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Toxic Masculinity And The Distortion Of God’s Image

Toxic Masculinity And The Distortion Of God’s Image

Last updated on: July 14, 2026 at 1:19 pm by Henry Karlson

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Toxic Masculinity And The Distortion Of God’s Image 2026-07-14T13:19:38-05:00 Henry Karlson

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Sarahmirk: A sign protesting the connection between toxic masculinity and gun violence at the March for Our Lives in Portland, Oregon / Wikimedia Commons

God transcends gender distinctions. Those who try to imprison God within gender boundaries, such as those who say God is male, that God can be seen in and through only masculine imagery, undermine who God is. They end up denying various divine characteristics or qualities because they view those characteristics as being associated with femininity, and God, to them, is purely masculine. What those qualities are often have a cultural aspect to them, because different cultures have different understandings as to what is designated as a masculine and what is designated as a feminine quality. Nonetheless, its extremely problematic to limit God to the qualities related to one gender, no matter what those qualities are, because that leads us to reject characteristics of God revealed to us in the way God has interacted with us throughout history. Not only does this lead heresy, but a heresy which influences the way we act. This can be seen in the way those who deny the divine feminine often end up embracing what is called “toxic masculinity”; they end up viewing masculine qualities, as they come from God, are good, while questioning the value of feminine qualities, suggesting the good found in them is much less than the good associated with masculinity, as they are derivative in nature, if not suggesting that they are not good at all. Those promoting toxic masculinity tend to view “strength,” “power,” “domination,” and “control” as masculine qualities which we should strive for, while questioning or undermining compassion and mercy because they are feminine qualities which interfere with their desired outcomes. While such toxic masculinity, like vices in general, try to present itself as virtuous, using Scripture to do so, such as when Scripture is shown using masculine characteristics and pronouns to represent God, it represents a half-truth, a falsehood, as it has us ignore verses which shows feminine qualities in God (and the verses which promote us to engage those activities for ourselves):

The ancient Hebrews did not balk at using feminine imagery to speak of God. Their term for a woman’s womb was often used to describe divine compassion. Furthermore, the prophet Isaiah compared God’s selfless, sacrificial love for us to that of a mother’s for the child of her womb (see Isaiah 49:15). He also stated that God comforts us as a mother comforts her child (see Isaiah 66:13).[1]

All Christians should embrace compassion, and act upon it, as it is a quality found in God, even if it is associated with what is designated as “feminine.” Mercy, thanks to its relationship with compassion, likewise can be said to be “feminine” quality expected from all Christians: “Mercy is a compassionate property, which belongs to motherhood in tender love; and grace is an honourable property, which belongs to royal dominion in the same love.” [2]

When God is seen exclusively as masculine, the message of the Gospel can be and will be lost, for there will be little to no place for mercy and grace. Without compassion in their hearts, without embracing all the “feminine” qualities which can be attributed to God, Christians will find themselves growing cold and cruel, promoting toxic forms of Christianity like Christian nationalism. Without accepting the “divine feminine” alongside with the divine “masculine,” Christianity becomes monstrous, a legalism which enforces itself through the will to power; it no longer shows compassion or mercy to those in need, as they suggest only the strong should survive. Thus, it should not be surprising, we find an ideology of cruelty coming from those who ridicule the notion God is “non-binary.” They have been taught to deny the way of love, with the compassion, mercy, and grace which flows from that love. They end up promoting a Pelagian ideology, as they know no sense of grace, as they think only those with the inner strength to persevere by themselves prove worthy of respect. It is imperative that those who embrace such toxic notions are shown the error of their ways; they must be taught the way of love and compassion, the way of God who transcends human genders, so that they will no longer be so monstrous and cruel:

Coldness of heart is such a monster that human powers are incapable of conquering it. In order to soften the heart, one must persist in the spiritual labor of love toward one’s neighbor; one must have much compassion toward the weakness of others and forgiveness of these faults. [3]

We must embrace God, engaging and bringing together as one and all the qualities found in God, whether or not they are designated as masculine or feminine. Justice without mercy, without compassion, is far from God, far from the kingdom of God. “Compassion, justice, and holiness are essential elements of the Kingdom. Justice and compassion are not the observation of established rules, but the caring that approaches the ordinary and the extraordinary of human life with equal ease and joy.” [4] Toxic masculinity , with its lack of compassion, with its lack of mercy, quickly becomes self-righteous (demonstrating its Pelagian content):

To be merciful means to have compassion on evil-doers and to sympathize with those who are caught in the bonds of sin. It means to forego every self-righteousness and every self-justification in comparison with others. It means to refuse to condemn those who do wrong, but to forgive those who harm and destroy, both themselves and others. It is to say with utter seriousness, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” (Mt 6.12).[5]

We must not be self-righteous. We must be open to grace, which is impossible if we are self-righteous. We must be willing to look to others with compassion. We must engage the way of love. We must embrace in ourselves all that is found in God, because we have the image of God in us; those of us who are men should be able to appropriate and embrace the “feminine” side of God, the “feminine” inside themselves, even as those who are women should be able to appropriate and embrace the “masculine” side of God, including the “masculine” side inside of themselves. Male and female are to be brought together as one, not just in society, but in ourselves; when we deny the way both masculinity and femininity exist within each of us, we deny the way we represent or imagine the God who is both (and neither) male and female. We are to show the world through our actions the ways of God, to truly let the image and likeness of God within shine through, but that is impossible so long as we try to impose upon God a gender, any gender, in an exclusive fashion.

[1] Albert Haase, OFM, Living the Lord’s Prayer (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2009), 31.

[2] Julian of Norwich, Showings. Trans. Edmund Colledge OSA and James Walsh SJ (New York: Paulist Press, 1978), 262 [Long text].

[3] Abbes Arsenia (Sebriakova), Striving Toward God. Trans. Mary Naumenko (Jordanville, NY: Holy Trinity Publications, 2016), 51 [Letter 73 to Peter Alexandrovich Brianchaninov].

[4] Archbishop Joseph Raya, The Abundance of Love: The Incarnation and Byzantine Tradition (Combermere, ON: Madonna House Publications, 1989; 3rd ed.: 2016), 138.

[5] Thomas Hopko, The Orthodox Faith. Volume 4: Spirituality (Yonkers, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1981; rev. ed. 2016), 44.

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