Thursday, June 22, 2006

Extreme Makeover: Trinity Edition

"My Rainbow, My Rainbow why have you forsaken me"
--The Ark in Matthew 27:26

Apparently the Presbyterian leaders (PCUSA) met earlier this week at their national assembly and began looking for more gender-nuetral language for the trinity. Instead of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost other suggestions were made.

Here are some of those ideas suggested:
- Mother, Child and Womb
- Rock, Redeemer and Friend
- Lover, Beloved, and Love
- Creator, Savior and Sanctifier
- King of Glory, Prince of Peace and Spirit of Love
- Rainbow, Ark, and Dove
- Speaker, Word and Breath

Don't believe me?
Here's some places that talk about it.

Chicago Tribune: Presbyterians revisit the Trinity
Baptist Press: FIRST-PERSON: The God who names Himself (article by R. Albert Mohler Jr.)
PC(USA) website: Trinity paper draws both praise, criticism in hearings

(via)

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11 comments:

Paula said...

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet...

Kimberly Ann said...

This is really funny, and really wierd. I'm thinking they should just stick with the good ole' Father, Son and Holy Ghost names. Or, I don't know, maybe while they're at it they'd like to rename patriotic symbols also...you know, make Uncle Sam Ruler Sunshine or something...I can just see it now: Ruler Sunshine wants you!

Darrell said...

Oh, Prince H. of Peace, that's just so stupid. I LOVE the title of your post, by the way.

littlebitofsonshine said...

o i love the title and i love rainbows soooooo much i have them tatooed on me rainbow was sapost to be the first sign from god not to flood the world next comes fire hehe

poppedculture said...

How about Big Daddy, Junior, and the Spook? Or if you want to get more secular, Snap, Crackle and Pop?

Pfangirl said...

LOL... Got to love those Presbyterians;)

The renaming of the Trinity is one of the silliest things I've ever heard. If you want to encourage gender neutrality within Christian organised religion, do it at the level of action; not via a convoluted twisting of words.

David S. MacMillan III said...

Hey - thanks man for commenting on my post about this. And nice title - I only wish I had thought of it.

I am moving over to WordPress here soon - but once I get around to it I will definitely be adding you to my blogroll. And remind me and I will post about this post - that should send a few extra readers your way.

At my post, I listed the "rules" that the originator of this "Mother, Child, Womb" idea came up with. Based on those, why don't we call the Trinity "Hen, Door, Blanket"? Sounds good to me!

In Him,

David S. MacMillan III

Jim Jannotti said...

Doesn't surprise me in the slightest. You are certainly creative enough to have made it up, but since it's the Presbyterian Church (USA), I knew it was true.

Ugh.

queen_spoo said...

This is nuts...I heard the Episcopal Church had also considered the gender-neutral language.

Please tell me how "mother/child/womb" and "King of Glory/ Prince of Peace/Spirit of Love" are any more gender-neutral than "Father/Son/Holy Ghost"????

Sheesh.

rantingspoo.blogspot.com

nativity.blogspot.com

The Unseen One said...

OW!!! This bruises my neck meat!!! ;)

Anonymous said...

Almost all of these are trash.

Mother, Child, womb. Exact feminine mirror of the current Trinity except massively obscures the nature of the Holy Spirit.

Rock, Redeemer, Friend. Nice, if used in a song or poem. Besides, God is not your friend; he is your father, your counselor, and at the end of times, your judge. Again, obscures the meaning.

God loves, but God is not love, unless you worship Aphrodite and Cupid. We do not worship love.

Creator, Savior, and Sactifier. Not bad, though I would prefer to use the Biblical term "Counselor" for the Spirit. This actually makes sense and aids understanding.

King/Prince/Spirit. In short, the exact same thing we have now with flowery language. Why change?

Rainbow, Ark, Dove. Massively obscures the meaning. The Noah metaphor might be nice for a sermon, but not for actually referencing God.

Speaker, Word, Breath. Again, maybe for a sermon example, but not for referencing God.