The Mother Heart of God: Unveiling the Mystery of the Father's Maternal Love

by Trudy Beyak

In this age of chaos, God gives courage and comfort. Trudy Beyak, an award-winning journalist, interviewed 50 global leaders of Ruth Graham, Dr. Francis Collins, Danae Dobson, Dr. Raymond Damadian, the MRI inventor; the Vatican, Paul Young, Gary Chapman, and many others, about the nature of God. They reveal fascinating new insights! When no one cares, and you feel all alone, the maternal mercy of God comforts your soul, “as a mother comforts,” a precious loved one. Ruth Graham “When God created men and women to be like him, women are half the picture.” What a gift, then, it is to be a mother! The “maternal instinct” to nurture others, corresponds to the nature of God, as our Comforter. Women no longer need Dear Who am I? Discover 50 exclusive interviews that will transform a woman’s life – and men, as well. And there’s more. The Mother Heart of God is a journalist’s compelling spiritual journey, a personal invitation to every man and woman to experience the love of God that brings hope and healing to every soul.

Genres: Love

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 23, 2013

Reviews

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wavered between two and three stars on this one. I'll divide my review up into two pieces so you know what I mean.

First, the ideas discussed in the book are the highlight. The discussion of the maternal and motherly aspects of who God is and what God's love is like definitely ministered to me. The author interviews many theologians and discusses how the truth of God's motherly love, which was so prominent in the early church, has largely been lost in the centuries since. The book helped me see God and some of the verses describing God's love in a new light.

Second, I wasn't a fan of how the book was organized. The ideas and chapters seemed very scattered, with no real coherent path forward from the beginning through the end. It was also very repetitive, and almost made me feel that a certain page count was needed to warrant the publishing of a full size book. Some points brought up in certain chapters seemed to have no clear relevance to the title of the chapter, and I was left wondering why the author brought that up in that particular section. It wasn't horribly put together, but I would certainly describe it as scattered.

Overall, I'd say four stars for the content, and two stars for the structure...so three stars.

[Phil Hood · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have known Trudy for a number of years. First as our neighbour and then as our friend. Trudy lived down the road from us in Abbotsford and when her book came out, we were most pleased to have purchased one directly from the author.

Reading The Mother Heart of God has answered a number of questions for me. Trudy states that God is beyond gender. But what does that mean in this day and age? She goes on to explain that God is our Father and He loves justice and mercy. He is our Saviour. And that God as our heavenly Father shows the masculine side of God. But God also shows us His caring and loving side, which as mothers we know that He cares for us as a “…hen looks after her chicks”. He hurts when we hurt, He cries when we cry. He feels all of our emotions and shows them in His loving and caring side.

Knowing that God is beyond gender has helped me to understand that we are made in God’s image whether male or female. I would encourage anyone who has wondered about the gender of God to read Trudy’s book The Motherside of God. I am so glad that I did.
Jean Hood, Ucluelet, BC

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a lot of good thoughts, but it is a bit too “conservative” for my personal beliefs. She draws from some evangelicals leaders that I find problematic, such as John and Staci Eldridge and Ravi Zachariah, and she relies a bit too heavily on tired stereotypes to try and explain the two sides of God’s nature (“Men represent God’s strength and women represent his beauty!”). She does touch on some very important points about how the feminine side of God has been eliminated from Christianity after being prevalent in the early Church, but then backtracks with statements like “I am NOT a feminist though!”
Because she does go into some good history and hermeneutics, I give it four stars. I think this would be a good book for people of a more conservative bend who are curious about the elimination of the feminine side of God in Christianity, but find people like Sarah Bessey or Rachel Held Evans too progressive for them. If you want to read really good, well researched information on the original texts, I’d recommend Marg Mowczko’s blog.

[Carma R. Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trudy clearly followed the Lord's leading in the work she has done to collect and document conversations she has had with leading Christian leaders from around the world . She searched their thoughts, insights and knowledge about the "gender" question of God.
This is not your typical book but one that leads you through not only Trudy's personal search but with her gift of writing she educates and creates an ongoing source of inspiration for the reader.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

At last a good look at the attributes of God.

[April Yamasaki · Rating 3 out of 5]

An exploration of the maternal/feminine side of God, combining the skill of a reporter with personal anecdotes, more complementarian than egalitarian.