Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 09:4 (Fall 1995)
Article: Language And Limitations
Author: Virginia Hearn

PP 9:4 (Fall 1995) p. 7

Language And Limitations

Virginia Hearn

Virginia Hearn is Adjunct Professor of Communications at New College for Advanced Christian Studies, Berkeley, California, She is the author of Just as I Am: Journal-Keeping for Spiritual Growth (Revell 1994).

In my writing I have generally used traditional “male” language for God: he, his, him. Although I do not regard God as a “Super Male in the Sky,” I grew up hearing and reading those male pronouns for God, and the use of them comes naturally to me.

Many people I know, including some of my closest friends, would like to see that usage change. They point to the overwhelming “masculinization” of the Judeo-Christian tradition and what that has meant, from its beginnings, for the role, status, and (in some eras) the survival of women. I agree with that perspective in many ways—although I am not satisfied with any of the attempts I know of to reformulate “God-Language.” In this article, therefore, I would like to outline how my thoughts have developed on this issue, and why I am still able to think of the “sovereign creator of all-that-is” as my Father in heaven.

On the other hand, language about human beings is a different matter. Psychologically, for many women, generic (i.e., “male”) language does not include them. In my own writing, and in my editing, I want to be as inclusive as possible. To do that seems only fair and just, and I do not find it at all hard or awkward to rephrase my thoughts and word use accordingly.

Several years ago my husband and I were entertaining an older Christian couple, long-time friends whom we seldom see. After awhile, our breakfast conversation got around to what we have been doing professionally for the past twenty years: writing and editing. When we mentioned our concern to broaden certain authors’ language from generic language to inclusive language, the wife suddenly flared up:

How absurd! (she said). Certainly she had learned very early in her schooling that the term man included women. The pronoun he, depending on the context, could just as well be understood as she. (Brothers? Of course that included her.) It was ridiculous, she exclaimed, that people were now making an issue of such things. My husband and I sat astounded and silent at what heretofore had been innocent and friendly conversation.

I have never forgotten that gentle woman’s anger and raised voice over the question of the kind of language to use about human beings. Yet how much more controversial is the question of the kind of language that Christians today should use about God.

Three ideas have been helpful to me as I h...