Pronouns Matter to the ELCA

1/30/2023

The following is an Facebook post by the ELCA's Gulf Coast Synod that shares an article they published titled "Why Pronouns Matter":

1 Comment

Didaskalos link

1/30/2023 02:39:53 pm

Actually, pronouns don't matter to the ELCA, its sententious ELCAspeak notwithstanding: "...it is a human kindness to use the pronouns a person asks you to use for them, even if you don’t understand why they want to be called that way. It doesn’t cost you anything to do so. And isn’t it what you want others to do for you?"

Jesus, the God-Man Founder of Christianity, expects that His followers reverentially refer to His Father as He, the Son, did: "The One who glorifies Me is My Father, of whom you say ‘He is our God.’ You do not know Him, but I know Him. If I said I did not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him, and I keep His word." [Jn. 8:54-55]

Jesus' instructions -- about salvation, sexuality, His Father's pronouns, and virtually every tenet of Biblical Christianity -- carry no weight with the ELCA, of course, which is happy to forfeit God's praise as long as it can get warm fuzzies from the world. Not only does the ELCA disdain He/Him pronouns for God the Father, it also haughtily refuses "Father."

Alan Shlemon writes: ...God has already revealed his pronouns in the Bible, and they are he/him. In one sense, there’s no need to debate this question since God has already decreed his decision. Remember, the Bible is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16). That means the Holy Spirit inspired the biblical authors to write the words of Scripture, and that includes the singular, masculine pronouns he chose for himself.

From the get-go of creation, Scripture says, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God HE created him; male and female HE created them” (emphasis mine). The Old Testament continues to use singular, masculine pronouns and also describes God as “Father” (Deut. 32:6), “husband” (Isa. 54:5), and “King” (Isa. 44:6). All these terms presuppose a masculine, singular reference that justifies a corresponding pronoun.
[...]
Not only was Jesus God in bodily from, but he also spoke authoritatively about how we can better understand God. Jesus routinely referred to God as “Father” (e.g., “I and the Father are one” — John 10:30). When he taught us to pray, Jesus told us to call God “Father” (Matt. 6:9) and personally referred to him as “Abba, Father” (Mk. 14:36), further justifying the use of singular and masculine pronouns.

The biblical data overwhelming supports the position that God wants us to refer to him with a singular, masculine pronoun. Since that’s how God has chosen to reveal himself, we should honor him by using the pronouns used in Scripture.
[ https://stream.org/gods-preferred-pronouns/ ]

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Pronouns Matter to the ELCA

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Dan Skogen

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Pronouns Matter to the ELCA

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​Dan Skogen

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Dan Skogen