I knew the devil’s PR machine was working way overtime the minute I stumbled across a website affiliated with a well-known Protestant denomination. That site – and apparently the local church that spawned it – have as their mission the “re-imagining” of the God of the Bible as a pagan female deity.
“To celebrate the feminine persona of God/dess” is the purpose of the site, according to whatever miscreant created it and lent it the appearance of respectability under someone else’s 500-year-old denominational name.
Hello? ‘Scuse me? First of all, what goddess? And what does “re-imagine” mean in regular-people talk? That the human race only imagined God in the first place, so therefore we are free to re-imagine Him in any way that suits us? Second … well, it’s hard to know where to begin.
“Using exclusively masculine terms and systems of domination is contrary to the Gospel and the heart of the risen Christ and the mission of the church,” the site says. “Exclusively masculine God-language is oppressive and idolatrous. It undermines the human equality of women made in the divine image, resulting in social and economic injustice. We also create an idol when we worship only a masculine deity, breaking the commandment against idolatry” (emphasis mine).
Let me get this straight: Believing what Almighty God has plainly said about Himself in His own book is “idolatry”? But then, as well as word redefinition has worked for the communists (“revolution,” “imperialism,” “republic”), the feminists (“right,” “oppression,” “choice”), the homosexuals (“diversity,” “gay,” “tolerance”), and the Islamists (“blasphemy,” “honor,” “modesty,” or take your pick), who can blame the pagans for trying their hand at it as well?
The website, if you want to check it out, is called HerChurch.org. Its sponsor (drum roll … and sit down, all you Lutherans out there) is Ebenezer Lutheran Church of San Francisco, Calif., affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, or ELCA, a 4.8-million member mainline denomination based in Chicago. ELCA is by far the largest Lutheran body in the United States.
Re-imagining God is actually very Lutheran, the site is quick to assert, although I’m willing to bet that even on his worst day Martin Luther wasn’t into this sort of stuff. HerChurch also hawks rosary beads, which ought to send both Lutherans and Catholics into a tailspin, even if for separate reasons. The clincher is that, in place of the crucifix Catholics use to signify the substitutionary atoning death of Jesus, hangs a naked woman! What does that signify? I’ll let you decide.
“Semi-precious gemstone beads are used for each rosary,” the ad reads. “We attempt to get fair trade beads, especially those made by women.”
“I think men are longing for a return to the Goddess and want their worship to be focused on Her,” gushes customer “Steve,” evidently very happy with his naked woman rosary purchase.
You’re a sick puppy, Steve.
Doubtful that even liberal ELCA would keep an atrocity like this in fellowship, I typed in ELCA.org and clicked on “Find a Church.” Sure enough, ELCA provides a link to Ebenezer of San Francisco and HerChurch.org.
Readers of the New Testament know its lack of ambiguity regarding pastors who teach destructive heresies (2 Peter 2:1) and the obligation their bishops have to command them to stop (1 Timothy 1:3). This is a far more pressing biblical mandate than debating homosexuality, voting on divestment from Israel, or saving the world from global warming, all of which ELCA leadership seems to find adequate time to do. Perhaps Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson, who can be reached at (800) 638-3522, needs to be reminded of this fact.
If professing Christians continue to allow their churches to be hijacked by over-the-edge pastors and overseers, the situation is never going to improve. Ebenezer Lutheran Church – and whatever lunatic peers it may have elsewhere – will continue to camouflage their witchcraft behind religious garb and rituals, trampling on the words of their Savior and those members who still follow Him, holding on to a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.
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Marylou Barry is a journalist and Christian Zionist with a special interest in the Middle East. Visit her blog, Marylou’s America.
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