Did Early Church acknowledge the Holy Spirit as Feminine?
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Did the Early Church acknowledge the Holy Spirit as Feminine?
An article recently titled “ The Holy Spirit as feminine: Early Christian testimonies and their interpretation”
note that the early Church referred to the Holy Spirit as Feminine.
They cite such examples from resources such as Origen’s commentary on John. He writes
>> If anyone should lend credence to the Gospel according to the Hebrews, where the Saviour Himself says, 'My Mother (mētēr), the Holy Spirit, took me just now by one of my hairs and carried me off to the great Mount Tabor', he will have to face the difficulty of explaining how the Holy Spirit can be the Mother (mētēr) of Christ when She was herself brought into existence through the Word. But neither the passage nor this difficulty is hard to explain. For if he who does the will of the Father in heaven [Mt. 12:50] is Christ's brother and sister and mother (mētēr), and if the name of brother of Christ may be applied, not only to the race of men, but to beings of diviner rank than they, then there is nothing absurd in the Holy Spirit's being His Mother (mētēr); everyone being His mother who does the will of the Father in heaven. (Origen, Commentary on the Gospel of John 2, 12 - Preuschen 1903:67)
Or Jerome which notes
>> … and he should believe in the Gospel, which has been edited according to the Hebrews, which we have translated recently, in which it is said of the person of the Saviour: 'My Mother (mater), the Holy Spirit, took me just now by one of my hairs ….' (Jerome, Commentary on Micah 2, 7, 6 - Adriaen 1969:513)
>>And also this: (in the text) 'like the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress' [Ps. 123:2], the maid is the soul and the mistress (dominam) is the Holy Spirit. For also in that Gospel written according to the Hebrews, which the Nazaraeans read, the Lord says: 'Just now, my Mother (mater), the Holy Spirit, took me.' Nobody should be offended by this, for among the Hebrews the Spirit is said to be of the feminine gender (genere feminino), although in our language it is called to be of masculine gender and in the Greek language neuter. (Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah 11, 40, 9 - Adriaen 1963:459)
So is this true? Are these genuine citations from the Church Fathers? Or is this quote mining to propel a more feminine deity?
Asked by Thejesusdude
(317 rep)
Dec 4, 2023, 04:38 AM
Last activity: Dec 6, 2023, 03:41 PM
Last activity: Dec 6, 2023, 03:41 PM