"Have you heard of God the Mother?" Part 2

in my previous post I talked about some specific issues with the World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCG), a group that is known among students in Seattle for beginning conversations with the question, "Have you heard of God the mother" and then inviting those students to their "Bible studies" to explore the question further. These studies are, of course, entryways designed to convince, pressure, and convert people to their beliefs. 

btw: quick application for every church and follower of Christ - can we be accused of the same tactics? check yourselves! The gospel of Christ never needs to use coercion (2 Corinthians 4:1-2).

In this post I'm going to talk briefly about the whole idea of the "motherhood" of God. You may be surprised by how I'm going to start: there actually is a biblical basis for seeing certain "motherly" aspects of God. 

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• "Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, rearing them on its pinions, the LORD alone guided him...and he suckled him with honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock."  - Deuteronomy 32:10-11, 13 (the image here is extremely mothering: parenting, suckling/nursing the young. In other words, God is being described here with "motherly" adjectives)
• "You forgot the God who gave you birth" - verse 18 of the same chapter. The image here is clear. 
• "I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I...bent down to them and fed them." - Hosea 11:4 (the image here could be interpreted either as motherly or fatherly, though feeding is generally recognized as a motherly thing to do. either way, the idea of parental compassion comes out strongly) 
• "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem...How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings..." - Matthew 23:37 (here Jesus clearly uses the motherly imagery of being a mother hen caring for her brood) 

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So it's not crazy to talk about the "motherhood" aspects of God. The Bible clearly shows that God has no problem describing himself as having "motherly" love and compassion. The truth is, God is more than the words "father" or "mother" can contain. In fact, all of the best aspects of fatherhood and motherhood have their origin in God, so it shouldn't pose any problem to talk about the reverse: that good motherhood and good fatherhood reflect characteristics of God and bring glory to Him.  

btw: I wouldn't, however, go so far as to rewrite Jesus' clearly said prayer (the Lord's Prayer) to begin "our mother". He chose his words for a reason, and he taught his disciples to pray, "Our Father" not "our mother". We should do the same. 

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IN RESPONSE TO THE CLAIMS OF WORLD MISSION SOCIETY CHURCH OF GOD: 

The WMSCG clearly goes beyond claiming that God can be described using certain motherly adjectives. They claim that God is currently on earth in the form of Ms. Zhang, the Heavenly Mother, and that the Holy Spirit is manifested in the deceased Ahn Sunghong. 

Even if you can agree that God could be described as "motherly" through the Bible, there is no way that you can argue biblically that Ahn Sunghong and Ms. Zhang are the new godhead. 

• Exodus 33:17-20: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.'" If this is true, then people could not look upon Ms. Zhang and live (unless the argument is made that the God speaking to Moses is different from the Heavenly Mother, in which case we should go back to Deuteronomy 5:7 and 6:4 which speak about the Oneness of God).
• Job 38:4-7: "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth...Who determined its measurements -surely you know...On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Are you truly willing to argue that Ms. Zhang or Rev. Ahn were the ones who laid the foundation of the earth? For good measure: 39:1 - all due respect, but can Ms. Zhang tell you when "the mountain goats give birth" or (41:1) can she "draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord"? 
• Revelation 21:2: "And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." This is actually one of the verses that WMSCG members use to try and argue for the fact that when the Bible talks about God it is talking about the Heavenly Mother (Ms. Zhang). 

Now, just plainly speaking here:. Do you think John is talking here about a person who will be born in the 20th century and to be described and worshiped as our "Heavenly Mother"? Or do you think he is talking about a place, whether spiritual and/or geographical? Read the whole chapter and you tell me. The clear, common sense interpretation of what John is writing about here (through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) is that he is describing a place, using bridal imagery to show his reader how important and carefully prepared this place will be for God.

There's plenty right in the chapter that points to scripture meaning a place (either spiritual or geographical) and not a person when it references the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21, but let's also note the fact that the redeeming and rebuilding of Jerusalem is a constant theme throughout the Old Testament. Granted, this had to do with the fact that Jerusalem was literally destroyed by its invaders and the Jews had been scattered all over the world, longing to return to their home city to rebuild it (which they end up doing). But even in those prophecies there is talk about an "eternal" Jerusalem, one that will never face destruction:

• Isa 33:20, 62:6-9, 66:13 - in this last verse note that while the entire chapter talks about Jerusalem as a mother/woman, it is clear that it is a place in and through which God's grace and mercy will be seen. The image is of a woman, but the actual identity of Jerusalem is as a spiritual and/or geographical place, not a person. 

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Alright, with all this said, let me close with one final important point: it would be real easy to hate on this group, but we are not called to that either as followers of Christ. We can hate what they are doing, we can hate the fact that people's families have been torn apart by them, but we must pray for them and extend the gospel of Christ to them. It doesn't help to bash them either online or to their faces: what we do must bring fame and honor to the name of Jesus Christ. 

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more resources: 

a great video overviewing WMSCG

http://www.factnet.org/?p=665 

an article showing the link between the "We Love U" foundation and WMSCG

http://www.stripes.com/news/feeling-the-love-1.87526

many comments from family members who have been hurt by the WMSCG and lost loved ones to them

http://brendoman.com/wardwords/2005/11/21/cult