Is God Male?

[firehill]

I said God is gender neutral because "gender" is a culturally defined term.

Who really cares if God has the male anatomy or not? Kinda silly since it does not matter AT ALL.

Again, it's not about anatomy. I think perhaps I could have worded it better: "Is God a man?"

No He's not and He says that he is not a man in the OT.

Further the Creator made humankind in in image according to Genesis 1:27, not just the male sex.

Where in the OT does it say that God is not a man? I hope you're not referring to "God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should repent" because that verse (Num. 23:19) does not refer to God's gender or lack thereof.

I would ask this question again - in light of some of the previous posts - does God do anything without purpose or intent?

Numbers 23:19, yes I was refering to. The Hebrew ish means 'male'.

[Floatingaxe]

I take that to mean that since we will be like the angels and not marrying, or having male-female relationships, but will be living according to God's ultimate plan, we will also be as genderless as they are.

I am sure we will look much like we are now, but perfected, but with no apparent gender.

[sierra21]

Notice something here. The man WITH the woman TOGETHER is called "Adam", and not just the man. In otherwords "Adam" is both the name of the specific man, and as well, the name of the human race, including the specific woman "Eve".

[Ovedya]

I said God is gender neutral because "gender" is a culturally defined term.

Who really cares if God has the male anatomy or not? Kinda silly since it does not matter AT ALL.

Again, it's not about anatomy. I think perhaps I could have worded it better: "Is God a man?"

No He's not and He says that he is not a man in the OT.

Further the Creator made humankind in in image according to Genesis 1:27, not just the male sex.

Where in the OT does it say that God is not a man? I hope you're not referring to "God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should repent" because that verse (Num. 23:19) does not refer to God's gender or lack thereof.

I would ask this question again - in light of some of the previous posts - does God do anything without purpose or intent?

Numbers 23:19, yes I was refering to. The Hebrew ish means 'male'.

You should really learn some things about the language if you're going to cite it. In terms of being in contrast with God, the term "ish" means "human." Since this verse deals with the contrast between God and man, the term means "God is not human that He should lie." Try again.

[Ovedya]

God is neither male nor female. He is God. He has no specific gender, but He likens Himself to a father, mostly. However, there is a reference to Him as a mother hen who longs to gather His Israel to Him with "her" wings.

God is.

Heresy.

You can be nice, truster. What is so heretical in my view of God as Spirit, which He is? Male is a human attribute.

And God does not posess human attributes?

Do you believe that God has a reason for everything that He does?

No we were made like Him, not the other way around therefore again, no He does not posses human attributes. Impossible. He is SPIRIT.

So then, correct me if I'm wrong, but you are saying that God does not possess human attributes.

So please explain why Christ resurrected as a man, and how He suddenly does not have the same attributes that he had as a man.

Also, since you responded to my post, can you answer the second question? Do you believe that God has a reason for everything He does?

[Ovedya]

Gender in common usage refers to the distinctions between masculinity and femininity. Currently, anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists, and gender theorists like Judith Butler and Kate Bornstein say that gender is a social construction, that it is "performative," and that one is always in the process of becoming a gender rather than actually being a gender. Additionally, the social "rules" governing gender are always shifting with the culture, making one's "masculinity" or "femininity" a (tacit) agreement among members of a culture, rather than being derived from an innate set of predetermined characteristics. Although gender is often used interchangably with sex, today many do not think that sex and gender are the same thing. - Wikipedia

My point, because it was misconstrued earlier, is that gender is not something that is held constant over generations. Women today are very different, in terms of culturally defined roles and expectations, compared to women who were alive 200 years ago. In saying that, I think it's difficult to say whether or not God would fit into what is know as male or female gender.

I personally think God is a spirit and does not take on any particular gender or sex.

Actually there are many crossovers in culture. Among those most common are the roles that men and women have with regard to the family. Typically in most cultures the woman is the caretaker of the children and keeper of the household, while men are the protectors and the ones providing for the welfare of the family. In most cultures men marry women, women are adorned for marriage, ect. These are all things that define gender roles pretty much across the board.

[Ovedya]

I take that to mean that since we will be like the angels and not marrying, or having male-female relationships, but will be living according to God's ultimate plan, we will also be as genderless as they are.

I am sure we will look much like we are now, but perfected, but with no apparent gender.

You may appreciate this. There is a certain truth to the Scriptural revelation concerning the Bride of Christ: That we are spiritually all "female." Yet only in the respect of our marrying Christ.

[MeCajunboy]

Some recent threads inspired me this morning to pose the question, "Is God male?" Please answer the poll and include a reply to the thread. In your reply begin with how you answered, then explain in as many words as you want why you answered that way, and use Scripture to support of your answer. Then be prepared to giv an answer to others who respond to you.

Have fun!

Remember, we're talking about a "Supernatural" Being WHO ALWAYS EXISTED AND ALWAYS WILL! Secondly, does it really matter? I'm believing that a "Perfect" being does not have to be concerned with HIS sex. God only designed us into two sexes because HE knew the flaws and sins that would be soooooooooooo much worse had HE not and still wanted to give us "Free Will." Again, for our sake; NOT HIS!

Blessings

Cajunboy

[hupo]

Ok. Sometimes humor is missed without the emotion of the human voice to convey the intent.

Sorry about that. I'll take it into account next time

God bless

[hupo]

I've been following this topic with much curiousity and have come to two conclusions:-

1. We will never know the truth about God's gender from this discussion

2. We can learn so much about ourselves, regarding this topic

Looking at the stats I see that God is concedered "Male" or "Male Plus" by 77.4 % of the voters.

Only 23.3 % think of God as "Female amongst other genders"

God might be an yet unknown gender for all I know. After all Gender is a human defenition.

The stats could show that most of the voters are male.

It could also show that the voters are unknown gender but schuvenistic.

There are 31 votes in all which could mean that most people don't regard this topic as relevant.

Like I said we could learn a lot about ourselves but almost nothing about God.

God bless this forum I love it! It's so human