This topic has gained much attention recently because James Talarico, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Texas, made the statement, “God is nonbinary.” Is that true? Is God binary?
Republican politicians are using Talrico’s comment as a hammer to label him as a liberal, a heretic and out of step with Texans. Is that true?
Let us start with a definition of the word. “Binary” refers to something composed of two parts, elements or alternatives. Does that describe God? How do you define the Trinity without saying God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
Bill Bruster
One of the most common words to describe God is the Hebrew word Eloheim, used more than 2,750 times in the Old Testament. The “im” ending indicates the word is plural. That does not refer to polytheism but more likely to the difficulty of defining God. In fact, in my opinion, if you can define your God, your God is too small.
The primary objection to describing God as nonbinary is referring to God as male, as Father. True, the Bible does accurately describe God as Father. There are many reasons for describing God as Father. Words are the primary tools we have in trying to describe the indescribable. And God is indescribable, but the Old Testament writers had to use some words, and they chose the word Father.
They had little choice. Women were clearly second-class citizens in that paternalistic world. Had they used the word “Mother” to describe God, that God would have been considered weak, impotent and second class in their culture.
Lost in the discussion is the fact that the Bible is full of passages that describe the feminine nature of God. Many powerful passages show God with feminine, maternal and nurturing characteristics. These emphasize God’s deep compassion, protectionism and life-giving nature.
Just a few examples: The book of Proverbs, the Song of Solomon, Genesis 7:1, Deuteronomy 32:18, Job 38:28-29, Isaiah 42:14 and 46:3-4, John 16:21 and Galatians 4:19. If in need of a comprehensive study, read Mike Morrell’s book Biblical Proofs for the Feminine Face of God in Scripture. Another excellent book that demonstrates the feminine nature of God is Richard Rohr’s The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation.
There are several theological issues with describing God as only male. If God is male, does God have sexual urges? God created male and female with sexual urges. Every male I have known has sexual urges. Does God? If so, why did God not create a divine female with whom the Father could fulfill sexual urges?
A multitude of trained theologians would describe God as nonbinary. To fail to recognize God as male, female, Spirit (which is neither male nor female), changeless and changing, static and dynamic, demanding and forgiving, is to exhibit an ignorance of the Bible and an immature theology.
I have read the Bible 35 times from cover to cover. I have studied the Bible formally with a doctorate in theology. I have been preaching the Bible for 71 years. My God is not binary.
Bill Bruster is a retired pastor of multiple Southern Baptist churches, the last of which was First Baptist Church of Abilene, Texas. He was instrumental in launching the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and spent the latter part of his career as national networking coordinator for CBF. He lives in Dallas, where he is a member of Wilshire Baptist Church.