Nana Yaw Aidoo
There are times when I thank God for social media. One of those times was when I came into contact with an old-time friend from senior high school by the agency of Facebook. I had made a religious post which he saw and which led to his sending me a direct message saying we needed to talk. I gave him my contact number, he sent me a WhatsApp message and it was like old times again.
In the subsequent discussions, I realized that my friend was a member of the World Mission Society Church of God. I knew that as a denomination it was wrong but I really wasn’t alarmed until my friend asked me whether I had heard of “God the Mother.” The discussion that ensued impressed on me that my friend was in a cult. Quickly, I looked up his church online and—how right I was! To say this church is a heretical sect is an understatement.
Among the many beliefs of the World Mission Society Church of God (including the idea that a dead South Korean man, Ahnsahnghong, is Christ who returned to earth a second time) is the belief that there is such a thing as “God the Mother” in the Bible. They posit on their website, english.watv.org, that “The Bible clearly testifies that our heavenly Mother exists, and that only our heavenly Mother can give us eternal life.” How did they come across this idea? They quote from Genesis 1:26-27 and give this commentary:
The above verse states that God has two images—a male image and a female image. Until now, we have only known and called upon the male image of God: “Father.” Then how should we call upon the female image of God? Logically, we should refer to God’s female image as “Mother.” This is why God had said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.”
The word “us” is a plural term. “Elohim,” the Hebrew word used in place of “God” in Genesis 1:26, directly translates to “Gods,” the plural form of the word “God.” Therefore, the references to “us” in the book of Genesis refer to God the Father and God the Mother. Some say that the word “us” in this verse indicates God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. If this argument is correct, there should be three types of people in the world—those who were made in the image of God the Father, those who resemble the image of God the Son, and those created in the image of the Holy Spirit. However, on this earth there are only two types of people: men and women. Therefore, the “Gods” mentioned in Genesis 1:26 are the male image of God and the female image of God-God the Father and God the Mother.
As if this weren’t blasphemous enough, apparently “God the Mother” dwells among men in the person of an old South Korean woman named Jang Gil-Ja. (Wikipedia). Like the false teachers of Peter’s day, the leaders of this group are unlearned and unstable and as a result, they wrest the scriptures to their own destruction. Unfortunately, ignorant yet sincere people like my friend are being led to hellfire with their error. Does God really have two images like this group teaches? A careful look at Genesis 1:26-27 should debunk this heresy. It is written:
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Indeed, the words “Elohim,” “us” and “our” are plural. Yet one thing is unmistakable; the word “image” is singular. The text does not read, “…let us make man in our images…” but in our “image.” The reason being that, though the God of the Bible is an “Us” God (see Gen. 11:5-7; 1 Pet. 1:2), He really is one God (Deut. 6:4) and He has a singular image, an image which isn’t physical (cf. John 4:23-24; Luke 24:39).
Notice also that the singular “image” is qualified with the singular pronouns “his” and “he.” It is in this singular “he image” that God created man and woman. “…male and female created he them.” If there really were two Gods with two different images at the creation of man, how difficult is it to say that God created man in “their (plural) own images (plural)…male and female created they (plural) them?” If God could inspire Moses to use plural words like “Elohim” and “us,” then surely, He could have inspired Moses to use “their,” “they” and “images.”
There was only One God at the creation of man and beside Him there was none other. David said; “Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.” (2 Sam. 7:22). If there were “God the Mother” besides God at the creation of man or at any point in time, then the heroes of the Old Testament never heard of it.
The apostle Paul was inspired to write; “There is…one Spirit…one Lord…One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Eph. 4:4-6). Yet, conspicuous by its absence from inspired writ are the words “God the Mother.” If there really were such an entity besides God Almighty at the creation or at any point in time, then the heroes of the New Testament never heard of it.
Friends, beware of the World Mission Society Church of God.
