Question: Why do we refer to God as “Father?”

Answer:

Christians have always referred to God as “Father.” This way of naming God is consistent with the way that God reveals himself in Holy Scriptures, in both the Old and New Testaments.  It is a comfort to Christians, who are invited to address God as the One who provides for us and gives us everything we need.  However, this language raises questions and concerns for some people about who God is. Frequently, these objections revolve around the use of gender-specific language for God. Sometimes, people who have had abusive relationships with their earthly fathers find it difficult to talk about God in this way. These are real concerns, and Christians need to be sensitive to them. This does not mean that we can abandon the use of the traditional language used to describe and address God, though.  The title “Father” has been given to us by God as a way to describe our relationship to Him.

Theologians have pointed out that the name Father can be used to refer either to all of the persons of the Godhead equally, as in James 1:17, or specifically to the first person of the Trinity, who is associated with creating and sustaining the universe. For our purposes, we do not need to make this distinction, as it is enough simply to know that God is addressed as Father by Christians. It is not necessary to delve into the intricacies of Trinitarian theology to understand how this title is used. In the Old Testament, God is not called Father very often, but He is described in ways that evoke the relationship between a Father and child. In Deuteronomy 1:30-31, for example, Moses describes what God has done for Israel with father-son language. “The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.”  The prophet Isaiah actually calls God Father: “For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.” (Is. 63:15) In the New Testament, God is frequently referred to as Father, not only by the New Testament writers, but also by Jesus himself. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus addresses “Our Father,” and at Gethsemane, according to Matthew, He calls God “My Father.” There are many more examples God as Father in both the Old and New Testament, but these demonstrate that this way of addressing and describing God has been found among His people from the beginning, and that, not only is this language approved by the Scriptures, but it is used and encouraged by our Lord Jesus. This is not simply a title that has been invented by pious people.  It has been given to us by God Himself

Addressing God as Father reminds us of the special relationship we have with Him. He is not a distant God who set the universe in motion and then left it alone. He cares for each one of us, as a father cares for His children. Indeed, we are His children through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus, as John reminds us, “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13 RSV) In Luther’s Small Catechism, we are told why we address God as Father in the Lord’s Prayer. “With these words God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.” (SC i.iii)  We certainly may refer to “almighty God” or “Creator of the universe” when we are speaking about God, but we should always remember that God is truly our Father who gives us everything we need.

Objections to referring to God as Father because it is gender-specific have been responsible for changing the shape of Christian worship in recent years. One very recent Lutheran hymnal, for example, provides the option of calling God “The Blessed Trinity,” rather than “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” in a number of places, including the invocation of the Divine Service. While this and a number of other names are perfectly acceptable ways for us to refer to God, avoiding the name Father because it offends our sensibilities can lead us into a problematic understanding of who God is. As noted above, God Himself gave us the name Father for us to use. If we reject this name, we are rejecting the very Word of God which tells us to use it. Jesus gave specific instructions to his disciples to “[g]o… baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The word Father not only names but also describes the first person of the Trinity, in whose name Christians are baptized. It is not sufficient to use an alternate name like Creator or Parent, especially when naming the Trinity in baptism, because these are not the names that God gives us, and they do not perfectly capture the meaning that Father has. When we use alternate names to the complete exclusion of the name Father, we fail to understand and describe God as He has revealed himself to us. He is not simply our Creator, and He is not merely a Parent, He is our Father. For those whose earthly fathers were abusive or absent, addressing God as Father may be a difficult thing to do. As Christians, we can be sensitive to this need, while also assuring people in this situation that God, unlike their earthly fathers, loves His children perfectly and never breaks His promises. Some earthly fathers may be poor examples of what fathers should be, but our Heavenly Father will never betray, abandon, or abuse His children.

Our Father has blessed us by making us His children.  The title He has given us reflects the special relationship that we have with Him. It is a special privilege to call God Father.  We should not stop addressing God this way because our contemporary sensibilities have trouble understanding God as Father. He invites us to call upon Him in every need, and He has promised to provide for us. He truly is our Father.