Is God male or female?

[Breathe]

I have always like Robert Heinlein's use of the pronoun per (as in an abbreviation of person) in Stranger in a Strange Land.

It almost works, but to me it's uncomfortable in its usage; both nominative and objective are the same which I think breaks the common usage of English pronouns, and for some reason I find "That is pers" when using the possessive pronoun or possessive determiner forms to be aesthetically unappealing.

The ones that seem best to me is xe (xe (like "me", but with a z), xem, xyr, xyrs, xemself) (read like one would read "they", but with a z). Hu, and per seem uncomfortable to use, hy, ot, yt, ne, and ve are too similar to other pronouns, and thon, phe, en and co are too artificial.

*Edit to add: and zhe (IPA /ʒeː/? or /ʒiː/? - not sure which), well, /ʒ/ does not occur in word-initial position in native English words, but it can be a syllable-initial phoneme, e.g., treasure /tɹɛʒə(r)/. This would make it pretty foreign sounding, and possibly liable to be mispronounced and turned into just ze or je.

English does need a gender-neutral pronoun, though. Ironically, there used to be one in Middle English, "ou", yet its usage died out.

 

[Gaura Priya]

It almost works, but to me it's uncomfortable in its usage; both nominative and objective are the same which I think breaks the common usage of English pronouns, and for some reason I find "That is pers" when using the possessive pronoun or possessive determiner forms to be aesthetically unappealing.

The ones that seem best to me is xe (xe (like "me", but with a z), xem, xyr, xyrs, xemself) (read like one would read "they", but with a z). Hu, and per seem uncomfortable to use, hy, ot, yt, ne, and ve are too similar to other pronouns, and thon, phe, en and co are too artificial.

English does need a gender-neutral pronoun, though. Ironically, there used to be one in Middle English, "ou", yet its usage died out.

I use Spivak pronouns... Ey, eir, em, emself...

"Jehovah is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Ey maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
Ey leadeth me beside still waters.
Ey restoreth my soul:
Ey guideth me in the paths of righteousness for Eir name’s sake."

 

[Father Heathen]

Why would an omnipotent, incorporeal and all-encompassing being have dangly bits?

 

[Gaura Priya]

Why would an omnipotent, incorporeal and all-encompassing being have dangly bits?

Intersexuality?

 

[Breathe]

I use Spivak pronouns... Ey, eir, em, emself...

"Jehovah is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Ey maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
Ey leadeth me beside still waters.
Ey restoreth my soul:
Ey guideth me in the paths of righteousness for Eir name’s sake."

Bleh, still not keen on it for some reason.
Especially not with KJV-esque terms. I dunno. Just seems... wrong to do that to old texts.

 

[sniper762]

these verses describe god masculine.

1. Genesis 1:27
   So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
   Genesis 1:26-28 (in Context) Genesis 1 (Whole Chapter)
2. Genesis 5:2
   Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

 

[Flat Earth Kyle]

God is an Exhalted Man. He is our Father, we are his children, we have a heavenly mother and God wants us to follow in his footsteps and live up to our full potential and become one with him (be just like he is a heavenly father to more children than the stars in the sky. An infinite amount of children.)

 

[sniper762]

sounds like true lds thinkin

 

[atanu]

How can an idea have gender?

The way we have, perhaps?

 

[lunakilo]

God is an Exhalted Man. He is our Father, we are his children, we have a heavenly mother and God wants us to follow in his footsteps and live up to our full potential and become one with him (be just like he is a heavenly father to more children than the stars in the sky. An infinite amount of children.)

And who is our mother you say?

 

[Flat Earth Kyle]

I can't say who our Heavenly Mother is, only that we have one. According to my understanding, She is sacred and our Heavenly Father did not want us to defile her
name as we have his name and our savior's name.

 

[Katzpur]

The way we have, perhaps?

Why not?

 

[Flat Earth Kyle]

Because that is stuff I don't know, she isn't spoken of very often.

 

[Yanni]

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

Let me explain the reason why both masculine and feminine forms are used in the Torah. God does not have a gender; he is not corporeal. However, humans relate to God in a number of ways, and God relates to humans in a number of ways. One of our perceptions of God is being the Creator and Master of the Universe, our King, our loving Father in Heaven. In that sense, we would relate to God in the masculine form; therefore, there are certain words in the Torah that refer to God as "He," or "King." Interestingly, we never called God our "queen." But, there are ares in the Torah where we refer to God in the feminine form. The simple reason for that is because God is also a nurturer; God is also our "Mother." He provides for our basic needs, and protects us as we grow older into adulthood, and many other reasons why He is like our Mother. It is not a contradiction to relate to Him with both male and female terms; though He has no gender at all, we relate to Him as we perceive Him, depending on the context.

 

[Flat Earth Kyle]

Let me explain the reason why both masculine and feminine forms are used in the Torah. God does not have a gender; he is not corporeal. However, humans relate to God in a number of ways, and God relates to humans in a number of ways. One of our perceptions of God is being the Creator and Master of the Universe, our King, our loving Father in Heaven. In that sense, we would relate to God in the masculine form; therefore, there are certain words in the Torah that refer to God as "He," or "King." Interestingly, we never called God our "queen." But, there are ares in the Torah where we refer to God in the feminine form. The simple reason for that is because God is also a nurturer; God is also our "Mother." He provides for our basic needs, and protects us as we grow older into adulthood, and many other reasons why He is like our Mother. It is not a contradiction to relate to Him with both male and female terms; though He has no gender at all, we relate to Him as we perceive Him, depending on the context.

Is the Torah like the Old Testament, or does it cover the time period of the New Testament as well? Does it say anything about the Savior? And do they give the Torah out for free anywhere online like they do the Bible a Book of Mormon? I honestly don't know much about the Jewish Religion in modern days. I once talked to this one guy though who claimed he was a Christian Jew and our beliefs had a lot in common, such as what happens when you die

 

[Yanni]

Is the Torah like the Old Testament, or does it cover the time period of the New Testament as well? Does it say anything about the Savior? And do they give the Torah out for free anywhere online like they do the Bible a Book of Mormon? I honestly don't know much about the Jewish Religion in modern days. I once talked to this one guy though who claimed he was a Christian Jew and our beliefs had a lot in common, such as what happens when you die

If you read this article, it will explain your questions about Jesus and the "New Testament." Why Don't Jews Believe In Jesus?.
Also, that website has many articles about Judaism: Judaism - The Jewish Website.

What I recommend most for those seeking to understand Judaism (especially in the modern world) is a book called The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Judaism by Rabbi Benjamin Blech. It is written in a very concise, user friendly manner, with lots of comedy as well. The link to the book on the Complete Idiot's Guide website is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Judaism, 2nd Edition - Rabbi Benjamin Blech - Complete Idiot's Guides.

Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have.

 

[atanu]

Often, I have felt that my wife was God. So, there.

 

[Flat Earth Kyle]

If you read this article, it will explain your questions about Jesus and the "New Testament." Why Don't Jews Believe In Jesus?.
Also, that website has many articles about Judaism: Judaism - The Jewish Website.

What I recommend most for those seeking to understand Judaism (especially in the modern world) is a book called The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Judaism by Rabbi Benjamin Blech. It is written in a very concise, user friendly manner, with lots of comedy as well. The link to the book on the Complete Idiot's Guide website is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Judaism, 2nd Edition - Rabbi Benjamin Blech - Complete Idiot's Guides.

Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have.

As I said on our other thread if the Torah is a closed cannon I don't believe it. See article by Elder Jeffery R Holland of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles "My Words... Never Cease"

“My Words … Never Cease”

It is enlightening on the other hand reading the stuff on your links, it answers a lot of questions I have had on the Jewish views of not accepting the Christ.

Out of curiosity, do Jews today still offer up animal sacrifices and obey the law of Moses? If not, when and why did they stop?

 

[Yanni]

As I said on our other thread if the Torah is a closed cannon I don't believe it. See article by Elder Jeffery R Holland of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles "My Words... Never Cease"

“My Words … Never Cease”

It is enlightening on the other hand reading the stuff on your links, it answers a lot of questions I have had on the Jewish views of not accepting the Christ.

Out of curiosity, do Jews today still offer up animal sacrifices and obey the law of Moses? If not, when and why did they stop?

We are only allowed to offer sacrifices in the Holy Temple. Before the Holy Temple existed, people were able to sacrifice animals on their own personal altars. However, once the Holy Temple was erected, God subsequently forbade sacrificing animals anywhere other than in the Holy Temple. We do believe that after the Messiah comes and rebuilds the Temple (which is apparent in many passages in Tanach (the Jewish Bible), we will once again offer animal sacrifices, together with all the other nations of the world; we will all be united in serving the One True God (however, that doesn't mean that everyone will have to convert to Judaism; we will have our place in the Messianic Era and the non-Jews will have their place. We will all be united in perfect peace).

 

[Flat Earth Kyle]

So you still do believe in offering animal sacrifices, but don't because the Temple was destroyed, and no one wants to rebuild it because you believe when the Messiah comes He is going to rebuild it?
What about the Law of Moses and only being able to take a certain amount of steps on the Sabbath day, and killing people for picking up sticks on the Sabbath, and all that other stuff spoken of in the Old Testament?