What relationship do you see between the nature of God and human sexual nature?

Question

And I don't mean sexual desire -- I mean our nature as sexually reproducing material beings. What does it tell us about the nature of God (or of the Creator, of the universe, or whatever you identify as divine or the ultimate reality)?

By "not sexual desire" I meant, not like a "horny god" - at least, not in the simplest sense.

And I am including the nature of flatworms. I mean sexual nature generally - the existence of sexes and sexual reproduction. It's not perverted to ask this question, which is not about any particular moral kind of sex; sexuality is real and it's part of Creation.

Well, not including flatworms, but they're really not relevant to human nature, which is what I'm asking about. If we were flatworms, I'd be asking about how the nature of God relates to flatworm nature. But we're not. Are we? ;-)

Answer 1

"God made the human in God's image; male and female God made the human." Pope John Paul II developed a 'theology of the body', based on this passage from Genesis, to explain that somehow the sexual nature of the human, both alone and in the sexual relationship with the opposite sex, is the image and likeness of God in the human. The Pope was not the first person to talk about this, but he developed a systematic theology of it.

It tells us that our sexual nature is not incidental to our humanity (as say our colour or height might be) but is part and parcel of being created in the image and likeness of God, and hence tells us something about God. (not that God is sexual like we are, but somehow God is all that and more)

Answer 2

There is no relationship between deities and human sexual nature. The comparison is apples and oranges - theology and biology. Theology is a cultural social science, biology is a natural science.

Now religion can play part a part on how one perceives control over sexual nature. However, that has less to do with deities and more to do with social control.

Answer 3

Mixing sex and religion is a slippery slope toward extreme perversion. I don't believe that anything is "divine". Why exclude the reproductive methods of other creatures. For example, what does the reproductive method of flatworms say about evangelism? I mean, think about it ...

Answer 4

Interesting question. I am not sure that I understand it. If you don't mean sexual desire, which is natural, than what do you mean? Our bodies were created to enjoy sex. If an orgasm didn't feel great we would have no incentive to have sex.

Answer 5

This is a tough one, because it is God who created man in such a way as to be sexually reproducing, where the Bible shows God as the Creator, and there is no woman involved.

The Bible also says the following:

"Let the husband fulfill [Lit., render] his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self-control." 1 Cor 7: 3-5

This passage implies that husbands have a duty to the fulfillment of their wives, and women have a duty to the fulfillment of their husbands. The relationship is one of stewardship, where you have responsibility over something which does not belong to you. Also, stewards do not place their own needs over those whom they steward, thus your own desires are subordinate to your spouse's desires. God gives you a spouse so that you can bless them, not so that you can get your needs met. You can care for, nurture, and provide your spouse with everything they need to be fulfilled. That's the beauty of the stewardship relationship.

God's relationship with you is not one of stewardship. He does not care for you even though you do not belong to Him, because you indeed do. We are His children, and He loves us unconditionally, as a parent loves a child. He can be angry or disappointed with us, but His love never changes.

Thus, the nature of God and human sexual nature as described in the Bible are indeed different.

Answer 6

never did a ''horny god'' enter my minds eye,,maybe your on to something!

Answer 7

None