1. God language

Wiccans affirm a belief in the Mother Goddess. It is maintained by some that the Goddess was the primary deity of pre-historic European societies, and thus the Craft is a return to true primeval worship and faith. Wiccans understand the Christian God is a patriarchal one.

The universal Christian confession about God is one of a triune deity; that is, within the unity of the one eternal God there are three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three persons share in the same nature and attributes. As a triune deity the three persons eternally exist in a relationship of unified love.

However, what must be underscored is that the Biblical texts employ a variety of images and metaphors to describe God. The Biblical language uses anthropomorphic imagery, but in context does not disclose a God who has male genitals. Jesus affirmed that 'God is Spirit' (John 4:24). The image of God as Father is meant in the sense of a nurturing parent. Contemporary readers of these texts, if not mindful of this backdrop, may understandably feel uncomfortable with the expression 'father', particularly if their relationship with a male parent has been abusive.

What needs to be brought back into focus is that the Bible presents both paternal and maternal images of God. For example, God is portrayed as a mother who nurses and comforts us (Isaiah 66: 12-13). God is likened to a midwife (Psalm 22:9), and as a seamstress (Luke 12: 27-28). God's wisdom is characterised as a woman (Proverbs 8). The imagery of a female eagle is employed to show God's tender support for us (Deut. 32: 11), and similar bird-like imagery is employed in Psalm 91 with us sheltering under God's wings. In the New Testament Jesus likens his concern to that of a mother hen gathering in her chicks (Matthew 23: 37).

In Church history some leading figures, male and female, have not hesitated to refer to the motherhood of God. Such figures include John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nyssa, Venerable Bede, Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure, Bernard of Clairvaux, Hildegard of Bingen and Anselm. Even the Protestant Reformer, Martin Luther, in his commentary on Genesis, spent time discussing the feminine images undergirding the Hebrew language used there. As God is a Spirit, both masculine and feminine elements are found. This does not mean that the Bible sets forth an androgynous deity. The creation narrative avers that in God's image both male and female are created (Genesis 1: 27), so that the two genders are equal reflections of the creator.

Wiccans therefore goad us into remembering the symbolic and figurative nature of language used in the Bible with respect to God. By way of reflection, Christians should be able to dialogue with Wiccans at this level, and not hesitate to affirm the maternal images found in the Bible.

On another level, Christians should be able to stimulate Wiccans into some deep reflections too. Christians need to be sensitive to the dark history and maltreatment of Wiccans, as well as to the contemporary cultural pain felt about patriarchy and its abuses. With that backdrop kept in focus, Christians may ask whether some Wiccans today are opting for a matriarchal deity in reaction to the excesses of a patriarchal society. To what extent is Wiccan language about the Goddess intended to be taken as literal, as symbolic, or as anthropomorphic? On historical concerns, it is a very moot point that pre-historic European societies were universally worshipping a female deity. Furthermore, even if that is conceded, does that piece of history therefore stand as revelatory proof that the creator of the universe is the Goddess?