Teacher: Chris Maurus

A reader wrote to me having concerns about what we (humans) call God and in particular the reference to God as “Father.”  I thought this would be a helpful explanation to post because many have pondered why we relate to things in terms of gender, when in reality we know that God is genderless.  Below are her statements and my response.

I notice the reference of God as the Father, and humans as sons.

I have been raised in a Christian religion where this reference is common. However, I firmly believe that God (or whatever you wish to call it) is neither male nor female, while being both at the same time. While the 11:11 messages have at several times emphasize on the need for more equality between men and women, I regret to see mention of God perpetuating a man-dominating world.

I wish the reference to God be either neutral or as She and He, Father and Mother.

Thank you for your understanding.

Thank you for writing and expressing your concerns.  Let me first say that you are correct in that God is neither male or female—God is both mother and father—the primal first cause—the first source and center—creator of all.  God also is a person, and God has personality, and we can know God.  God is the source of all personality.  Also does God bestow a part of herself/himself in each of us to live in our mind—the Indwelling spirit—the Thought Adjuster.  You may better relate to this God fragment in you as she and this would be perfectly acceptable because she is in you and will become one with you sometime during your mansion world souljourn in which you will become a new creature in the universe sharing in the attributes of this divinity of the creator.  Only on the evolutionary worlds do male and female exist.  When you pass from this life in the flesh, your new morontia body has no reproductive capacity and therefore technically you are neither male nor female (like the angels), but you will still be you and you may identify with a more female-like aspect of personality in your relations to other personalities and beings.  Even the angels are created in pairs with personalities that are considered positive and negative meaning assertive and passive like.

We live in a world with a long history and with many languages and dialects.  All of our languages developed down through the ages to use gender to convey ideas and meanings that relate to our environment and our associations with other persons and the animal kingdom alike.  There is no language that I know of that is gender neutral in its syntax.  As finite evolutionary creatures, we cannot appreciate or relate to something that is eternal—without beginning or end—we have no capacity or reference for such paradoxical concepts.  Therefore, we relate our concept of God as someone (a person) who has a paternal interest in his/her children who loves us and calls us to perfection (to be like Him/Her).  IMO I cannot conceive God as an it—He/She is more personal to me and therefore the gender specific modifier is acceptable to my thinking and to many others.  Please understand this: human language is woefully inept to convey spiritual realities because there is no earthly or human counterpart for us to compare these ideas and concepts too.  There is no sexist intent in any of the celestial messages, only a structure of language that best relates to human understanding with respect to the language used at the time of the given revelations.

Moreover, had our world developed female dominant, and there are such worlds, Christ would have surely incarnated into female form in order to execute his mission on earth, and we may well be referring to God as our heavenly Mother.  God does not care what we call Him/Her, God is only concerned with our relationship, intents and purposes with Him/Her.—you see the difficulty in communicating neutral?  We in the 11:11 Progress Group and the celestial messengers follow the example of Christ Michael (Jesus) in reference to the Father, as the universal deity at the center of creation—the first cause—creator of all.  The term sonship (not sons) is used for the very same reason, just as Christ used it in referring to those in the Kingdom (in the family of God).

At the local universe level, Father and Mother would certainly be accurate in reference to Christ Michael and Mother Spirit (Nebadonia), the creators of our local universe.

We all understand that this is only a name game and there is no intent to portray God as a supreme male deity with human emotions and dimensions.  I also realize that if somebody had a fatherless childhood or a father who was abusive to them, they would naturally find the term father a poor representation of a all loving, all wise, paternal deity—and this is unfortunate.  Had all people been raised with a human father as loving as the creator, I have little doubt that the term father would be offensive in reference to God.

We, the light workers at the 11:11 Progress group are under the direction of the planetary prince of Urantia and this is the acceptable language for this day and time and for the many. If you understand my explanation for the usage of gender in conveying spiritual concepts and ideas, then you may understand that the intent is gender neutral but paternal in reference to God and the relationship to His/Her children.

These are my thoughts, and I hope that this was helpful to you.

Sincerely,

Chris.