why is the Churches spoken as a female?

Question

what are some opinions on why the churches spoken to as a female in the bible

no bad answers unless they are made to insult or bring in anger

its not just one

Answer 1

In a lot of biblical texts, especially in Revelations, the church is always referred to as “her” or “the bride”. As we know, marriage is a very special relationship that only 2 people can commune in. God commanded wives to submit to their husbands, like the church is commanded to submit to God. Although this may seem sexist, what snotty nonbelievers do not realize is that husbands are also commanded to love their wives, like God loves the church.

In X I come with truth,
INRS

Answer 2

Because the church is referred to as the bride of Christ.

Someday there will be a wedding feast and ceremony and the church will be officially Christ's betrothed.

That happens between the rapture of the church and the return of Christ and His church.

Giggly Giraffe refers to the catholic church. That is not restricted to the Roman Catholic Church, but since the word catholic means universal, it is the universal church, past, present, and future (all believers in Christ) that will be Christ's bride.

grace2u

Answer 3

Paraphrasing St. Paul: For this reason a man will leave father and mother and cling to his bride, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a profound mystery, and it refers to Christ and the Church . Christ left his Father in heaven. He left the home of his mother on earth - to give up his body for his Bride (Catholic Church) so that we might become “one flesh” with him.


Where do we become “one flesh” with Christ? Most specifically in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the sacramental consummation of the marriage between Christ and the Church. And when we receive the body of our heavenly Bridegroom into our own, just like a bride we conceive new life in us - God’s very own life. As Christ said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (Jn 6:53).

Since the “one flesh” communion of man and wife foreshadowed the Eucharistic communion of Christ and the Church right from the beginning, John Paul II speaks of marriage as the “Primordial Sacrament.” Let’s pause for a moment to let this reality sink in. Of all the ways that God chooses to reveal his life and love in the created world, John Paul II is saying, marriage - enacted and consummated by sexual union - is the most fundamental.

{Catholic Church is ALL the members of the church (men and women; past, present, and future vs the buildings where the Church gathers}

Answer 4

See the final chapter of Revelation.

"And I saw the new Jerusalem arrayed as a BRIDE, come down from heaven."

The new Jerusalem is a symbol of Christ's church. And a BRIDE is usually female.

Answer 5

Because she is the bride of Christ. Jesus in fact often referred to Himself as the Bridegroom and talking to His disciples after the Last Supper He spoke of going to prepare a place for them (the action of a Jewish bridegroom after the betrothal ceremony before he would eventually come to take his bride to her new home a year later). Rather than expound on this at length, I'll give you this link, which explains this concept. http://www.soundofgrace.com/piper2/piper2004/4-4-04.htm
Indeed, the Book of Revelation shows the Church victorious coming as a bride to her husband.

Answer 6

Partly, the Bible gives the figure of the Church being the bride of Christ. Another reason MAY be that the word EKKLESIA is feminine in Greek.
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Answer 7

The church is referred as the bride of Christ in the NT. Its done this way to illustrate that Christ and the church are one. Not the buildings per say, but the spirit and outreach that the church should provide.

Answer 8

The church is referred to as the "BRIDE" of Christ.

"..a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you." Isaiah 62:5b

....'I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown." Jeremiah 2:2


the whole 'bride & groom' thing is a metaphor used throughout the Bible to relay the emphasis on expectancy of Jesus returning.

nice question, btw.

God Bless.

Answer 9

Because the feminine aspect is missing from Christianity. In the Trinity, there is no inclusion of the female principal. A very peculiar absence....

Answer 10

The Church is Christ's bride.