I know he is called he in the bible but surely an omnipotent, omnipresent being who exists beyond the realm of our material world would be better described as 'It'?
No offence I was just wondering
2006-06-14 02:20:51 · 51 answers · asked by DaveyMcB 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
he is only called he because of the male dominated society in which the Bible was written.
Why worry about a book of fiction anyway?
2006-06-14 02:23:25 · answer #1 · answered by freetronics 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
But the God described in the bible is male. Thou Father that is in heaven... Does "Father" ring a bell? The god in the bible is also not omnipresent because why would he create Adam, Eve and everyone till Noah; if he was present in the future tense to see that he will only need to destroy everything. In fact why was Jesus sacrificed if this mythical God was omnipotent? I mean a simple click of the fingers would be sufficient to forgive and cleanse the entire human race if one is omniscient...
2006-06-14 09:35:36 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Old Testament is itself equivocal on the gender and even number of GOD. In Hebrew, the first word referring to God in Genesis is 'Elohim', which I believe is a feminine plural= the Goddesses! This is a clear implication that the earliest Hebrew tradition maintained a belief that several goddesses were responsible for the creation of Adam, which means 'Man made of clay.' Later, in the Bible, the word for God takes on all the masculine and singular characteristics described above. This all clearly demonstrates a movement of patricians who take over a pantheistic early Jewish religion and make it monotheistic. However, they also held the earlier sacred tradition with such reverence that they did not edit out the pantheist feminine word in Genesis- a paradox, I think.
2006-06-14 02:37:36 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's more of a tradition thing. It has always been that God was portrayed as a man (seeing as that was more respectable back when the Bible was written and compiled). It's just been passed down through the ages and nobody feels the burning need to change it. But if someone felt the need to call God "It" instead of "He", I doubt it would bother anyway all that much (then again, there are plenty of people that would probably be incredibly offended).
2006-06-14 02:23:28 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
God is called He instead of it because He is a being and not just something that exists. All objects have names or identities. Just because a rock is an object that sits on the ground we dont call it it. We call it a rock. Logically I can call you it if I was being rude but I would call you a he because that is what you are classified as when you are male. You are not classified as it. God has expressed that He is male so that is why He is He. A father can not be a woman anyway.
2006-06-14 02:28:33 · answer #5 · answered by N M 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have a hard time with this also. The God I know is more of an It than a He but when I speak here I will usually use the GOD and HE so that people will not get hung up on the name and will here what my point is. When I speak to a Christian I speak Christian. When I speak to a Muslim I speak Muslim. And so on. This way I am heard. For me though God is everything and is energy so It is the right word.
Love & Light
Sharon
One Planet = One People
2006-06-14 02:41:32 · answer #6 · answered by skippingsunday 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe God is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient,not that I can truly grasp that. But He created man in his image, not in something inanimate. He speaks to me, something that is an it doesn't. How could you call something you love an it. I don't even refer to my dog as an "it." much less the Lord of lords, the One true God. God bless you
2006-06-14 02:27:39 · answer #7 · answered by 2ndchhapteracts 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"It" is scary and non-relatable. I agree there should be a better word. The men who wrote the bible I'm sure truley belived God was a man. If only to make themselves feel better. Thank God that mentality has almost past.
2006-06-14 02:27:23 · answer #8 · answered by katieebweb 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well think of who was writing the Bible and in what time period. God doesn't have a gender persay. I'm guessing that the men who wrote the Bible used "he" as an identifier.
2006-06-14 02:25:13 · answer #9 · answered by m3_mY$3Lf_! 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
god is only referred to as a he in most christian cultures. it comes from the time when the bible was written where the culture was male dominated and women were considered inferior, i.e. eve was the first to sin. not to mention lilith. in celtic religion many powerful gods were in fact godesses. so short answer because men wrote the bible and men chose what went into it.
2006-06-14 02:26:48 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
didn't offend me any, I don't believe in god, now if you were to tell me that god is an alien and that maybe he or she or it was the creator but he or she or it was actually a very intelligent being from another existence or plain of reality or maybe even more so just from another planet or solar system I might have more faith or want to believe, otherwise the whole story just doesn't do it for me, stargate and stargate atlantis's new seasons are starting soon people, prepare yourselves
2006-06-14 02:24:59 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋