After an eight-day meeting at the "Evangelical Lutheran Church" in Sweden, the church is encouraging its leaders to refer to God as the deity beyond gender and human. This indicates that the clergy will no longer consider God as a man and the pronoun "he" is off the table.
According to reports, Evangelical Lutheran Church's Archbishop Antje Jackelen told TT news agency that their decision is justified theologically. Jackelen made it clear that God is not a boy or a girl and that is he beyond gender.
The Archbishop explained, "Theologically, for instance, we know that God is beyond our gender determinations, God is not human."
The decision of the church is part of their mission to modernize its 31-year-old guidelines during services for God. The decision was finalized on Nov. 23 and will be monitored on May 20, 2018 or Pentecost Sunday.
During an interview with The Telegraph, Church of Sweden spokesperson Sofija Pedersen Videke said that many members of the church made their decision according to the book. "We talk about Jesus Christ, but in a few places we have changed it to say 'God' instead of 'he'" she said. "We have some prayer options that are more gender-neutral than others," Videke added.
The decision was of course met with criticism. Lund University's associate theology professor Christer Pahlmblad made a comment through the Kristeligt Dagblad publication in Denmark. The professor said, "It really isn't smart if the Church of Sweden becomes known as a church that does not respect the common theology heritage."
Videke nor Jackelen has not commented on Pahlmblad's statement.
According to the Bible, God did not present his physical form to anyone unlike his son Jesus Christ. As written in the bible verse John 4:24, "God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth."
