God's Gender

[logician]

God was made in MAN'S image.

Nuff said.

 

[Evamorgana]

Yeah, it makes no sense for some incorporeal cosmic being to have attributes associated with organic beings that reproduce sexually. Giving god a gender (or any other human attribute, such as jealousy) is just mortal mans attempt to create and anthropomorphize god in their own image, and thus is only mere projection of their own egos and emotions rather than being representative of any real god.

I see sense in this.

 

[Katzpur]

I see sense in this.

So are you saying that Jesus no longer has a human form, or are you saying He is no longer God?

 

[dust1n]

If god was anything other than a man, then how would Christian women validate their inferior position to men in the real world?

 

[2nd mouse]

The God of the Bible is refered to as "He" because He is also refered to as "The Father". The reason He is refered to as the Father is because in Genesis the order of earthly authority is male to female. In nature as well the male is predominantly the dominant sex. Generaly the care taker, provider, and protector. So it stands to reason the ultimate authority and care taker would be refered to as "He".

 

[Die Hammern]

Look up the word God, and then look up the word Goddess, that should answer your question? Unless you mean to rewrite religious history date back some thousands of years? If so I’s rather not be in your shoes and good look ha.:sarcastic

 

[Erebus]

Can't say much about the Abrahamic god, but my own primary "deity", Chaos, is genderless.

 

[Danmac]

Shall the God of everything be reduced to a biological discussion?

 

[Baydwin]

In nature as well the male is predominantly the dominant sex. Generaly the care taker, provider, and protector. So it stands to reason the ultimate authority and care taker would be refered to as "He".

That's not true, not even in human societies. Do you know how much of the diet men provide in hunter gatherer societies? The answer is 20%, the other 80% is gathered by women. It is the women too that look after the children, breast feed the babies, keep the homes clean and free of disease (as best they can), rear the live stock and plant the fields.

In nature females dominate the providing and protecting of offspring, it is the rare examples that deviate from this that stand out, like sea horses, and in penguins which share responsibility.

 

[Mohammed1]

In Islam Even the God use the word "He" But He mentioned that nothing like Him. So when we can't recognize all details about Him, we can't talk about His gender.

In the after-life The real believer can see the face of the God after his permission. Non-believer not.
That is our faith on that.

 

[Levite]

God may or may not have been spoken about as a male in Biblical times due to the anthropocentric bent of the text's authors as products of their society. However, Rabbinic Judaism (that is, not the Biblical religion of the ancient Israelites, but the modern religion of Judaism as it was reshaped by the Rabbis of the Talmud) has always taught that God is neither male nor female. In the eye of Rabbinic Judaism, God is spoken of in Hebrew primarily in the masculine gender because Hebrew is a syntactically gendered language, and has no gender neutral: thus anything nominally gender neutral defaults to being spoken of in the masculine gender.

We understand in Rabbinic Judaism that the way we speak of God involves anthropomorphisms. That God is neither male nor female; yet for the sake of our convienence as finite beings attempting to relate to the Infinite, we discuss different aspects of God using different gender images. So, for example, for those qualities or aspects of God relating to justice and judgment, we use the names Elohim or El Elyon, and we use the masculine gender to speak of Him. But for those aspects relating to mercy, compassion, and indwelling presence, we use the name Shekhinah, and use the feminine gender. The poetic imagery that goes along with those names is gendered accordingly, and so on for the other names and aspects that we talk about.

Jewish feminists today have, in fact, found it quite useful that Rabbinic Judaism postulates a God without defined gender. Many Jewish feminist theologians have done significant work in re-energizing the use of female god-language. Marcia Falk is most prominent in that regard, but pre-eminent feminist theologians like Judith Plaskow, Rachel Adler, and even Blu Greenberg have also contributed in that area. There is still a long way to go before feminine god-language becomes even half so common as masculine, but there is progress being made.

 

[Onkara]

This is a serious question I have had which has gone unanswered.

It concerns the God of the Bible (or any God actually). Why is Jehovah a He and not a She?
How does a spirit, which to me evokes the thought of "energy" or ghosts, have a sex or gender?


I also see this "human projectionism" in God in "His" other all too human qualities and characteristics.

Hi SugaCubez
Perhaps approach this less academically. Let go of the question or the need for an answer. It is a barrier, one which was useful in earlier life and has now been seen through. We are no longer limited to our body, we have seen that change and grow, the spirit has no gender and we are that timeless spirit. The purpose perhaps was to come to know that. Now that is know, then be it.

 

[mturner76]

As far as the sex of Jesus I think that in Mark 1:11 that question answered for us: "And a voice came form heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved and with you I am well pleased". Also, if you read further, not only in Mark but in other books of the bible as well, Jesus is always referred to as a male, even when he was in the human form he was male.
As far as the time being male dominated, well it was, however God made man first and woman to keep man company and procreate, so of coarse Jesus would be male. It seems to me that the male was made to "take of business" so to speak, and the female was there to have the babies and take care of the man.

 

[Infinity3]

God is not a physical being. Gender classifications exist primarily for the purpose of reproduction.

When the Bible says that God made man in His image, it means that man was made with a soul, something that the animals that were created before Adam did not possess.

 

[angel_delight]

i dont understand how animals can not have a soul, they do have souls, just not an individual one. that is why animals are born with instincts as their , knowledge shall we say, is shared within that group of animals. humans have individual souls and therefore born without instincts and have to be taught knowledge.

 

[angel_delight]

God just is!... so gender specification is quite irrelevant really

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

But really, an absolute being would have to be both genders in order to really be absolute but this is a whole other debate.

That's my thinking as well.

An all-powerful god would have the ability to do anything, including meet any test for gender that you could subject it to.

For instance:

- Can God give birth to offspring? God can do anything, so yes - therefore God is female.
- Can God impregnate a female? God can do anything, so yes - therefore God is male.

 

[logician]

Gender implies reproduction, if there is but one god, then it can have no gender.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Gender implies reproduction, if there is but one god, then it can have no gender.

Does a person not have a gender until he or she becomes a parent?

 

[Harmonious]

God may or may not have been spoken about as a male in Biblical times due to the anthropocentric bent of the text's authors as products of their society. However, Rabbinic Judaism (that is, not the Biblical religion of the ancient Israelites, but the modern religion of Judaism as it was reshaped by the Rabbis of the Talmud) has always taught that God is neither male nor female. In the eye of Rabbinic Judaism, God is spoken of in Hebrew primarily in the masculine gender because Hebrew is a syntactically gendered language, and has no gender neutral: thus anything nominally gender neutral defaults to being spoken of in the masculine gender.

We understand in Rabbinic Judaism that the way we speak of God involves anthropomorphisms. That God is neither male nor female; yet for the sake of our convienence as finite beings attempting to relate to the Infinite, we discuss different aspects of God using different gender images. So, for example, for those qualities or aspects of God relating to justice and judgment, we use the names Elohim or El Elyon, and we use the masculine gender to speak of Him. But for those aspects relating to mercy, compassion, and indwelling presence, we use the name Shekhinah, and use the feminine gender. The poetic imagery that goes along with those names is gendered accordingly, and so on for the other names and aspects that we talk about.

More to the point, the simple pronouns in the text of the Torah itself are sometimes spelled one way, but pronounced another. Sometimes, the words meaning "she" is written, but supposed to be pronounced "he," and vice-versa. As such, the concept of gender is completely irrelevant, as far as Judaism is concerned.

I mostly agree with you, though. Kind of.