Anglicans consider gender-neutral Parent in Heaven
The logo of the Church of England. Public domain image
According to an article 9th February 2023 in The Telegraph (UK), the Church of England will soon start a debate on whether to stop calling God “He” and “Father”, instead using more gender-neutral language and “Parent in Heaven”. The issue was raised at a meeting of the church’s General Synod decision-making body after a female vicar from Somerset asked about adopting a “more inclusive language”.
Sky News of Australia writes that – should such changes go through – the most important prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, may then begin with, “‘Our parent’ who art in heaven”.
The expression “Parent in Heaven” would be very much in line with the teachings of the Family Federation. In light of the above, this could be seen as truly progressive.
Mother Moon clarified that God is our Heavenly Parent in 2013, and she changed the word “God” to “Heavenly Parent” in what many consider the creed of the Family Federation – the Family Pledge. Such a change is not for the sake of gender-neutral language and being politically correct. What Mother Moon wants to emphasize, is that God is our Father and our Mother. Her late husband Father Moon had actually taught that God is our Parent in Heaven since he started his ministry.
Dr. Andrew Wilson, Professor of Biblical Studies at Unification Theological Seminary, New York, explains,
Dr. Andrew Wilson
“Jesus prayed to God as his Father, and traditional Christian belief is nearly unanimous in calling God, Father (There is, however, a suppressed or hidden teaching about Mother God in Mormonism).
In contrast, the Principle of Creation [the first chapter of the Unification Principles] teaches that God has dual characteristics of masculinity and femininity. This is based on the scriptural teaching that the image of God is both male and female (Gen. 1:27). Accordingly, the full embodiment of God on earth requires not just a male Christ but a couple — True Parents — who are to fulfill God’s ideal for Adam and Eve as the substantial being of God. […]
What is interesting is that after the Moons’ Holy Wedding in 1960 which established this messianic reality in both genders, mainstream Christians began to explore God’s femininity as well.
Beginning in the 1970s Christian feminists, including Phyllis Trible, Elisabeth Schüssler-Fiorenza and Mary Daly, began to speak out about this ignored dimension of God and about God’s manifestation in the lives of Her daughters as well as His sons.” (From “Rev. Moon’s Unrecognized Influences on Christian Theology”, article on Applied Unificationism, a Blog of Unificaton Theological Seminary, March 2015.)
Dr. Wilson states in the same article,
“Rev. Moon has been influencing Christianity quietly and unbeknownst to them through some of the new teachings he shared with the world in the Divine Principle. I say ‘indirectly’ because often the causality is not determined. Perhaps Rev. Moon was an early proponent of certain teachings that were already in the zeitgeist of the late 20th century. Or perhaps God, in seeking to plough the field for Rev. Moon, moved to open Christianity’s theological horizons so it would be receptive to his proclamation.
After all, God is the Source of truth, even the truths revealed by Rev. Moon. Suffice it to say that the theological landscape of Christianity in the early 21st century is quite different from what it was in the early 20th century, and many of those differences are congruent with Rev. Moon’s teachings.”
Featured image above: Facsimile from an article in The Telegraph 9th Feb. 2023.
Text: “Anglicans: Our Parent in Heaven” written by Knut Holdhus.
