has to be given or else it becomes a possession and corrupt, that allows the creative force to flow within the bounds, and to create the life - a reflection, albeit slightly blurred, of how the Trinity came into being.