Is God Male or Female?

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Lady_Tenor

God is male. If He weren't He wouldn't be referred to in the Bible with only male pronouns. We also would not call Him our Father. A father is a male.

Pretty selective reading there. Yes, "he" and "father" are used, because we really don't have any other words that work and we have to use the language we have. (Those in a Hebrew culture never would have used "mother" -- it carried too much baggage from the fertility religions of nearby cultures.) And the "Him" in "whosoever believeth in him" refers to Jesus, not to the first person of the Trinity.

Of course, in many languages where nouns have gender (including, I think, Hebrew and Greek) it's not so simple -- in some languages, God's spirit is a "she."

God is neither male nor female. Male and female are biological traits, and God, so far as the Bible records, has no body.

Yet, God is both male and female, or at least exhibits traits and characteristics that we ascribe to maleness and femaleness. For example, look at your example:

"On the sixth day God created man in HIS own image..."

Interesting how you didn't continue that quote -- "male and female created he them," with the implication that males reflect some aspects of God while females reflect other aspects. Kind of a Hebraic yin-yang.

[IncontRHOllable]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Pretty selective reading there. Yes, "he" and "father" are used, because we really don't have any other words that work and we have to use the language we have. (Those in a Hebrew culture never would have used "mother" -- it carried too much baggage from the fertility religions of nearby cultures.) And the "Him" in "whosoever believeth in him" refers to Jesus, not to the first person of the Trinity.

Of course, in many languages where nouns have gender (including, I think, Hebrew and Greek) it's not so simple -- in some languages, God's spirit is a "she."

God is neither male nor female. Male and female are biological traits, and God, so far as the Bible records, has no body.

Yet, God is both male and female, or at least exhibits traits and characteristics that we ascribe to maleness and femaleness. For example, look at your example:

Interesting how you didn't continue that quote -- "male and female created he them," with the implication that males reflect some aspects of God while females reflect other aspects. Kind of a Hebraic yin-yang.

Great answer. I agree. He is neither gender, yet he has the characteristics of both genders. I personally don't think it should matter although I think to some men, it does matter.