God as much of a woman as a man

I have to respectfully disagree. Since the beginning God has referred to Himself as “He” and Father - even in the NT the Holy Spirit is referred to as “He”.

Yes God is Spirit, but I’m also not going to ignore the fact that God calls himself by a male pronoun. There’s a big reason for that.

ewq1938 said:

Why? Isn't that just a limitation of our own perceptions of what it is to be male?

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I disagree. I think arguing for the maleness of God is kind of projecting our biology in a way which inappropriately anthropomorphises God. (Similarly to why it's inappropriate to imagine God as old, or bearded, or white, for that matter).

ewq1938 said:

Also, the bible mentions spirits (ghosts) and my Grandmother saw a male ghost once. Maleness is not limited to a physical body.

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Well, I'm not sure about the reality of ghosts, or whether how they appear reflects their reality.

But I absolutely do not see any basis for believing that maleness is anything other than a function of our bodies, necessary for sexual reproduction.

Jesus was a man and Jesus is God. It would be wrong to put a woman on a crucifix just as much as it would be wrong to refer to Yahweh as a goddess, in my opinion.

Swan7 said:

I have to respectfully disagree. Since the beginning God has referred to Himself as “He” and Father - even in the NT the Holy Spirit is referred to as “He”.

Yes God is Spirit, but I’m also not going to ignore the fact that God calls himself by a male pronoun. There’s a big reason for that.

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If I'm not mistaken, this isn't quite so.

Holy Spirit in Greek is neuter and is referred to by a neuter pronoun ("it"). But if the Holy Spirit is called "parakletos", comforter / counselor, then the pronoun is masculine.

I'm no NT scholar, but since the Holy Spirit is God, itseems this means we shouldn't make TOO much of pronouns.

In the NT, all nouns have a gender, but that doesn't mean all the masculine ones were male. artos, bread, is masculine, but not male.

GaveMeJoy said:

Do you have a problem with my perspective here shared (other than my Lame jokes) or is it acceptable theologically.

thanks! I’m mostly trying this out because I want to talk to my pastor about it but I don’t want to miss anything important. Thanks!

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I think you're technically right. I consider the use of "Father" as divine accommodation. As Calvin put it, God speaks to us like we speak to children, i.e. in ways they can understand. Having said that, "Father" was our Lord's reference and it is so embedded in our common worship that it should be used. Or, to put it differently, to use "Mother" is out of place.

https://www.theopedia.com/divine-accommodation

God is a male. It’s not anthropomorphic because God created humans in his image. We can discern this because as Jesus said that if you have seen him then you have seen the Father.

Paidiske said:

Sex (the male/female binary) is a function of biology. Since God is not biological, I agree that it is correct to say that God in Godself does not have sex or gender. (Of course the incarnate Christ was male, but the important thing is not Christ's maleness, but Christ's humanity).

That said, I wouldn't use the term "goddess," not least because of its Pagan connotations.

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Gender is not rooted in biology. It is dependent on Divine definition. In other words our gender is deeper than our physical bodies. Our bodies manifest this truth in our birth gender. Our bodies and souls are interlocked. We cannot change this or redefine it. As such we cannot redefine God through our own desires or rationale. He exists as He has revealed himself. Any other suggestion would be considered heresy by the church.

I don't believe in gendered "souls." Nor do I see any Biblical basis for that.

ewq1938 said:

How about the Rich man in Hades or Abraham or Lazarus? I know most consider it a parable and not literal but either way doesn't that demonstrate that a bodiless soul is still considered the same gender that had been when physically alive?

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I do consider it a parable, and not a sound basis for a theological anthropology.

Hermit76 said:

Gender is not rooted in biology. It is dependent on Divine definition. In other words our gender is deeper than our physical bodies. Our bodies manifest this truth in our birth gender. Our bodies and souls are interlocked. We cannot change this or redefine it. As such we cannot redefine God through our own desires or rationale. He exists as He has revealed himself. Any other suggestion would be considered heresy by the church.

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The question is whether God should be said to be "male," which seems to me to be a descriptor for creatures, and God is not a creature.

This seems to me to be a pretty separate matter from that humans are both body and soul. God (say, the Father) doesn't reproduce sexually, and doesn't have a body. Maleness requires a body.

archer75 said:

If I'm not mistaken, this isn't quite so.

Holy Spirit in Greek is neuter and is referred to by a neuter pronoun ("it"). But if the Holy Spirit is called "parakletos", comforter / counselor, then the pronoun is masculine.

I'm no NT scholar, but since the Holy Spirit is God, itseems this means we shouldn't make TOO much of pronouns.

In the NT, all nouns have a gender, but that doesn't mean all the masculine ones were male. artos, bread, is masculine, but not male.

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I will believe the Word of God. No one needs to be a scholar to either take God at His Word or not.

God says “He” and “Father” both masculine and male. Yes the Holy Spirit is male because Jesus Christ also said “He”. Again, I will take God at His Word and I will allow Him to teach me. I’m just here to say the facts of what God says about His own Word. That’s it.

I pray you and others find the truth in God’s Word, and implore you to ask Him if this is so. Don’t make assumptions on your own.

ReesePiece23 said:

God is the hub to ALL human consciousness. If you could physically see Him, I'm not sure that the human brain would know how to cope. It would be like trying to fit a four dimensional shape into a two dimensional world, and all concept of male/female would go out of the window.

However, I always refer to Him as father. I don't even call Him God that often.

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And so you should, just as Jesus is brother, but a Father has children and not just of one sex, male and female created He them.... in His image

ewq1938 said:

Then how is it that God the Father is a Father which is a male who has fathered a child. Jesus is the only begotten of the Father according to scripture.

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Fatherhood is a metaphor for a divine reality which cannot be adequately conveyed by human language or compared to human experience. He's not a literal (biological) father. Nor is the second person of the Trinity a literal (biological) Son, since we are certainly not talking about the product of sexual reproduction!

ewq1938 said:

God is male, called "Father" in the OT and the NT. When God made Adam in his own image, he made him male. Later when he wanted Adam to have a companion, he made a female from him.


Mal_2:10 Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?

1Ch_29:10 Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever.

Isa_63:16 Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.

Isa_64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

Psa_89:26 He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.


God the Father is always described as looking like an older male in every description that appears in scripture.

Dan 7:9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.


Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Since we know Jesus was a male, we also know the Father is a male who looks like the Son.

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GaveMeJoy said:

Disclaimer to male readers: I am a straight and manly 6 foot 200 pound man, who is red blooded and I am not a progressive or “feminist” or liberal. It’s ok to keep reading and not just dismiss it because you think I’m a woman.

God is a spirit being. God had no gender or physical representation. While Jesus manifested as a male human, he existed as a member of the triune God for eternity before creation.
While it can be argued Jesus is entirely male, there is no scriptural defense for the position that God is male in any way.


The scriptures use the male pronoun to refer to God by default, through translation, and because the scriptures were written in patriarchal societies where the male pronoun would be used for a deity.

As Goddess is a spirit and gender free, she does not have a gender.

The previous sentence sounds weird and is inaccurate. It also doesn’t use common scriptural male terms for God so it feels uncomfortable. However, it is equally as inaccurate as the following sentence:

As God is a spirit and gender free he does not have a gender.

God is not male. It’s OK to admit it, it won’t make you turn blue.

but seriously, where am I wrong, any scripture to demonstrate God is male? Do you have a problem with my perspective here shared (other than my Lame jokes) or is it acceptable theologically.

thanks! I’m mostly trying this out because I want to talk to my pastor about it but I don’t want to miss anything important. Thanks!

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***

We really don't know whether God has a gender or not ... what we do know is that throughout scripture all in the Trinity are referred as the male gender and we are to refer to them as such ... beyond that we really don't know.

Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirt and was definitely born male ... another question then that arrises .... after Jesus' resurrection does He still retain His Human form ... yes as when He appeared to others after His resurrection He appeared in that same human form ... and stated He was not spirit

Luke 24:39
Berean Study Bible
Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself. Touch Me and see—for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

could be ... not saying it is (theory) ... Jesus before His incarnation was in spirit form and was then conceived by the Holy Spirit in order to be physically seen by mankind ... through a physical form ... and thereby became both spirit & human.

No man has ever seen God

Exodus 33:20
Berean Study Bible
But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”

John 1:18
No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father's side, has made Him known.

k .. and another thing ...

when we are resurrected will we retain our same male/female form? I say yes and will be resurrected and be either female or male as we were on earth but will be immortal in that same human form.

In regard to the Original OP

We don't know whether God is male or female or has any gender designation at all ;o) ... we can only theorize on the matter ... as stated ... we are to refer to them using the male term just as it is written ... I'm ok with that until we are resurrected and go to be with HIM

Theee seems to be disagreement on this thread about what "male" means.

eleos1954 said:

***

We really don't know whether God has a gender or not ... what we do know is that throughout scripture all in the Trinity are referred as the male gender and we are to refer to them as such ... beyond that we really don't know.

Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirt and was definitely born male ... another question then that arrises .... after Jesus' resurrection does He still retain His Human form ... yes as when He appeared to others after His resurrection He appeared in that same human form ... and stated He was not spirit

Luke 24:39
Berean Study Bible
Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself. Touch Me and see—for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

could be ... not saying it is (theory) ... Jesus before His incarnation was in spirit form and was then conceived by the Holy Spirit in order to be physically seen by mankind ... through a physical form ... and thereby became both spirit & human.

No man has ever seen God

Exodus 33:20
Berean Study Bible
But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”

John 1:18
No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father's side, has made Him known.

k .. and another thing ...

when we are resurrected will we retain our same male/female form? I say yes and will be resurrected and be either female or male as we were on earth but will be immortal in that same human form.

In regard to the Original OP

We don't know whether God is male or female or has any gender designation at all ;o) ... we can only theorize on the matter ... as stated ... we are to refer to them using the male term just as it is written ... I'm ok with that until we are resurrected and go to be with HIM

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I prefer to stick to the biblical term of wisdom as female and very much a part of the trinity but each to their own.

ewq1938 said:

I disagree. Only begotten son means Jesus is literally the real son of God the Father.

Not sexual reproduction but Jesus was the product of biological reproduction. God the Father used the Holy Spirit to impregnate Mary.

Mat_1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

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But we are not talking about here about the conception of Jesus as God incarnate, but about the origins of God the Son, the second person of the Trinity. Since all three persons of the Trinity are co-equal and co-eternal, we cannot then construct the relationship between the first and second persons (Father and Son) as anything other than a metaphor.