Is it possible to view God as a mother who fathers or a father who mothers? Is mothering a task only women participate in? Is fathering a task only for men?
As a mother of four, I determined not to threaten my children with these words: “You just wait until your father comes home!” I could and would do the work of fathering at that moment when it was necessary. And he, their father, would do the task of mothering whenever necessary as well. From my experience, when parents mother or father poorly the consequences are overwhelming tragic.
I’ve been reading about the Ethics of Care, a subject or field of study that is yet young, having been initiated by feminists in the early 80s. Currently, I’m focusing at the the works of Eva Feder Kittay, a feminist philosopher and mother of a profoundly disabled daughter. Her work is giving me the language to sort out my own experiences of life and work with a disabled sister.
From 7 years of age until I turned 13, I memorized the questions and answers in the Heidelberg Catechism so I could recite them before the congregation on the day of my confirmation. I have a fondness in my heart for the catechism even though I left the Reformed church a few years after my confirmation. What I valued from it is the systematic and thorough way of teaching children, and the commitment to biblically training their children.
And yes, much of its doctrine sank into my heart, even if as I matured in my faith I had to tweak it here and there where it failed to align with what the scriptures taught.
So, when googling about the subject of care I was delighted to stumble across an essay by Fritz de Lange, a Reformed theologian, from the Netherlands, that concerned the Heidelberg Catechism (HC). 1 This got my attention.
Don’t you just love the internet! A few decades ago my research would have required trips to libraries and even then the access to the global views and international scholarly works would be extremely limited.
Just this morning, while eating my bowl of cream of wheat, (thanks to my grandson Theo, who spent his spring break with us, for reintroducing me to a favorite breakfast from childhood) I finished watching an online lecture, Disability and an Ethics of Care: Friends or Foes” from The Centre for Disability Research and Training, Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi.
This was just one lecture from a 5-day seminar on “Why Does Disability Research Matter?” There’s so much to learn. Ethics of care, a field of study attributed to feminist philosophers in the early 80s, has grown into an important field of care, ethics, and morality.
In the article, de Lange attempts to locate elements of care within the Catechism. In the abstract he writes that the HC describes “God as a caring ‘mothering‘ God” (my italics). Now that REALLY got my attention.
Below are a few quotes I found encouraging from section 5:
“Providence: A Mothering Father” p. 6-7 (Again all my italics.)
- The heavenly Father in the HC cared for his creation like a caring father motherly cares for his offspring.
- Motherly care is not romantic or sentimental.
- The romantic notion of motherhood is perhaps a patriarchal, male bias.
- Would Calvin have been thinking differently about God’s fatherly providence, if he only had seen a caring mother before him instead of a imperial ruler?
- At the origin of God’s providence lies a creative love, not a decreeing will.
- To love requires fragility and vulnerability.
- Though the image of God as a Father is dominant, its connotations are motherly. p. 9
Only time will tell if this essay’s focus on ethical care as a characteristic of God is enough to remedy the view of many who hold to the idea that God is ‘sadistic’ (p 2) when held to account for sending suffering to innocent people.
Perhaps, it is the very studies and research on the subject of ethical care, that comes from the concept of mothering, that can turn hearts again to faith in a God who truly loves like a mothering Father.
- de Lange, F.. (2014). The Heidelberg Cathechism: Elements for a theology of care. Acta Theologica,34 (Suppl.20), 156-173. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/actat.v20i1.11s
Leave a Reply