• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Is God male or female?

Katzpur

Not your average Mormon
Well a few would be..Merciful, Just, Loving, Caring, etc
What I meant to ask is which ones are male and which ones are female? Personally, I don't see any of God's "character traits" (for lack of a better way of putting it) as being either male or female.
 

JacobEzra.

Dr. Greenthumb
What I meant to ask is which ones are male and which ones are female? Personally, I don't see any of God's "character traits" (for lack of a better way of putting it) as being either male or female.
Being merciful and caring is feminine while being just and vengeful is more masculine.

Right?
 

InChrist

Free4ever
Define what you mean by "spirit." What do you believe that word actually means? Does it mean that God is like the air we breathe except that He has "a mind, will, intellect, emotions and a moral capacity"? If so, could you maybe elaborate on this concept so that I can understand your point of view better?

Secondly, do you believe the resurrected Jesus Christ to have a body of flesh and bones like He did when He appeared to His Apostles on Easter morning? Or do you believe that He somehow shed this body as He ascended into Heaven 40 days later? In other words, do you believe He still has a body of some sort or that He became a spirit again?



[FONT=&quot]By spirit I mean a non-material, invisible, infinite, personal being. I believe the Bible indicates this as mentioned by the following verses among others;[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen 1Tim. 1:17[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. 1Tim. 6:16[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Romans 1:20[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?” says the LORD; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the LORD. Jeremiah. 23:24[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]I believe Jesus has a body of flesh and bone as He demonstrated to His disciples,. But unlike ours, His body is in a resurrected, glorified, incorruptible and eternal state. He makes contrast between His resurrected body and that of a spirit.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. Luke 24:39[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 1 Cor. 15:42[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 1 Cor.15:44[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 Cor. 5:1[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Phil. 3:29-21[/FONT]
 

Katzpur

Not your average Mormon
Being merciful and caring is feminine while being just and vengeful is more masculine.

Right?
I don't know. I kind of think of my husband as being more merciful and caring and me as being more vengeful. I'm actually being entirely serious in saying this. I don't see any personality traits as being gender-specific.
 

JacobEzra.

Dr. Greenthumb
I don't know. I kind of think of my husband as being more merciful and caring and me as being more vengeful. I'm actually being entirely serious in saying this. I don't see any personality traits as being gender-specific.
They are just feminine in nature, though it doesn't mean that its only a characteristic to one sex. In this view it, to me at least, gives more depth to the words "Let us make man to our image and likeness" and "God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them." (Genesis 1;26,27)



Just as God can be described with masculine traits, so can he be described with feminine traits.
 

Katzpur

Not your average Mormon
They are just feminine in nature, though it doesn't mean that its only a characteristic to one sex. In this view it, to me at least, gives more depth to the words "Let us make man to our image and likeness" and "God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them." (Genesis 1;26,27)
I'm just curious... Can you use the word "image" in a sentence outside of a Biblical context to mean anything other than the representation of physical qualities? For example, identical twins are said to be an exact image of one another (meaning they look alike). You see your image in the mirror (meaning you see what you look like). A photograph is an image of someone or something captured on film or digitally (it's what that person or thing looks like).

Just as God can be described with masculine traits, so can he be described with feminine traits.
And all I'm saying is that I don't believe there is such a thing as masculine or feminine traits (with respect to character).
 

outhouse

Atheistically
God has always been a male figure, elohim was male and so was yahwey.

ancient hebrews had a female deity Asherah. [gods wife]


they have found inscriptions stating Yahwey and his Asherah.


there is no debate that yahwey wasnt a male.


ancient hebrews would never have worshipped even a 1/2 feminine deity. They wanted and needed the warrior god yahwey to save them.
 

Jethro

Member
Of course the Triune God is male in gender, i.e. God the Father, not mother; the Holy Spirit is called "He" many times in Scripture; and Jesus is called God's Son, not daughter.
 

muslim-

Active Member
God existed before males or females were ever created by Him.

He is exalted and is above being male or female or having any human qualities that were created by Him.
 

outhouse

Atheistically
God existed before males or females were ever created by Him.

He is exalted and is above being male or female or having any human qualities that were created by Him.


who exalted him?

LOL I love how you called it "he" :)


its a new game called contradiction :)
 

muslim-

Active Member
who exalted him?

LOL I love how you called it "he" :)


its a new game called contradiction :)

Not really. Its just the limitations of language. In Arabic "he" is used as well but He includes objects, and so does "she". "Chair" is "male", while car is female. So its not about gender really. How to determine male and female even in objects? By the last few letters. Think of it as something similar to the existence of vowels that can change spelling when present.

One can also get into "What is male?" and "what is female?" what does that mean? Is it related to the genetilia? Pregnancy? Emotions? Habits? These are all human qualities.

In the fundamentals of Islamic jurisprudence , theres a rule that says "Judging something is a branch of how its perceived" . So if one thinks God has a gender just like His creation, simply because of the humans linguistic use of "he", it doesn't mean others see God in the same manner, or that they describe God based on the language humans use. What if in another language it is not used? Or a certain language uses "it"? Would that mean God is an object? What if in a certain language theres a specific word that replaces "He" and is specific to God?

What if all of the above exist in different languages? Which language would you accept? And based on what?

I think language is only a medium that contains meanings that exist. It doesn't mean meanings are derived from language.

Who exalted Him? What made the sun the sun, and not a horse? The concepts! It is not logically possible for God to have human qualities that were created by Him. Because this requires saying that human qualities are eternal, and not created. So if one believes in God, he cannot logically say he has human qualities. It can't be had both ways.
 
Top