The God Who Provides

This book demonstrates how one can talk about God in a way that is not exclusively male and is also biblically responsible. Many attempts to reclaim the female imagery for God in the Bible have foundered on the paucity of explicitly female images. However, Claassens seeks to reimagine the God who feeds, which traditionally has been regarded as gender neutral, in maternal terms. A metaphor of God's provision of food includes aspects of a mother's attentiveness, a mother's...
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This book demonstrates how one can talk about God in a way that is not exclusively male and is also biblically responsible. Many attempts to reclaim the female imagery for God in the Bible have foundered on the paucity of explicitly female images. However, Claassens seeks to reimagine the God who feeds, which traditionally has been regarded as gender neutral, in maternal terms. A metaphor of God's provision of food includes aspects of a mother's attentiveness, a mother's discipline and teaching, and a mother's household management. Biblical texts where an explicit connection between God's provision of food and nursing imagery are made encourage such a reading, as they create a lingering association in the mind of the reader. The author provides reasonable alternatives to the stereotypical image of God drawing upon both the Old and New Testaments.