Shouldn´t God be sexless?

Question

In this case why do believers refer to "him"?

Answer 1

God is sexless. But we, being the humans that we are, tend to personify things. Even God. It just seems to be a characteristic of the human nature.

Answer 2

God should be and is indeed sexless; it is the limits of language and human understanding that causes the "God-Gender" problem.

English does have a prounoun that is gender neutral - it. In use, however, "it" is only used in reference to non-living beings and perhaps some creatures that do not follow the sexual gender norms. It is very impersonal and almost has the feeling of degredation when used on a person.

Now, God is most certainly not a person, but historically our best comparision (which works better sometimes than others) based on society and culture is to a father. Since fathers are humans and are of gender male, God also became "male."

Answer 3

Before the "deconstruction" movement, in the English language "He" was understood to mean either "he or she" when we didn't specify gender. "Man" was also understood to sometimes refer to all of "mankind," both male and female. So when the Bible says that "God made man in his image. Male and female he created them." Christians understand that to mean that neither the male alone nor the female alone represents the nature of God--but the male and female together somehow reflect the image of God.

God is spirit and does not have a physical body, so actual sex organs are not the issue. God chooses to call himself "Father" and refers to followers (both male and female) as "sons." This is perhaps more for cultural connections and associations we have with these terms than the "maleness" of them because he also compares himself to a hen gathering her chicks. He does that to create an image, not to say that he's a chicken.

Since Jesus was God in the flesh and came as a man in a physical body, it is simpler to refer to God as "he." It would not be more accurate to refer to him as "she" and would, in fact, cause more confusion and cultural barriers in many parts of the world. Could we come up with some other term that encompasses the male/female or non-gender specific nature of God? Probably, but I'm sure that it would really make things clearer for most people.

Answer 4

God is sexless, He is Spirit. However during the time of male power (due to the fall of man and the curse brought on Eve, which was not how God planned for women to be second class but that is what sin did) God was referred to as He (If He were to be referred to as she God would not have been recognized because of the place of women) However Jesus was/is male.

To me, I am not offended as a woman to refer to God as He, Him, His, etc.

Answer 5

In many religions God is sexless, encompassing both male and female spirits. Judaism has several female names and many male names for Jehovah, Islam has female names for Allah and it is only since contamination from Europe spread across the Middle East that the female parts have disappeared (due to the precedent of Roman Catholicism). The 'sufi' Islamists extol the female virtues of Allah, and a song of blessing for night (a female embracing darkness) is sung in synagogues at the beginning of the sabbath in Judaism, even today.
Hindis believe in many female goddesses, as did the Romans and Greeks. Buddha has several female incarnations.
It is only in Christianity that God is portrayed as solely male, and that women are truly treated as second class citizens, merely possessions of their husbands, fathers etc.

Answer 6

It is a known fact that every language has one or more terms that are used in reference to God and sometimes to lesser deities. This is not the case with Allah. Allah is the personal name of the One true God. Nothing else can be called Allah. The term has no plural or gender. This shows its uniqueness when compared with the word god which can be made plural, gods, or feminine, goddess. It is interesting to notice that Allah is the personal name of God in Aramaic, the language of Jesus and a sister language of Arabic.

Answer 7

Yahweh/YHWH, God of the Hebrew Bible, was referred to as male; the primary understanding in the Biblical text was of God as a Lord covenanted with those who served "him."

Also, the development of incarnational theology in the early Christian movement established the understanding of Jesus, a male, as God--so that, of course, conflates the tendency to call God a "he"

It is wrapped up in the misogyny of the time, but most mainstream (not fundamentalist) theologians are clear that ALL language used for God is metaphorical, even that which specifies a Gender.

Some Good feminist theologians who challenge this to check out are Elizebeth Johnson (Catholic, book= _She who is_), Sallie McFague (Anglican. Any of her books are fabulous), and Mary Daly (post-Christian feminist. _beyond God the Father_)

cheers,
Rev. B

Answer 8

God is spirit.

Jesus referred to God the Father (male). In Gen. 1:27 So God created human beings[c] in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

In order for us to wrap our minds around this...it was easier for God to explain HIMSELF in a "male" term.

Does it really matter, "Shouldn´t God be sexless?"

What matters is if you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Answer 9

God should not be sexless. You try running a universe for all eternity. You'd get horny too.

Answer 10

This is very true. God is God. And God is whatever you make God to be. God could be a sandwich, for all we know.

I think the "him" stuff comes out of the mysogony of the time period, where women were seen as "inferior" to men.