Why does God have a gender?

[nobspeople]

The bible speaks of God as a 'he' or 'him'.
Is it possible that's not true? Is it possible God is an 'it' more than a 'he' or even a 'she'?

If God is not a 'he', would that change how you think of 'him'?
Would it change anything about 'his' story?

I've seen some believers see this concept as offensive. Are you one of those people that are offended if God is spoken about as a 'it' or 'she'?

[Tcg]

The bible speaks of God as a 'he' or 'him'.
Is it possible that's not true? Is it possible God is an 'it' more than a 'he' or even a 'she'?

If God is not a 'he', would that change how you think of 'him'?
Would it change anything about 'his' story?

I've seen some believers see this concept as offensive. Are you one of those people that are offended if God is spoken about as a 'it' or 'she'?

Given that both the OT and NT writings reflect the male dominated cultures they were written in, one possibility that has to be considered is that the concept of God those authors created included the idea that he was male because a female God would indicate inferiority. The concept they created was of a personal God rather than an impersonal force so the idea of an "it" wouldn't fit. A personal God created in a culture that viewed females as inferior would of course be viewed as male and would therefore be thought of as a "he."


Tcg

[Miles]

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Because making galaxies, planets, and people is man's work.

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[Difflugia]

Given that both the OT and NT writings reflect the male dominated cultures they were written in, one possibility that has to be considered is that the concept of God those authors created included the idea that he was male because a female God would indicate inferiority. The concept they created was of a personal God rather than an impersonal force so the idea of an "it" wouldn't fit. A personal God created in a culture that viewed females as inferior would of course be viewed as male and would therefore be thought of as a "he."

It's worth noting that the Canaanite pantheon from which El and Baal were lifted included both gods and goddesses. While it might be potluck that the "one true god" was male rather than female, it also might be an indication that the pastoral society of the Israelites was less cosmopolitan and more misogynist than the agrarian and urban Canaanite society it replaced.

Archaeological evidence suggests that the Israelites were ethnically Canaanite, but bumpkin nomads from the hills that moved into the nearly-empty cities after urban society failed due to climate shifts and incursions by "the sea people" (which included Philistines).

[bjs1]

[Replying to nobspeople in post #1]

I like the way that the Roman Catholic Catechism sums it up: “God is neither man nor woman: he is God.”

This view is almost universal within orthodox Christianity.

The only people I have ever known who thought that God has gender were children and non-Christians (and, I suppose, people who had just never thought about).

[1213]

The bible speaks of God as a 'he' or 'him'.
Is it possible that's not true? Is it possible God is an 'it' more than a 'he' or even a 'she'?
...

I believe humans would have more easily accepted she than he. But, this is a difficult question, because Bible tells God is a spirit and love also.

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
John 4:24

He who doesn't love doesn't know God, for God is love.
1 John 4:8

…God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
1 John 4:16

…we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man. The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent,
Acts 17:29-30

God is not a man [human being], that he should lie, Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?
Num. 23:19

Because of those, I think God is not like physical human. And that I why, when He is called for example Father, I believe it is for some other reason than physical gender. And this leads to question, what it means in spiritual sense to be a father or a man. I think God is he, because of how He acts and thinks.

But, this is just how I believe and understand it. If you disagree, it is not a problem for me.

[The Tanager]

[Replying to nobspeople in post #1]

I don't think the Bible presents God as being gendered. A key text for God not being any gender is Gen. 1:27 where both male and female are created in God's image.

Female imagery is used to talk about God in some places in the Bible as well. Hosea 13:8 compares God to a mama bear being robbed of her cubs. Deut 32:18 says God gave birth to us. Isaiah 42:14 compares God to a woman in labor, Isaiah 49:15 to a nursing mother, and 66:13 to a comforting mother. In Psalm 123:2-3 God is compared to a master as well as a mistress. In Psalm 131:2 David says his soul is like a weaned child with its mother, seemingly talking about God. Jesus compares himself to a mother hen in Matt 23:37.

If this is true, then why not use the title "Mother," "Queen," and the like? If this Biblical movement originated in our culture, [being male] may be the reason behind using "Father" instead of "Mother" (we probably wouldn't use the term "King," very often at all because of our power structures.) But back then the Mother Goddess cults tied "Mother" to the view that deifies Nature, which mixed economic security with religious ecstasy and sex. The Hebrew God was not like that. He transcends nature, the Divine being separate from nature. Thus, the term "Father" isn't a glorification of human males and fathers over women and mothers. If it were, then why use the above imagery to speak of God in motherly ways? Whether speaking in masculine or feminine ways, these are images for God, not a statement on God's gendered reality.

[Miles]

[Replying to nobspeople in post #1]

I don't think the Bible presents God as being gendered. A key text for God not being any gender is Gen. 1:27 where both male and female are created in God's image.

Genesis 1:27 you say. Hmmm

Genesis 1:27
ERV
So God created humans in his own image. He created them to be like himself. He created them male and female.

KJV
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

RSV
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

NASB
So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

etc.

etc.



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[The Tanager]

Genesis 1:27 you say. Hmmm

Did I say the Biblical authors used feminine and neutral pronouns? The question is what the Bible means in using masculine pronouns for God. It could be conveying that God was male. It doesn't just say that God is a him, though. The verse is more than just pronouns. The emphasis is that male and female are made in God's image. That image cannot be gendered male, then. The Bible also uses feminine imagery of God in other places. If the authors were all that concerned about seeing God as male, then they wouldn't have used those images, especially as the culture became more and more patriarchal.

Perhaps this is the only way people nowadays would think of using such pronouns, but that is our culture, not theirs. What do you have to say about my point concerning the Goddess cults that deified nature? The Hebrew view of God was not of that type, but one who transcends nature. Therefore, it makes more sense to me that the masculine pronoun was used to separate their idea of God from the religions built on deifying nature through feminine pronouns. Rather than a patriarchal system trying to oppress women, the Hebrews were reacting against a prior cultural decision to attach the feminine pronoun with certain beliefs about God that they rejected.

[Miles]

Genesis 1:27 you say. Hmmm

Did I say the Biblical authors used feminine and neutral pronouns?

No you didn't, but so what? You said, "I don't think the Bible presents God as being gendered."
And I simply showed you that the Bible does indeed present god as "being gendered.," The male gender.

Genesis 1:27
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

his
/hiz/
determiner
possesive pronoun: his; possesive pronoun: His; determiner: His

belonging to or associated with a male person or animal previously mentioned or easily identified.
"James sold his business"

______________________________

he
/hē/

pronoun: he
used to refer to a man, boy, or male animal previously mentioned or easily identified.

noun
noun: he
a male; a man.
"is that a he or a she?"

The question is what the Bible means in using masculine pronouns for God. It could be conveying that God was male.

"Could"??? Or what? That it was conveying the fact that God was perhaps a mushroom?

How about that when the Bible uses masculine pronouns for someone it means what it says: that that someone was male. What's wrong with that? Or should we start questioning the use of all personal pronouns in the Bible? Maybe Martha wasn't an actual woman at all.

John 11:20
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to greet him.

Or maybe Pilate wasn't a guy.

John 18:38
Pilate said, “What is truth?” Then he went out to the Jewish leaders again and said to them, “I can find nothing against this man.

It doesn't just say that God is a him, though.

Matthew 9:38
38 God owns the harvest. Ask him to send more workers to help gather his harvest.”

Luke 2:20
The shepherds went back to their sheep, praising God and thanking him for everything they had seen and heard. It was just as the angel had told them.

Exodus 15:2
The Lord is my strength. He saves me, and I sing songs of praise to him. He is my God, and I praise him. He is the God of my ancestors, and I honor him.




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