Rob Bell, NOOMA, and "Feminine Images" for God, Part 1

With the recent release of "She," Rob Bell's NOOMA video series reaches its twenty-first installment. Published by Zondervan, these videos are well made and are quite engaging to watch--due largely to the fact that Bell is a captivating speaker.

Bell is pastor of Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and a leader in the "emergent church." Regarding manhood and womanhood, his theological commitments are clearly egalitarian.

Competent, biblical critiques of the NOOMA videos are available elsewhere (see, for example, the review by Greg Gilbert at 9Marks). I would like to focus on the most recent video --"She" -- and what Bell describes as "feminine images" for God in the Bible.

Before addressing my concerns with Bell's presentation, let me acknowledge some areas of agreement:

(1) Bell says that, according to the Bible, "man is created in the image of God," and "woman is created in the image of God." He is absolutely right. This affirmation is foundational to any biblical discussion of men and women. According to Wayne Grudem, when we look at and talk to each other as men and women "we should remember that the person we are talking to is a creature of God who is more like God than anything else in the universe, and men and women share that status equally."

(2) Bell is right to praise the care and sacrifice of mothers. In spite of the fact that it is a high and noble calling, motherhood receives little commendation today. But few roles have such a profound impact on future generations. Dorothy Patterson writes, "Motherhood is both a demanding and a rewarding profession. . . . No one -- not teacher, preacher, or psychologist -- has the same opportunity to mold minds, nurture bodies, and develop potential usefulness like a mother."

(3) Bell is also right to speak out against women being treated as "second-class citizens." God has gifted Christian men and women to serve and function together in the church -- the body of Christ. Every part of the body is necessary (1 Cor 12:12-31). "It is insufficient for churches that hold to male headship simply to compile a list of things that are permissible for women to do," Susan Hunt exhorts. "We must go to the Scriptures and determine what is needful for women to do. Gender-aloneness was ‘not good' in the garden and the same is true in the church."

However, Bell's larger concern in the video is to talk about God. And this is where his discussion becomes problematic. Here is an excerpt from the video:

There is this maternal impulse, this ancient nurturing instinct. And it transcends time; it transcends culture; it transcends economics. There is an ancient mothering impulse, and it's also a divine impulse. Throughout the Bible, God is described as compassionate. In Hebrew, the original language of the Scriptures, it's the word "raham." It's also the word for "womb." So, God is compassionate. God is "womb-like"? This is a feminine image for God.

Now see a lot of people are very comfortable with male imagery for God. So God is the Father; God is the Warrior; God is the Judge; God is the Lawgiver. But feminine images for God?

Well there's this great line in the book of Job. God is pointing out all the complexity and creativity of creation and essentially saying to Job, "Who do you think made all of this?" And at one point, God ask Job, "From whose womb came the ice? Who gave birth to the frost from the heavens?" God's answer to Job is "God." God's womb? God gave birth? Obviously it's poetry here, so you can't take it too literally. But this is feminine imagery for God.

Now these images can be very helpful in describing the divine. But Jesus said that God is Spirit. And Spirit has no shape; it has no form; it has no physical essence. I mean, God is, in essence, beyond male and female. Or perhaps you could say it more accurately: God transcends and yet includes what we know as male and female.

Later, Bell affirms, "There is a masculine dimension to God, and there is a feminine dimension to God."

Bell is saying nothing new. Feminist writers and some evangelical egalitarians have been making similar observations and claims for some time now. However, given Bell's following and the popularity of the NOOMA video series, his teaching deserves a reply. In Part 2 of this post, I'll offer a response.