Language for God
A Lutheran Perspective
- Theology
- Publisher: Fortress Press (Augsburg Fortress)
- Published: 2022
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Publisher's Description
Language for God draws readers into the necessity of language and images for God that are expansive and inclusive of all genders. People hunger for scriptural and theological explanations that adequately answer criticisms and support dialogue. Using Lutheran perspectives as a compass, Mary J. Streufert offers scriptural, theological, and historical insights that advance Christianity's ongoing reformation of androcentric images and language for God. This book is for a variety of people, including those who are unsure of why language and images for God matter; those who need assurance that language and images for God include all genders, including people who identify as queer; and those who want language for God to be faithful to the Scriptures and to the witness of the Christian theological tradition. It is also for people who need convincing that God is Mother as much as Father, pregnant Christ as much as crucified Christ, and Godhead beyond all gendered appellations. The book is pastoral in that it explores the deeply personal, communal, and social ways language and images influence who we are and how we live. It takes seriously the hunger for more--for God beyond the Father. This book is also intellectual in that it challenges contemporary arguments for Father and Son as exclusive names for the first two persons of the Trinity by exploring historical developments in the ways people define sex, gender, and sexuality. Without a rigorous assessment of how these views affect Christianity, Christian language and images for God will remain androcentric. Insights from the Reformation, most pointedly from Martin Luther and the Lutheran tradition, offer points on a compass toward the reformation of Christian language and images for God in our day.
Endorsements (5)
“This book provides a thorough and accessible case for expansive and multifarious language and images for God. Weaving together personal narrative with a history of how we got here, alongside robust engagement in biblical and theological possibilities, Mary Streufert’s Language for God: A Lutheran Perspective is to Lutheran theology in the twenty-first century what Elizabeth Johnson’s She Who Is was to Catholic theology in the twentieth century. Grounded in the Lutheran tradition, this book is truly relevant for all people of faith, and for all those who have lost faith in the church’s ability to include them.”
“In this necessary book, Mary Streufert calls readers to reconsider and repent of the church’s past and present use of almost exclusively male, white language and images for God. She powerfully calls for scriptural and theological faithfulness to the gospel through tapping into language and images for God that are feminine, masculine, and gender neutral. This book is a must-read for seminarians, lay leaders, pastors, and anyone who is a part of the life of the church.”
“With fascinating detail and an ear for significant stories, Streufert offers a careful argument and informing insights related to the significance and norms for imagery and language about God. Ironically, Ironically, there are few book-length discussions of how Christians ought to speak to and about God, even though Christians and their communities have been debating this question for more than half a century. Streufert responds to this lacuna with a constructive theological proposal that calls for using multigendered terms and images. In six elegantly written chapters, she examines significant ways that the Bible and Christian tradition—including central themes in Luther’s theology—offer support for moving beyond using only male terms and masculine imagery. I urge not only Christian pastors and theologians to study this book but also all persons who yearn to know, pray, and sing to God beyond the strictures of androcentrism.”
“In Language for God, Mary Streufert weaves wisdom from the work of Martin Luther, contemporary biblical studies, and historical anthropology. Most importantly, she maintains a clear focus on the question that should guide Christian theological reflection on language for God: How can our words and images for God best contribute to people hearing the good news of Jesus?”
“In this fabulous book, Mary Streufert offers us ‘new old ways to proclaim God for us.’ Through careful investigation of the holy Scriptures, the ancient teachers of the church, the Christian and Lutheran tradition, and art she makes a convincing case for the need to, as she puts it: ‘embrace language and images for God that are feminine, masculine, and neutral and at the same time scripturally, evangelically, and theologically faithful.’ Preachers and teachers of the gospel will find in this book a wonderful resource for expanding the language available to proclaim the wonder of God’s amazing love.”
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