Why is God thought of as a "He"?

Question

Firstly, I thought God was an incorporeal being - neither male nor female, not human, not anything - God is just God, just a divine spirit or being. Not only that, life requires a female source, sure if it weren't for men, we wouldn't be here, but it is women who create us and bring us into being, so logically, shouldn't God be a "She"?

I'm not interested in what the Bible says, sorry. The idea of a male god was around thousands of years before the Bible was written, by who, we'll never know

Answer 1

From another prospective , look at it this way ... The Universe is female, she is the womb from where all life came from.. This Planet is also female, she is your Mother and without her you will die.. The original Deity/s worshipped on this Planet were all female.. The Earth Mother religion and belief system stems from here.. 40,000 BCE I can trace the roots of my beliefs back... Then along came man and with his arrogance and typical assertion and took away the sacred things only known to women and came back with their own perverted version of it and called it God ,instead of a Goddess...Years passed and then the rise of the false religions, hence all the ones about us now.. Brand new they are ,and it's still a God, the time is very close, when these false religions will all cease to be as the new awakening is upon us all. Love and Light.)O(

Answer 2

Life requires a Male 'source'. Creation is only possible if that sources merges with the female. Females are temporary carriers of life. Since the woman cannot self-fertilize, without the initial source from men, there would be no children; No girls to become women. Hence, women comes from the man (...yeah that sounds conceited).

Viewing God as he is probably because of thousands of years of religious doctrine that is has now become normal to assume that God is a He. Man has always viewed himself as being stronger than women (may not necessarily be true). Thus he would want to attribute his Creator as having his image because it represents power. An an all powerful being would thus have to be a He.

Answer 3

The Judeo-Christian God is called "He" because Yahweh, the Israelite tribal God from whom He evolved, was a male deity. (There were many Gods and Goddesses worshipped in that part of the world at the time.) The male pronoun has been grandfathered in ever since. ;-)

Personally I believe that the Divine is beyond gender, but human beings, interpreting that fundamentally incomprehensible entity in human terms, usually feel most comfortable relating to the Divine as He or She. As far as I'm concerned, you can call the Divine what you like. It remains the Divine.

There are plenty of religions that honor the feminine face of the Divine -- the Goddess. Hinduism comes to mind; so does Wicca, or almost any of the other Neo-Pagan faiths. The Goddess is alive and well, and worshipped today as aspects of Her have been worshipped throughout human history. Did you know one of the earliest recorded religious writings was a hymn to the Goddess Inanna?

Answer 4

That's a very good question. First off, I don't think of God as either male or female - to define God by those terms is to limit God... besides, when I get to heaven I do not expect to see divine genitals. I believe God to be an energy or spirit being, as you do.

I believe the reason that God is referred to as "He" is two-fold:

(1) The people who spoke of God needed to personify God in order to understand (or seemingly understand) who or what God was. The God of the Hebrew Scriptures is one of power, war, strength... all characteristics commonly attributed to men. During the time of Jesus, God was referred to as "father" - primarily, I believe, because it was a way to bring God from the hateful fire and brimstone to something to which more people could relate. The concept of an energy source was probably out of the reach of most, as people were mostly uneducated.

(2) The bible was written by men.

Answer 5

What an excellent question!! you've really got me thinking! i guess it would have something to do with those who started the whole church religion and bible thing....men...to be precise men in power! it was originally used as a way of controlling the masses and as many could not read at the time (education was only for men!) it was read to them and also it has been translated over the years by monks working on the authority of the ruling classes. It's definitely interesting how now that women are beginning to question this masculine role of God the bible and church policies are beginning to change...coincidence? i think not!!

Answer 6

Read your Bible - the first words are "In the beginning God...." So, therefore God just existed since before time began. Why does God need a gender? In German the word "man" refers equally to both male and female, being the shortened form of mankind. Is your toothbrush Male or female? Who cares and what difference does it make? It is a question to which there is no answer.

The Bible also quotes God as saying "let US make man in OUR image", so therefore God could be seen as both male and female - a hermaphrodite.

Answer 7

God created man in his own image but.....Man is black, white, yellow , tan etc....So it stands to reason that by image God meant spiritually since he has no body to speak of. God created us all in his spiritual image. he is neither black nor white Islamic nor Chinese. God is neither male or female but in his wisdom he knew that man would need a mate to share this world with so he separated the sexes. When you think of God think more of the phrase he used when asked "Who shall i tell them(The Egyptians) sent me." God said "I am." Not he is or she is but I AM. God is an omnipotent spiritual creator who creates at will with purpose everything that dwells on this planet to lump God into one category of male or female would be foolish on our part. Most people just say he because it comes natural and it is what we have been taught over the years. Don't let it bother you though when people say he because you and me both know the truth now don't we. Good Question, never stop questioning, that is why God gave you a brain. God bless.

Answer 8

In Hindu philosophy, the Supreme being is considered as Purusha (male) The entire creation is termed as female. If you ask me how there are so many males, I can give you an example. In a ladies college, in a drama it is the female characters don the role of male also. Like wise outwardly we may be males but really we are all females doning the role of males. Logically the Creator is higher than his creation. Also He only possess all powers and it is from Him only we get the limited powers. Hence generally He is termed or thought as He. nagarajan.

Answer 9

First off, as a creator he is thought of by all creation as a father because it is from the male that the seed originates.
Further thinking shows that the male seed finding it's way into the female become processed and becomes the being it is intended to be.
Material thinking getting confused with spiritual thinking doesn't mix.
Consider the angels who wanted relations had to materialize a body to work with on earth.
There is no sex in heaven.

Answer 10

Religious Zealotry. Everyone knows mother earth, Lilith, Aphrodites and most of the prechristian gods were female. If the christians claim JC is a god then since Mary bore him does that not make her a demi god? It's all academic to a fruitless subject.