The Holy Spirit as Feminine/ God and Gender

In my last sermon, I referred to the Holy Spirit in feminine language. I'm taking a few minutes to explain my reference to the Holy Spirit as feminine.  I appreciate that others have asked about the reference, and I'm glad to write about it.  Below is a short history about why the language about God is an issue, a direct answer as to why I refer to the Spirit in the feminine sense, a digression about my own sense of talking about God, and a summary.

Background
Inclusive language has become a major issue in some denominations.  It is a battle that has played out in liturgies, orders of service, and even Bible translations.  To give an example, the King James Version of the Bible sometimes refers to "mankind."  We understand this to mean all humans, but newer Bible translations, such as the New Revised Standard Version went the extra mile and translated the word for "mankind" as "humankind" or "all the peoples."  I think this makes the Biblical point much better than simply "mankind."  In fact, the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, which is the translation used in mainstream Christian denominations and in academic study of the Bible, took as a translating principle that, unless a word referred to something specifically masculine, then the translators would use neutral or inclusive language.  So, when there is a reference like "my brothers," but we know that this meant all people, it is translated as "my brothers and sisters."  The NRSV then footnotes the change and gives the original wording.

In any case, these issues of translation were happening in a time in which some Christians were reacting to many other societal issues (1959-1990), and people drew lines in the sand at the issue of gender when it came to talking about God.  Feminists wanted more (or only) feminine language in referring to God, and those who would lean to the conservative side reacted strongly, saying that God (the entire Trinity) is male and needed to stay that way.  I stand somewhere in the middle of these two positions, as my answers will show.

Direct Answer
In my sermon I referred to the Holy Spirit as "wisdom and knowledge Herself."  When I wrote this I knew it would be picked out.  The language we've used about God has been masculine for so long that it is hard to think of God in other ways.  And since we think of God and Jesus as male, then the Holy Spirit must be male as well.  I no longer think like this because male-only language seems to put God in a box that is too small for God (female-only language about God has the same problem).

Christian theology has long understood the Holy Spirit to be the inspiration of all truth and knowledge, flowing from the Father and the Son.  Wisdom, in Scripture, is sometimes personified as a woman (see for example Proverbs 1:20-33).  This reference to wisdom as feminine is the case in both the King James Version and New International Version of the Bible...and these are translations which are certainly not known for using gender-inclusive language.  Given this scriptural basis, we can say that at least some aspect of the Holy Spirit may be referred to as feminine. 

But, going further, Hebrew and Aramaic (the languages of Jesus) are gendered languages, like German and Spanish.  A word can either be masculine, feminine, or neutral.  In Spanish, you can tell which is which by the "el" or "la" in front of the word (Example: el hombre is masculine, la mujer is feminine).   The word in Hebrew and Aramaic for spirit/breath/wind is ruach and it is feminine in gender.  In Greek, the translation of spirit/breath is pneuma, which is gender-neutral.  So, the original languages would have us refer to the Holy Spirit  as "she" or "it," but not "he."


Some other digressing thoughts
I'm going a bit further afield here, but here are some other thought's I've had regarding God and gender.  Over time I've become convinced that references to God and the Holy Spirit are best when they make no reference at all to gender. 

1. If all humankind is created in the image of God, then both men and women bear some traits of God.  So, to refer to God as only male or only female does not accurately portray the complexity of God.  Throughout Christian history and even going back to scripture, a variety of metaphors have been attributed to God...and while most are masculine, there are quite a few that are maternal and/or feminine.  We would do well to remember all of these references, masculine and feminine, because they all tell us something about God.
2. We learned from Jesus to refer to God as "our Father" when the disciples asked Jesus how they should pray.  Jesus wasn't making a point about God being male, but about God being as close as family and a loving parent.  I came to this conclusion when I learned that the word "Abba," which Jesus uses as father, is closer in meaning to "daddy/poppa" than our formal "father."  Further, in the society in which Jesus lived, both Jewish and Roman, a father was in complete (particularly legal) control of his family.   "Abba, Father" implied the type of sovereignty God has over all the world and God's closeness to us, not just God's gender.

Summary
Okay, I've written a lot, so I'll summarize.  God transcends our understanding of gender and sex.  God is greater than the language we mortals can use about God.  I find it more proper to avoid gender when referring to God, though I can still speak of God as father in the sense that I am a child of God.  Scripture, talking about God in metaphor, uses both masculine and feminine language.  This is proper since God is greater than those gendered labels.  In referring to the Holy Spirit, the original languages allow for either "it" or "she," but not "he." So when I talk about the Trinity, I try to keep God as God, Jesus as male, and the Spirit as "it" or "she."  I'm comfortable with feminine and masculine language about God, although I try to avoid it or use both equally.

I hope this helps explain my sermon.  It tends to be that a sermon reflects years of study, and one word in a sermon can inspire an essay's worth of material to explain the choice of the word.