Why is God refered to as a man? How do we know God isn't a woman?

Question

As an atheist, I’m always interested in the idea that an omnipresent being such as God is gendered. Why is this? And why as a male figure, and not a woman?

Just to point out, I have read the Bible and spent many a Sunday morning in Sunday school and in church, before I decided that religion wasn't for me.

Answer 1

God is a joke... jokes don't have genders

Answer 2

Of course God is a man, a women would never have allowed the world to turn into such a dangerous place, where girls can't walk the streets at night and people are murdered for no reason, where children fear for their lives and animals are tortured. But then again, most men l know are lovely, so really the question is, are we actually completely alone and holding on to the thought of God as a way to feel safe and hide from the truth that there is nobody looking down on us?. And lets face it...it's just a book...........maybe the world needs to move on from religion (as we are now much better educated) and people need to start having faith in each other...rather than in something which doesn't appear to be there?

Answer 3

GOD is a metaphoric representation of something that is neither man nor woman. It isn't even a Humanoid. I doubt it's even sentient. BUT, this element that GOD represents is extremely important to the human condition. Thanks to the art of metaphor, GOD can be spoken of as though he had a human body and stuff, like Old Man Winter, Mother Nature, or Father Time.

The reason GOD is a He and not a She, then is quite simple. Because the authors that developed this system of metaphor and symbolism that appears throughout the Bible wanted to represent GOD as a man and not a woman. Basically.

There may be two reasons for this:
1. Because they were men and they'd be damned before they worshipped a woman.

and/or

2. Because GOD behaves in a fashion sononomous with men, not women. A wealthy, powerful rewarder. A merciless punisher. The last word in the household. The King. The Govorner. The Wise One. A being not taken by silly baseless superstitions. A Judge. A keeper of the Peace. The foremost expert. Ect.

If I were you, I wouldn't take it personally.

Adder_Astros
Powerful Member of the House of Light.
[]xxx[];;;;;;;;;;>.
http://www.adderastros.com

Answer 4

In the old testmant it was very important that every woman bears a son... there are chapters on chapters where all they talk about is so and so had a son, and another son... you don't hear about the daughters because they were not important back then. If God were really female, they would stress more importance on other females in the bible. As it is, they're an after thought only good for procreating etc. etc. But I too am an atheist so I don't really care one way or another what gender people attribute to "god"

Answer 5

At first, it was neither. It used a Hebrew (I think it was Hebrew, might have been Aramaeic) word that is kind of like 'It', except neutral, not disrespectful like calling someone 'it' is in English.

It only became 'He' when the Bible was translated into English (1500s-ish). English is kinda wierd in that it doesn't have any easy way of saying 'He or She did', most languages do. So it had to be one or the other, and it was male monks who did the translating.

Since then, English speaking people have mostly assumed it was always like that.

And it spreads, as the bible is now usually translated from the modified English version, not from the Hebrew (?) original. There's quite a few things like that in the bible, which people have changed very slighly over the years.

Answer 6

God is referred to as a man because when the text was written men were the "superior of the genders." Christians would have be laughed at for the idea of a female God. I choose to think of God as an entity without gender. God has both male and female characteristics. You can buy Bibles now with either he/she or she references to God.

Answer 7

I don't believe God has a gender. I believe God is the formless, genderless, omnipresent, eternal energy source of life. God is the process of life itself.

God is commonly referred to as Father, or Him or He for a couple of reasons. First, because the early church leaders were male and manipulated the word of God and the bible to suit their own patriarchal agenda and to control the masses with fear.

Secondly, in the orginal Aramaic language, apparently, from what I understand, there was another pronoun used to refer to God, that was not gender specific, but that was more appropriate than it. The English language does not have an appropriate pronoun so we say He or Him out of mere convenience. It is annoying to say or hear Him/Her or He/She.

I try not to use either gender, but to simply say God. (Not that this is necessarily the right or only name, but that's another debate!) When I do use a gender I say She, for the mere shock value and to provoke people into thinking that there might be another possibility.

Answer 8

I believe that God refers to himself as a male because man is contained in all "mankind". When a baby is born, it's suppose to take on the name of the father to indicate it's specific "kind". It isn't to indicate that men are superior, but that they are rightfully so, natural born leaders AND protectors. Women were destined to lead but not to protect to the extent that men will. Hence, leadership without protection fails the common good. Protection transcends life. God protects and man protects. Women lead and nuture with the aide of man's leadership AND protection. Within female you have male and within woman you have man (verbally and literally). I truly believe this was not an accident. Men were meant to penetrate our bodies, souls, minds, and emotions and THAT's why we are so flexible and able to stretch beyond reasonable limits all the white STILL nuturing. I believe everything goes wrong when men fail to protect and women allow many men into them (physically AND spiritually) with each one failing to protect as the one before.
How do we know God is not a woman? Because a woman cannot protect the way a man will. We lack the inbred testosterone that kicks up the anger notch to a thousand and one when threatened. As women we get angry, but alot of times it's right before or after we cry. Crying is not a BAD thing. It doesn't mean we as women are weak. It means that we are meant to love and grow love in others. Trust me, God believes that women are SOOOO beautiful, that's why he made us irresistable. When you read the bible you'll find that protection is a common theme. The ten commandments protect us from moral decay. Jesus died on the cross to "save" our sins, etc.

Answer 9

You say you're an atheist, but I'm assuming you're talking about the God that Christians believe in. Hindu's have lots of gods, some being female.

Anyway... the Bible says that God made the human race like himself.... this included women... and to be honest.... as people we only have a limited understanding of anything. It's 'cos of this that we think of God being a 'person-type-thing'. I'm thinking it's not until we die that we actually find out what God looks like.

Coming from a Christian perspective, God HAD to portray himself in the masculine i.e. through Jesus as at that period in time, women were often considered subordinate.

There's lots of significance in the fact that God refers to himself as 'father', in order to express his love to those he loves... people.

Hope this helps answer a few things... and that u didn't find it too 'preachy'!

Take care x

Answer 10

I would say the best answer would be to look at the story of Adam and Eve. The Bible says God created Adam in his own image, then made a companion for him, named Eve. If God was a woman, wouldn't the first human created in God's own image be a woman?

Answer 11

God is neither Male or female He is Spirit Jesus called him a Celestial Father . Father of Holy Spirit. Creator of Flesh. Galatians 3:25-29