"God Will no Longer be 'He' or 'Lord' in Sweden"

[Misunderstood]

While it's highly unlikely any Christian, Jew, or Muslim here will go for this, isn't there a bit of common sense behind it all? Think of it; "My god has a penis." Or, my god has a vagina." Does this really make sense to you?
.

I think this is the best reason I have seen so far by Enpch07, if God asked to be referred to in this way would it not be appropriate? I also feel no one here has seen God, so who can contest what God is as far as gender?

God can identify as any gender he wants. Primary and secondary sex characteristics don't play a role in gender identity. It's extremely transphobic to say otherwise.

Since God has asked us to identify him as male. Any other gender pronoun used is misgendering God, and potentially a hate speech/crime. Which can even cause legal issues if you misgender someone in Canada or New York in the U.S.

Bill C-16 in Canada:

Canada to introduce new laws against transgender discrimination

And

New NYC Laws Prohibit Discrimination Against Transgender Community up to a $250,000 fine of found to be intentionally misgendering someone in N.Y.

A few other reasons I feel his gender should be left as is.

*We are told not to change the Bible. I am posting a link to a page listing why we shouldn't.

9 Bible verses about Adding To The Bible

*It is pretty much said in the New Testament Bible Jesus is God or at least God becoming man.

*And we would need to change the meaning of God, as God usually refers to a male, and Goddess to female.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

Assuming that all Christians believe that the God of Israel, is the same as the God of Christians.
And we also know that although the Jews referred to God as Adonae, which is male, and equivalent of Lord. But we also know that they believed God was Genderless in the same way that the Holy Spirit is. and as Jesus was himself a Jew and would have had the same understanding of the nature of God as all other Jews.... At what stage did God become actually male, in the eyes of Christians?

Jesus referred to God as my father, as linguistically there was no other way to refer to him. he was unlikely to call God my mother in a paternalistic society such as Israel.

 

[Nakosis]

Look, if I want my God to have a penis, then HE can have a penis.

Enough said.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

It's a bit confusing since most Christians believe Christ to be God, so God would be a he and have a penis (at least one Person of the Trinity, anyway).

 

[idav]

"The Church of Sweden is changing its language so that God will no longer take on the human characteristic of "he." And while they're at it, "Lord" will be dropped as well.

After an eight-day discussion about updating a church handbook that offers guidelines on now to conduct services, the decision to make God gender-neutral was made yesterday. Church of Sweden Archbishop Antje Jackelén, a woman, says that a gender-neutral God is something that the church has been talking about since a 1986 conference, and "we know that God is beyond our gender determinations, God is not human.”
source​

While it's highly unlikely any Christian, Jew, or Muslim here will go for this, isn't there a bit of common sense behind it all? Think of it; "My god has a penis." Or, my god has a vagina." Does this really make sense to you?

.

Making God genderless solves a lot of needless problems of god. First it makes it more mysterious and female can easily correspond to creation aspects while. I think a mistake some make is to associate authority to male dominance, that's misogyny. It also solves the issue about having some "man in the sky" rule of God which nobody really believes in anymore short of still believing in santa.


They get thumbs up.

 

[idav]

It's a bit confusing since most Christians believe Christ to be God, so God would be a he and have a penis (at least one Person of the Trinity, anyway).

The holy ghost can be seen as female aspect but I've even heard Christ as being a female aspect, why not I guess. The whole needing a trinity in the first place is what's confusing.

 

[Muslim-UK]

...and SHE be disrespectful? Do tell...

 

[Muslim-UK]

Why would you consider "he" respectful but "she" not?

See the video above. This issue exists in the English language, and wasn't a problem for the people of old.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

The holy ghost can be seen as female aspect but I've even heard Christ as being a female aspect, why not I guess. The whole needing a trinity in the first place is what's confusing.

Talking about stretching things.

 

[idav]

Talking about stretching things.

Are you trying to say god needs a penis to create things, really?

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Are you trying to say god needs a penis to create things, really?

I have no idea where you're getting that from. I'm talking about people saying that Jesus is female.

 

[idav]

I have no idea where you're getting that from. I'm talking about people saying that Jesus is female.

Not Jesus, but the Christ persona Logos aspect, which far as I can tell is no different form this infamous "holy spirit". At best god would be a bi-ality with one female and one male aspect but wouldn't have little to do with human anatomy far as I figure.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Not Jesus, but the Christ persona Logos aspect, which far as I can tell is no different form this infamous "holy spirit". At best god would be a bi-ality with one female and one male aspect but wouldn't have little to do with human anatomy far as I figure.

That's nice.

 

[Muslim-UK]

I have no idea where you're getting that from. I'm talking about people saying that Jesus is female.

Yes that would be stretching things a lot.

 

[Liu]

Well, to mystics at least, even Christian ones, strange gender associations regarding their deity would be nothing new.

Anyone here ever read the medieval poem Granum Sinapis? Especially the beginning. It's in medieval German, so you probably gotta rely on translations, but it mentions things like giving birth to creation, and even the logos streaming forth lustfully out of god's breasts and yet remaining in his womb. The second verse then tames down a bit, only mentioning the fire of love between god and logos, and the holy spirit gushing out of them as the bond connecting them.

Admittedly, such texts are rather an exception. More common would probably have been bride mysticism, I suppose. If done by male authors, they normally self-insert into the bride's role, so on that department there seems to have been little possibility of not putting god into the male role.

So, of all religions Christianity seems like one of the less-likely ones to have a genderless deity, but there were certainly already in historic times such approaches even in that religion.

Not Jesus, but the Christ persona Logos aspect, which far as I can tell is no different form this infamous "holy spirit". At best god would be a bi-ality with one female and one male aspect but wouldn't have little to do with human anatomy far as I figure.

As far as I know, Logos is Jesus, and not the holy spirit. Also says so on Wikipedia (not like that would be a proof).

Regarding Jesus and/or the holy spirit being considered female - could that have something to do with Gnosticism and them being equated with Sophia?

 

[Enoch07]

Attempting to anthropomorphize the concept of god is one of the many things that make religion so goofy.

Nobody is anthropomorphizing God. God is genderless in that he does not have any sexual organs to identify himself that way. But he feels that he identifies as a male, per Christ words. To say that you need primary and secondary sex characteristics to match your gender identity is transphobic. You are inadvertently saying that because God does not have primary or secondary sex characteristics that he cannot identify as a he, and instead intentionally misgender him as a her, for your own pleasure. Technically speaking you just committed a hate crime.

 

[Liu]

Nobody is anthropomorphizing God. God is genderless in that he does not have any sexual organs to identify himself that way. But he feels that he identifies as a male, per Christ words. To say that you need primary and secondary sex characteristics to match your gender identity is transphobic. You are inadvertently saying that because God does not have primary or secondary sex characteristics that he cannot identify as a he, and instead intentionally misgender him as a her, for your own pleasure. Technically speaking you just committed a hate crime.

Technically maybe, but I'm not sure whether gender identity applies to deities. And I'm transgender myself. And if we are going to be that politically correct, you are now the one making assumptions that just because God refers to themselves as a father they would also identify as male. The fact that Jesus uses male pronouns in reference to God might also be due to the limitations of language.
Also, where the hell did @Father Heathen misgender god as a her?

 

[Enoch07]

Technically maybe, but I'm not sure whether gender identity applies to deities. And I'm transgender myself. And if we are going to be that politically correct, you are now the one making assumptions that just because God refers to themselves as a father they would also identify as male. The fact that Jesus uses male pronouns in reference to God might also be due to the limitations of language.
Also, where the hell did @Father Heathen misgender god as a her?

You are incorrect. I am not making the assumption because God calls himself the Father. I am going by the scripture I listed in post #2. How do you know that Jesus referring to God as "he" is a limitation of language? You don't, your assuming that. I am not assuming anything. I am going by what Jesus said and taking his word for it. As far as I can tell God identifies as a male, considering how he allowed to be written in his book multiple times that way. Had God listed "she" or "they" I would be arguing for those pronouns instead of "he".

Father Heathern used "she" intentionally and multiple times I've seen him do this, instead of "he" God's preferred pronoun. According Bill C-16 in Canada that is a hate crime. Not that I am saying he should be arrested or fined or anything of the likes. Just saying that his train of thought is considered a hate crime.

 

[syo]

isn't there a bit of common sense behind it all? Think of it; "My god has a penis." Or, my god has a vagina." Does this really make sense to you?

what? male and female are characteristics not genitals. no way.

and god is male and his creation female. no way god is an it.

 

[David T]

"The Church of Sweden is changing its language so that God will no longer take on the human characteristic of "he." And while they're at it, "Lord" will be dropped as well.

After an eight-day discussion about updating a church handbook that offers guidelines on now to conduct services, the decision to make God gender-neutral was made yesterday. Church of Sweden Archbishop Antje Jackelén, a woman, says that a gender-neutral God is something that the church has been talking about since a 1986 conference, and "we know that God is beyond our gender determinations, God is not human.”
source​

While it's highly unlikely any Christian, Jew, or Muslim here will go for this, isn't there a bit of common sense behind it all? Think of it; "My god has a penis." Or, my god has a vagina." Does this really make sense to you?

.

Yes government church makes exactly as much sense as non-denominational" I bought a bible and I understand it" church. So which one is correct governing laws governing, or, random accidentalism? Seems complimentary now that I think about it!!!!

Kierkegaard flipped the bird at traditional European government church and systematic theology. We now have systematic theologians who are in the structures of European government churches being kierkegaard scholars. That TOTALLY makes sense. Nothing absurd about it oh no not at all. So yes the Swedish church scholars are brilliant. I am waiting for our American prosperity doctrine churches to become kierkegaard scholars so we can really enjoy the absurdity American Style!!!