WMSCOG, believing in God the Mother

Recently, people are more and more interested in the World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG). Many news medias report about WMSCOG day after day and the Church of God has received a lot of awards from government by their volunteer activities. This time I will introduce some media report about the Church of God.

Why is there only God the Father? Why isn’t there God the Mother? Most people have probably wondered about this at least once while reading the Bible, even if they are not Christians. Not many verses in the Bible directly talk about the existence of God the Mother, but there are many verses that express the femininity of God, which accounts for God the Mother.

“… the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.” (Galatians 4:26)

“One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.'” (Revelation 21:9)

“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes let him take the free gift of the water of life.” (Revelation 22:17)

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” (Isaiah 49:15) In regard to the femininity of God which is shown throughout the Bible, some scholars in women’s studies speculate, “The reason God is described as Father is because the Bible was written society was led by the male-oriented patriarchal culture.”

The above quote is based on the premise that God cannot be defined as either male or female, or that God is both masculine and feminine at the same time. In addition, it has often been proposed that God is not singular but plural. That reason is because of the Hebrew word “Elohim” which appears in the Old Testament. “Elohim” is the plural term of “Eloah” which means a singular God, and the word “Elohim” is mentioned ove 2,500 times in the Old Testament.

In the Bible, “Elohim” is translated into “we.” Why does the Bible record God, who is known as the one and only, as “we”? Especially the verse, “… God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…'” (Genesis 1:26) has been regarded as an unsolved mystery among the experts who have studied and interpreted the Bible for a long time. In the book, “Mysteries of the Bible,” published by Reader’s Digest in the early 1990’s, various interpretations of “Elohim” have been given by scholars. The ancient Jewish philosopher Philo said, “Elohim is the reflection of human characteristics that is good and evil at the same time.” Some scholars who studied about the early Church asserted, “It refers to the existence of Jesus who was with God when He created the heavens and the earth.” Afterwards, some theologians brought forth diverse interpretations such as: “It is just an expression showing the close relationship between the kingdom of God and the human world,” “It indicates God Himself and the angels,” as well as many other interpretations. (To be continued)