Posted on 08/29/2026 9:45:13 AM PDT by Republican Wildcat
A Nashville pastor is facing scrutiny after teaching that God once had a wife named Asherah who was later written out of the Bible. Zach Helton, co-pastor of Glendale Baptist Church, a congregation associated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Alliance of Baptists, made the claims during a recent sermon. Helton told his congregation that Asherah was the "female divine presence who was worshipped alongside Adonai" and the ancient consort of God before biblical authors concealed her identity.
Helton's church bio states he is "deeply shaped by the teachings of Jesus, Buddhist practice, mysticism, and perennial wisdom over any particular religious expression." He condemned King Josiah for destroying idols and Asherah poles during his reign, lamenting the impact it would have on young Israelite girls who needed a feminine deity to look up to. Helton argued that Josiah's reforms were motivated by a desire to consolidate political power, not theological purity.
The pastor claimed that ancient Israel worshipped not only Yahweh but Yahweh and Asherah together, and that the prophetic literature shows nobody had a problem with that. He asserted that scriptures were modified and history rewritten to eliminate the divine feminine, blaming "fragile male egos" for the change. "Can you imagine for a minute being a woman in seventh-century BCE Israel?" Helton asked his congregation.
Critics have pointed out that nowhere in the Bible is God said to have a wife, and that Asherah is consistently presented as a false idol. One response noted, "Asherah is not Eve, nor is she the wife of God for God does not have a wife." The theory Helton presented, while discussed in some academic circles, remains highly controversial and is rejected by orthodox Christian theology
(Excerpt) Read more at facebook.com ...
No, I am not. We believe in the Trinity and use both the Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed regularly, and once a year the Athanasian Creed.
Words have meaning. Sometimes they differ slightly from one language to the next; as you know, the Bible was not written in English.
In English, the capitalized word God most universally refers to the entire Triune entity, which in the Catholic Catechism and many other Christian denominations is knows as God in Three Persons.
As John 14:21 notes, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would be sent by His Father, indicating that another Person of God was not yet present with the disciples. In that passages and many others, Jesus refers to the Father as a separate aspect of His Being while He was here on earth as the Son.
The Christ was sent as fully God, but also incarnated as fully man. Mary was the mother of that man—not of the Triune God in total.
knows as = known as /typo
So, Satan identifies as a baptist? No biggie. Satan can even take the form of an angel of light. (2 Cor 11:14)
Wow that guy is really off the deep end...what’s worse is that he has a following that seems to think that what he is preaching has merit! Even thirty years ago he would been thrown out of most churches for preaching that heresy!
You like to throw stink bombs don’t you LOL! Perhaps sound a few false fire alarms? LOL!
Okay so now you’ve smoked out the Catholics reading this post...
“smirk!” You bad boy!
The deity existed and was worshipped. What people do with that information is up to them.
Might have been a wrong thread for you but somehow your post added to this thread in a some crazy way!
Well, if you ever figure out how, let me know.
If I’d said ‘leek’ instead of ‘celery’ it may have had some relevance (St. David, &c.) but I don’t think people garnish Bloody Marys with leeks :-)
I’ll let myself out...
You mean he doesn't teach ideas from The Flying Spaghetti Monster or the other made up religion - Islam...?
God died on the cross. Marriage ends when either spouse dies.
That's not my original thought. Long ago, I heard a pastor make that argument as to why God is no longer married to Israel.
True.
Jesus also existed long, long, long before Israel, Israelites or Jews existed. So in that sense, He wasn't Jewish.
I saw his picture on his church's website. His haircut looks gay.
GOD the SON died in his human nature.
His divine nature can’t die.
“I heard a pastor make that argument as to why God is no longer married to Israel.”
I think the church we go to — “Covenant” or “Reformed” or similar — thinks that Jews no longer are God’s chosen people. Now it’s the Church. No chapter and verse to support that, though.
And His death accomplished much. Whose to say it didn't also end the old marriage covenant with Israel? He did, after all, proclaim a New Covenant at the last supper.
That's also Catholic, Orthodox and much of mainline Protestant theology.
YESHUA reconciled Jew and Gentile together on the cross. He is the Old be Tree.
As a 75-year “mainline Protestant” (Baptist), I’d never heard that until recently. Now “Reformed Baptist” churches are starting to appear.
When did God change His mind and not tell us?
Well yes - it is mentioned many times in the Bible as a false idol. That is even mentioned in the article.
Not sure what you mean by “up to them” - it is certainly not Christian doctrine.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.