What Language Shall I Borrow?: God-talk in Worship: a Male Response to Feminist Theology

f all naming of God arises out of human experience, then societies and cultures with a male-dominated tradition are bound to have affected religious attitudes and practices. That is the presupposition of Brian Wren's new book, and it aims at remedying the situation, at least in worship. His particular concern is language: the systematic and almost exclusive use of male God-language in a faith where God is revealed as incarnate in a male human being distorts Christianity. But many people find this distortion hard to recognize and accept-as indeed Brian Wren himself did originally. After analysing the situation, his book goes on in an evocative and creative way to show how much can be learned from feminist insights and how many sensitive Christians need not be faced with the altemative of being true to their own insights and leaving the church or suffering under a warped tradition and practice. At a time when there is so much discussion about the role of the feminine in theology and the church, especially in connection with the ordination of women, Brian Wren makes an important contribution towards achieving a better future.