Why can't God be a woman?

Question

If God the creator is a man, wouldn't it follow that men should be the ones creating life by giving birth?

According to some, we were created in God's image, if I'm not mistaken.

Please don't write anything as stupid as "because he is a man."

If God was written about at a time when men were believed to be better than women, why don't we change that? Isn't it obvious that's the only reason? Why would calling God a She be disrespectful?

Not that I'm the defender of all that is womanly or manly.

I think it's funny how people are not answering the question, but saying actually nothing.

To Liza (second page)

If you really believe in God, then you wouldn't believe it's good to fit God to whatever's convenient. Just because men don't like the idea of complying to women, doesn't mean we don't have to. You think women like complying to men? From experience I know women do not.

Answer 1

I wrote a paper about language used for God while I was in college, I'll just paste parts of it in here where it fits in between my thoughts now.

God being referred to as a man is a perfect example of the overuse of a metaphor. the metaphor is supposed to bring out certain feelings and allow the reader to relate better to the subject at hand. the overuse of a metaphor obviously proves to have problems, when in this case, referring to God as a woman somehow tends to turn heads.

it seems everyone is hitting it with saying that God is neither male nor female. biblically, there are referrences to giving God both male and female characteristics, as well as comparisons to animals and inanimate objects. God is all things. whoever quoted the I Am scripture got it right.

male references:

"Along with God as a father, there are other male images for God in the Bible. God is referred to as a shepherd in Psalm 23 and Ezekiel 34 (103). God is referred to as “. . . LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth” in Psalm 47:2 and a judge and king in Psalm 96:10 (103-104). God is portrayed to have great strength and courage. In Psalm 24:8, God is referenced as being a warrior. It says, “Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.”"

female references:

"God is also referred to in feminine aspects. In Isaiah 49:15, God is given the characteristics of a nursing mother. Isaiah 66:13, states that “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem” (104). God is given the characteristics of a midwife in Psalm 22:9-10 and gives birth in Deuteronomy 32:18 and Isaiah 42:14. Characteristics of women by giving birth can also be found in John 3, when God gave his “only begotten son.”"

animal references:

"God is also equated with animals throughout the Old and New Testaments. In Matthew 23, as well as Luke 13, God is spoken of as a mother hen gathering her chicks under her wings. In Deuteronomy 32 God is referenced to be a mother eagle, and then again a few animal references are made in Hosea 13:7-8. It states, “So I will come upon them like a lion, like a leopard I will lurk by the path. Like a bear robbed of her cubs, I will attack them and rip them open. Like a lion I will devour them; a wild animal will tear them apart” (98)."

inanimate object references:

"Throughout the Bible God is also referenced as inanimate objects. In Deuteronomy 4:24, God is “a consuming fire” and in Psalm 84 God is “a sun and shield” (98). In Deuteronomy 32, God is a rock. However, “‘Rock’ applied to God implies a set of qualities, particularly ones that focus on stability and reliability, that rose in the consciousness of the believing community at a particular time” (102)."

it is also important to note that God's name, which is "’ehyeh ‘asher ‘ehyeh," or roughly YHWH is found over 6,000 times in the old testament. it is roughly and most often translated as "I am (who I am)," and is a form of "to be." due to the fact that jews regarded God's name as sacred and should never have been spoken, they often substituted YHWH with "Adonai" (which is "kyrios" in greek and "dominus" in latin). all of those forms are masculine and translate as "lord." lord obviously has masculine, dominant conotations. since all these forms are masculine, the masculine idea of God was pushed over God's name. God is often also referred to as "elohim" which has no gender. the shortened, "eloh," however is feminine and means goddess, so the addition of "im" at the end could make the translation of the word merely mean, “god,” “gods,” “goddess,” or “diety.”

whoever stated that the term for spirit was ruah and was feminine was also correct. it is important to note that the spirit was present in the beginning. along with the feminine associated with ruah (or spirit), wisdom is also feminine, and is said to have been existent before creation, just as God has always been.

to understand metaphors used for God is to understand that they were never meant to be taken literally. God as male, female, animal, or inanimate object are only ways of showing that God is an all-encompassing God, one who understands all aspects of life.
Anne Clifford said it best by saying, “God is an all-encompassing mystery and is more than any particular name, functional designation, analogue, metaphor, or personification can express. Yet, all of these language forms found in the texts of the Bible can assist people in developing a meaningful relationship to God.”"

Answer 2

First of all, I have to say you have posed a very interesting question here. But after reading all the answers given by other users, I think your question is still not answered in a very clear definition on why God cannot be a woman.

Some says God created man out of his own image, so therefore, God must be a man. While other says God has no gender, genderless, etc....

So, at the end, does God has a gender? If yes, what is it? I would like to know.

Answer 3

Dear Daniel,

Back in my feminist days this was a real big deal for me.

Looking back on that time I realize that I got bent out of shape re-making the aswesome uncreated Creator of the universe in my very limited human thinking. I still believed the Bible to be true but I figured that I should re-write it and take out the sexist language.

When I actually got around to reading the Bible from cover-to-cover I discovered that I had had so many wrong ideas about what the Bible said. I didn't change the Bible but the Bible sure did change me.

Since I've become a born-again Christian I no longer have any desire to fight the battle of the sexes. Mankind is limited. Language is limited but God is NOT limited. The Alpha and the Omega is not simply a man or a woman but most definitely not an it.

Yes we were made in God's image but then mankind did and continues to re-make God in human image. Someday those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior will understand but for the time being don't let yourself get hung up on such things.

One Bible verse that helped me tremendously is Matthew 23:9 -
"And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven ..."

Answer 4

First of all, can you imagine if men gave birth? No one will have more than one child. Come to think of it, that would help the over-population. :)

Second, God cannot be a woman because most men hate the idea of obeying a woman. They would also have a hard time justifying fights and battles since a woman would have an extremely hard time ordering a war to start on her name. A male God fit the idea of the ancient fighting men whom they saw as someone who understands them.

Edit: I am giving possible anthropological reasons not a reason based on any religion. I am also from a country where women are subservient to men daily ( in the majority religion husbands are gods to their wives) that must be the reason it is so hard for me to believe that a woman will ever get absolute obedience most of the men.

Answer 5

See the other answers about God not being man or woman, not having a physical sense. God knows all, is all mighty, is the founder of life, the creator, can be everywhere at once. Know any men that can do these things? Nope! GOD has no physical being BUT Jesus did. At the time of Jesus life on earth, He took on a physical body and that body (the person of Jesus) was male. WAY back when, God ordained that women would be the ones to bear children.

Answer 6

God cannot be a woman simply necause the Church is a Patriachal. Christianity is not the only one at fault, most other religions had Male Gods as head honchos. The bible is written by guys and are compiled by guys. I think any religious material written by the women would have been edited or destroyed

It would be surprising to know that it was theorized that much of the primitive societies was matriarchal. But as man moved from gatherers to hunters, the physical prowess of the male counterpart becomes more useful, hence they usurped the leadership from the females.

Later, the religions leaders (all guys), in order to dominate half the population, deemed women as the sinful counterparts, (E.g. Eve/Pandora). If God could be a female, women rights would have happened long ago.

Answer 7

It's a good question, but the truth is that God is neither a man nor a woman (except for Jesus Christ, who's God and Man at the same time). It's normal to think that, since among us sex is something natural, everybody has to have a determined sex, like male and female.

But Christ said that not even angels have sex, there's not male or female among angels. Sex is something God gave to the human race. We don't know yet if there are other races out there created by the Lord with sex: male and female.

It's true that in the time of the patriarchs, or even in the times when Jesus walked on this earth, women were not given their value as humans and equal to men. Even in the 19th century women were not given equality to men (even today, sometimes women are not treated properly). But God always gave them their place despite the treatment their received from society. When God created Eve, He formed her from a rib taken from Adam. He didn't take her from his feet neither from his head, but from his ribs, so she might be equal with men.

Christ Himself always respected women. He always gave them their proper place though society didn't approve His behaviour toward women. For example, a marriage coupe rarely talked to each other. Much less in public! Men did not talk to women on the streets. However, Jesus did. He talked to a Samaritan woman, to Mary Magdalene, etc. Many women felt approached to Jesus's theology because He valued them. God cares for women too.

May God bless you!

Answer 8

Your question is according to voicing one faith (Christianity) about God. If you learn a little more about world religions you will find their is a nature and nurture in everything around you. A YIN and YANG.

God can't be a Woman or a Man, because he was/is the creator of human kind. (a power geater than human.)

However you wish to believe it..

Wouldn't creation of man be very boring if there was only men ( instead of Adam and Eve, there was only Adam and Steve)?? There would be nothing but homosexuality.....

That's why there was a yin ( an opposite) that was added and created for the true meaning of( love) and the creation of multiplying life.

Very good question.

Answer 9

If you will study the History of Civilization on this planet at a university (not a religious one) you will learn that during the time of Egyptian culture God was always considered to be a woman (called Goddess). Somewhere around the time that Judaism got its start God was changed into a man (the believers were subservient and were told to believe that God was a man). It's one of the secrets that is kept from the followers. PS...When God became a man religion violence got it's big start.

Answer 10

God created girl so guy would have a associate. Someone to speak to and engage with. Just considering the fact that your female friend is a Christian does not imply she will have to stick with you if she was once unsatisfied or something her purpose was once for breaking apart with you. This is one purpose he has created such a lot of humans. We aren't all made for every different however we take our time and get to understand many humans and expectantly we will be able to meet the correct individual that we do desire to spend the leisure of our lives with. You will meet the correct one sooner or later. Take it slow, God will ship her your method whilst you're least anticipating her.In rthe imply-time get to understand and be peers with all of the females you'll. You certainly not understand whilst "she" will exhibit up.Remember additionally to regard all of them like females from the commencing considering the fact that considered one of them you may also marry.

Answer 11

The reason your not seeing THE answer is that there is no single perfect answer. NO, God can't be a "woman", because God is not corporeal. YES, God could be a "woman" just as likely as God could be a "man". NO, God can't be a woman because a patriarchal culture wouldn't take her seriously. The answer depends on the reason for asking.

By "image", the writers meant we are similar to God in thought and action, not necessarily "appearance". (What does a non-corporeal being "look"like?) But if you find it helpful to visualize God as feminine, you certainly can. Many people do. (Just remember there are a lot of people that are not so open minded.)