Is God male or female?

[sandy whitelinger]

Jews, Christians, and Muslims refer to God as He, but is God male or female?

Metrosexual.

 

[Breathe]

im not sure what else you are after.

A simple clarification was all.

 

[Levite]

well we all know god did not make human beings.

you mean "" thats not what it could mean in your opinion"

I understand bud, thats why I stated "if i was on that far side of the fence"

I understand its a fable ment to be read allegorically.

Now for 200,000 years man has been creating gods and spirit's. I see no difference at all the hebrews imagination is any stronger then any other persons imagination.

I guess I just don't understand what your agenda is. If you have already decided that there is no God, the Bible is a crock, you know just what it means, and anyone who tells you differently is wrong, then what on earth do you care what other people think, and why bother discussing anything at all?

And if you actually do care, then why would you insist that what a verse means is not how it has been generally understood by the tradition that authored that text?

This whole exchange strikes me as oddly feckless.

 

[outhouse]

I guess I just don't understand what your agenda is. If you have already decided that there is no God, the Bible is a crock, you know just what it means, and anyone who tells you differently is wrong, then what on earth do you care what other people think, and why bother discussing anything at all?

And if you actually do care, then why would you insist that what a verse means is not how it has been generally understood by the tradition that authored that text?

This whole exchange strikes me as oddly feckless.

this whole debate is about the god figure being male or female

it is my opinion that the god figure is male as that is how the ancient hebrews created him "in our image" that is my agenda.

I understand it strikes a chord with those who believe, this is just my opinion.

please bear with me.

answer a few questions please

#1 Now,, can you argue that man has not been creating man and women gods and spirits for the last 200,000 years???

#2 Can you show me a remote tribe who does not have made up spirits or gods in any part of the world???

#3 Can you show me any parallels in these remote tribes that would indicate that there god is also your god talking to them in the local language and thus the god figure is sharing the same information with all people????

#4 Can you show me that your hebrew god figure does not have any simularity's with previous pagan religions such as sumerians and egpytions???

#5 The ancient hebrews put more importance on male's then females, does this show in their early writings regarding the god figure????

#6 Do you think all other gods and spirits are made up by the local people of that geographic region?

 

[Levite]

this whole debate is about the god figure being male or female

it is my opinion that the god figure is male as that is how the ancient hebrews created him "in our image" that is my agenda.

I understand it strikes a chord with those who believe, this is just my opinion.

please bear with me.

answer a few questions please

#1 Now,, can you argue that man has not been creating man and women gods and spirits for the last 200,000 years???

#2 Can you show me a remote tribe who does not have made up spirits or gods in any part of the world???

#3 Can you show me any parallels in these remote tribes that would indicate that there god is also your god talking to them in the local language and thus the god figure is sharing the same information with all people????

#4 Can you show me that your hebrew god figure does not have any simularity's with previous pagan religions such as sumerians and egpytions???

#5 The ancient hebrews put more importance on male's then females, does this show in their early writings regarding the god figure????

#6 Do you think all other gods and spirits are made up by the local people of that geographic region?

I fail to see what those questions have to do with the issue of whether God has gender, and whether the tradition that created and still uses the Hebrew Scriptures considers God to have gender.

 

[outhouse]

I fail to see what those questions have to do with the issue of whether God has gender, and whether the tradition that created and still uses the Hebrew Scriptures considers God to have gender.

I didnt think you would answer in any way shape or form.

you fail to see because your religion has shut your mind to reality in my opinion.

my questions in a straight foward fashion, addresses the gender.

 

[Levite]

I didnt think you would answer in any way shape or form.

you fail to see because your religion has shut your mind to reality in my opinion.

my questions in a straight foward fashion, addresses the gender.

The majority of those questions had nothing to do with gender. The rest were simply anthropological questions addressing Biblical text solely in its presumed original context, and presuming that in its original context it was intended to be read entirely literally, without any recourse to metaphor, imagery, or allegorical simile. None of the questions address what Jews actually think about God, and what I as a respondent to the question said about how Jewish tradition-- as far back as we have good records for-- has tended to interpret the Biblical verses in question.

I don't care that you don't agree with me. I don't care that you think religion is a crock. That's entirely your business. But I'm not going to pretend that those questions were anything but a trolling attempt to "demonstrate" your agenda. And while you are certainly entitled to read your translation of the Bible in any fashion that pleases you, I think it is a little presumptuous to tell a Jew what Jews think about God.

 

[outhouse]

The majority of those questions had nothing to do with gender. The rest were simply anthropological questions addressing Biblical text solely in its presumed original context, and presuming that in its original context it was intended to be read entirely literally, without any recourse to metaphor, imagery, or allegorical simile. None of the questions address what Jews actually think about God, and what I as a respondent to the question said about how Jewish tradition-- as far back as we have good records for-- has tended to interpret the Biblical verses in question.

I don't care that you don't agree with me. I don't care that you think religion is a crock. That's entirely your business. But I'm not going to pretend that those questions were anything but a trolling attempt to "demonstrate" your agenda. And while you are certainly entitled to read your translation of the Bible in any fashion that pleases you, I think it is a little presumptuous to tell a Jew what Jews think about God.

im sorry you dont think the bible should be scrutinized historically using reason and reality before dogmatic religion

I understand why you wont answer the questions :yes:

i understand fully it is nor was ever ment to be read literally, I have to constantly inform christians to read it allegorically

 

[Katzpur]

the genesis account explains that God made man in his image. The only way this is possible is if the 'image' has to do with intelligence and attributes because God is a spirit and has no phyisical features...it can only be the inner attributes that are in his image.

An image is the representation of physical characteristics. There is simply no other meaning for the word. Try to use the word (image) in a sentence to mean anything other than that. For example:

The little boy looks just like his father. He's said to be "the spittin' image" of his dad.

The twins look so much alike that you can't tell them apart. People say they're mirror images of one another.

When you take a picture (a photograph), you are recording what the camera "sees." It's a visual recording of what something looks like.

When someone is said to be the "image of good health," it means that he appears to be very healthy.

Can you think of a single example where the word "image" does not apply to physical characteristics? I doubt it very much.

 

[Katzpur]

Jews, Christians, and Muslims refer to God as He, but is God male or female?

He is our Father. Fathers are male.

 

[Father Heathen]

Why would anything other than organic lifeforms that sexually reproduce be male or female?

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

He is our Father. Fathers are male.

I think that is the only good answer for seeing God as Male.

However I do not see God as my literal father. I see him more as the "Father" of every thing, including the race of man. He is not so much the progenitor as original Creator.

Though it is easy to understand your point, from the perspective of a LDS who understands the existance of a Physical Heaven. With God, Jesus, and the Heavenly Host having a physical nature and a continuity from before the Creation.

 

[Katzpur]

However I do not see God as my literal father. I see him more as the "Father" of every thing, including the race of man. He is not so much the progenitor as original Creator.

I see Him as the Father of the spirits of everything, in other words, as their Creator, which is pretty much what you said.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

I see Him as the Father of the spirits of everything, in other words, as their Creator, which is pretty much what you said.

We are never very far apart...Just come from a different direction.

 

[Godwilling]

he is physically genderless

our physical genders really have no relationship to him...our genders are all about reproduction, he doesnt reproduce the way we do.

the reason why he is always presented in the masculine is because his dominant qualities are masculine qualities...while he does have feminine qualities, they are less dominant and this is why the man naturally dominates over the woman...a mans inner qualities are geared for it. Man was created in Gods image with his dominant qualities...woman was created in mans image with the feminine qualities dominating her makeup.

It sounds contradictory that you say that our physical genders have no relationship to God while you are referring to God as him. The appropriate English pronoun for genderless is "it" not "him".
It is interesting how semingly confidently you state that, "he does not reproduce the way we do" and other assertions for which you provide no proof. Do you dream it, or simply make it up?

 

[Godwilling]

Gender is an anthropomorphism. We use the terms descriptive of gender to metaphorically relate to different aspects of God. But that doesn't mean that God actually, literally possesses gender.

The custom of using gendered pronouns to refer to God in the masculine is something that the translators of Jewish scripture unknowingly picked up and disseminated into common usage. In Hebrew, the masculine pronoun and verb forms are used for God because Hebrew is a grammatically gendered language, without a grammatical gender neutral form. Therefore, anything ungendered is arbitrarily assigned the masculine grammatical form. But that doesn't mean that the subject is literally male, any more than doing the reverse would mean the subject is literally female.

God, not being in any way, shape, or form a physical being, or resembling a physical being at all, has no gender.

I don't know Hebrew, and I trust that you do. Thank you for the explanation. It provides insight and logic to an ilogical practice of assuming that God is a man like creature.

In that case, since English does have a non-gender pronoun, "it", the neutral pronoun would be more appropriate when referring to God, albeit capitalized.

 

[Breathe]

In that case, since English does have a non-gender pronoun, "it", the neutral pronoun would be more appropriate when referring to God, albeit capitalized.

Many don't like the term It though, since it's seen as being something one uses when refers to objects. I suppose that's why some people have taken to using gender-neutral pronouns to describe God?

 

[Godwilling]

the genesis account explains that God made man in his image. The only way this is possible is if the 'image' has to do with intelligence and attributes because God is a spirit and has no phyisical features...it can only be the inner attributes that are in his image.

Is that because it is the "only way" in which the biblical statement could fit into your belief system?

this explains why we organize and plan and think about morality and ethics and laws

It does not explain any thing. It only explains that you believe it, or want others to believe it.

 

[Godwilling]

He is our Father. Fathers are male.

Fathers have testicles. Does God have testicles?

 

[Godwilling]

Why would anything other than organic lifeforms that sexually reproduce be male or female?

That it a good question. So if God is our Father and, therefore, male, is he an organic form?
On the other hand, if he is genderless, can he really be anyone's father?