I am fascinated by what nature can teach us about interacting with God, one another, and our physical world. Jesus often used the natural world as a backdrop for his parables. The Bible is replete with metaphors that give insight into God’s relationship with his creation. Just recently, I learned that scientists have discovered something called structural color by studying butterfly wings, and highly efficient solar panels are being designed based on those discoveries. Amazing!
I am also intrigued by the concepts of monocular and binocular vision. Monocular vision is when one eye begins to dominate the other eye and the person begins to lose the capacity to see out of the dominated eye. Binocular vision is the ability of both eyes to work together as a team. The brain wants two equally clear images from both eyes to create an accurate picture of the world. The American Optometric Association says, "Each of your eyes sees a slightly different image. Your brain, through a process called fusion, blends these two images into one three-dimensional picture.”
Seeing God with Only One Eye
I like to think about monocular and binocular vision as a metaphor for how humans, male and female, uniquely perceive the world. While this metaphor has limits, I believe its application to the complex interactions of men and women is instructive. I also acknowledge the limits of this metaphor as it relates to those who do not identify with gender in a binary way, as either male or female. It is my hope that readers of any gender will appreciate the insights gleaned from learning more about monocular and binocular vision.
Originally, in the pre-Fall era of Scripture, male and female vision was perfectly binocular. In the post-Fall era, the penchant for one eye to dominate the other, both literally and figuratively, is what gave us a distorted view of God, one another, and his magnificent creation. The male eye has dominated the female eye for centuries, and as a result humankind has lost important aspects of its visual field. Though this is now changing, for thousands of years, much of what has been written about the Bible has been written by men and described through a male lens.
If the Latinization of Scripture during the Middle Ages kept the layperson from understanding Scripture in their native language, so has the Masculinization of Scripture kept women from understanding Scripture from a feminine perspective.
Although there are notable exceptions, a historical look at the writings of male biblical scholars, theologians, and clergy reveals a perspective that presents men as the dominant eye and even as the superior eye. This strong bias is seen in the 1978 edition of Strong's Concordance. As a lay person studying Scripture, I have relied heavily on this concordance for learning about the meaning of ancient Hebrew and Greek words. Readers have been misled to believe that Scripture and even the original language of Hebrew support Strong’s opinion that men are “the most noteworthy sex.” First published in 1890 and largely unchanged today, Strong’s Concordance defines the Hebrew word, zakar, as: “a male (of man or animals, as being the most noteworthy sex).”
Generations of female contributions to the theological community have been suppressed because of a belief in the superiority of dominant, monocular male vision. What rich treasures have gone undiscovered because the eye of the female mind has been so thoroughly shut down? It is not uncommon for the eye of a male reader to dismiss and disregard a female biblical scholar or theologian when looking for commentaries and exegetical wisdom. What would happen if a woman’s perspective was actively sought out by pastors and seminary professors and explored with an expectation of being enriched?
Should We Replace the Male Lens with a Female Lens?
Despite such blind spots and injustices throughout the history of Christianity as it relates to women, references to the first person of the trinity as both He and as Father in Scripture is significant. I reject the idea of simple gender equivocation; it doesn’t allow me to explore the important and meaningful reasons for choosing to use relational terms like father and son to describe God to our fallen world. Jesus clearly called God His heavenly Father, not his heavenly mother. Simply calling God my mother and my Savior a daughter does not do anything to resolve the theological gender conflicts between men and women. I prefer to ask the question, "What might a good, loving, and just God whose very nature is revealed in the distinct but equal creation of men and women want to reveal to Creation about himself? What does Scripture teach about the feminine aspects of God? What might this tell me about the way God relates to humans through the choice of gender specific terms?
As fallible human beings, we look for distinctions that indicate superiority, exalting one person over another. Humans use gender, race, socio-economic status, or any other distinguishing characteristic to elevate one person over another, which perpetuates inequality between human beings. It seems we cannot resist projecting our own character flaw upon God. Assuming God is like us, we are offended that he has the audacity to call himself a he and refer to himself as a father rather than a mother. Such a fatal flaw in thinking drives the idea that God calling himself a father somehow diminishes the personhood or value of a mother. But God is not that small.
I also do not have any hope that a matriarchal society would be superior to a patriarchal society. This view simply exchanges female monocular vision for male monocular vision. It does nothing to cultivate the depth perception available when both male and female views are valued and promoted. God transcends our limited ideas of gender. Human beings were created in God's image, male and female, to exemplify the complexity and wholeness of God’s divine nature.
While we must do all we can to allow our unique personhood to define who we are as male or female rather than rigid gender-based stereotypes, it must be acknowledged that cultural constructs impact us significantly. How much violence and damage has been done to our young boys who are shamed because of their emotional sensitivity or desire to choose a career in an area like social work, a career dominated by women in Western culture? How much violence has been done to our young girls who are shamed for their strong leadership traits or desire to choose a male dominated profession like mechanical engineering?
Binocular Vision: Recognizing and Correcting Domination of Either Eye
In some ways, an intentional focus on a woman's perspective for a distinct period is like an exercise utilized by optometrists to correct monocular vision. A patch is placed over the dominant eye to encourage the dominated eye to regain its unique perspective and strength to work in tandem with the other eye. In a conversation with Garrett Elliott, O.D., he emphasized that the patch must be monitored carefully and not worn indefinitely otherwise the original dominate eye is in danger of becoming the new dominated eye. Through time and enough exercise, the brain gradually re-learns how to use the suppressed eye. The goal is equal but distinctive use of both eyes.
As one practical application, seminaries and churches may benefit from putting regular "suppression checks" in place to see if women and men are being treated fairly in terms of regular promotion and salary increases. The wages of women in Christian organizations are often viewed as secondary income in their homes. It is not uncommon, therefore, for male employees to be given better benefit packages and wages than women in similar positions.
In Conclusion…
I like to think about monocular and binocular vision as a metaphor for how to see the world more beautifully and more accurately. God created human beings in his image, male and female. Perhaps much of our gender conflict is the result of competitive efforts to become a dominant eye rather than cooperative efforts to integrate the perspective of both eyes. If we begin with the assumption that two equal eyes are better than one superior eye, we can put energy into creative efforts that strengthen the eyes of both genders. If we continue in unproductive power struggles, we will live with chronic monocular vision. We will employ alternating patches for years to come with the net result of zero gains in gender equality. When competition finally yields to cooperation, binocular vision will be the reward of sharing power so that both eyes can work together as a team. In a way similar to binocular vision, the fusion of two unique perspectives allows us to see God, one another, and our world with less distortion and more accuracy.
Cindi J. Martin, LCSW is a licensed Christian psychotherapist who works with women and men healing from trauma, loss, depression, and anxiety as well as couples recovering from the wounds of sexual addiction. She is also the founder and director of Wellspring Counseling Ministries, which provides resource and referral services with the goal of integrating a strong biblical faith with excellence in clinical practice. Cindi is working on a book and blogs about emotional care, intimacy in relationships, the Bible, and theology at cindijmartinlcsw.com.
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