Inclusive Language and Speaking of God: The Gospel at Stake

Carl E. Braaten

Article Type: Face to Face

Publication Date: 1/1/1991

Paired Article (Face to Face): Inclusive Language and Speaking of God: It's Not "Anything Goes"

Issue: Death and Resurrection (Vol. 11, No 1, Winter, 1991)

There is a controversy going on over so-called inclusive language in the life of the church today. It is impossible to evade it, given the fact that it poses a theological issue of the highest order. The controversy is about how we speak of God in our language of prayer and proclamation. The question of what language to use is inseparable from the question of the identity of the particular God of whom we speak. It is possible for us to use language so nondescript that it fails to identify which God among all possible deities we aim to address.

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