Why is it that some people think God is a female?

Question

Where in the Bible does it refer to God as a female?


To begin with, Scripture contains almost 170 references to God as the “Father.” By necessity, one cannot be a father unless he is male. If God had chosen to be revealed to man in a female form, then the word “mother” would have occurred in these places, not “father.” In the Old and New Testament both, masculine pronouns are used over and over again in reference to God.

Jesus Christ referred to God as the Father several times, and in other cases used masculine pronouns in reference to God. In the Gospels alone, Christ uses the term “Father” in direct reference to God nearly 160 times. Of particular interest is Christ’s statement in John 10:30. He says here, “I and [my] Father are one.” Obviously, Jesus Christ came in the form of a human man to die on the cross as payment for the sins of the world, and, like God the Father, was revealed to mankind in a male form. Scripture records numerous other instances where Christ utilized masculine nouns and pronouns in reference to God.

um...I KNOW that there are lots of religions but I WAS talking about the Christian God. Thanks anyway.

Answer 1

In this gay day and time male and female doesn't exist. You can be what you want to be. Sick isn't it?

Answer 2

We don't know what gender if any G_d had. It is possible that if you were to look at the old scriptures and translate directly in to English that all references to Father would be translated as Parent. When you consider that we live in a man's world where men are scribes and translators and printers all through history while the women cook and clean and tend house - they could easily have changed the scriptures to make G_d more male so that women became even more inferior.

Personally, I believe G_d is genderless thus being both male and female, mother and father - all at the same time.

Answer 3

Ask the Presbyterians...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2006-06-19-presbyterians_x.htm

The divine Trinity — "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" — could also be known as "Mother, Child and Womb" or "Rock, Redeemer, Friend" at some Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) services under an action Monday by the church's national assembly.

Delegates to the meeting voted to "receive" a policy paper on gender-inclusive language for the Trinity, a step short of approving it. That means church officials can propose experimental liturgies with alternative phrasings for the Trinity, but congregations won't be required to use them.

[...]

One reason is that language limited to the Father and Son "has been used to support the idea that God is male and that men are superior to women," the panel said.

Answer 4

God is not male or female. God is a pure spirit, and pure spirits have no gender. Nevertheless, God has chosen to reveal Himself to us in the image of "Father", and therefore it makes sense to refer to Him using male terms, since we have no terms that allow us to refer to a person of no gender. And of course Jesus Christ, second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, when He took upon Himself a human nature, was male in the flesh, even though He had not been male from all eternity, which is why we refer to Him in male terms.
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Answer 5

A better question is why do religions always portray their god(s) as men? Why does the Bible say God created man in his own image? Do you have any idea what the implications are of this statement?

It means that God has a fully functioning penis, okay? It means that God has a digestive system and has to go poo poo every now and then.

All silliness aside, the reason MAN CREATED GOD IN HIS OWN IMAGE is to maintain the patriarchal nature of religious institutions. All religious institutions are intellectually (and morally) bankrupt.

Answer 6

It is a defect of human language, particularly English, that there is no third person neutral pronoun. If we use the neuter "it", people think that's somehow insulting to God. But gender in many other languages has very little to do with sex. The word for "bee" can be feminine, the word for "beehive" can be masculine. Among Jews, there is a concept known as the "shekina", the presence of God, which is feminine.

God is neither male nor female, or God is both, depending on how we regard God. Language fails when describing the deity. We just didn't develop enough words to describe one unique being.

Deuteronomy 32:18 speaks of the God who "gave birth to you". Isaiah 49:15 compares the possibility of God forgetting his people to a mother forgetting her nursing child. There are feminine images of God in the Bible. They are overshadowed by masculine images simply because males are accorded greater respect in a patriarchal culture. God is beyond such labels, and the sex of God is a ludicrous question.

For some people, a male authority figure is not at all reassuring but harsh, demanding and brutally legalistic. Yet traditional Christianity has shut off any consideration of God as anything else, because males were always regarded as socially superior. People develop feminine images of God to make God accessible, compassionate and merciful (as described in other parts of the Bible).

Jesus was male because 1) he had to be something, and 2) females would not be allowed to read in synagogue, or act as rabbis, or travel freely. There was a culture to battle and it could not be done without a chance to be taken seriously. As it was, Jesus went out of his way to enable women beyond their accustomed social roles. And numerous references in the Acts and in the Letters show women taking on important roles in the Church, roles that were suppressed once Christianity was legalized. The evangelists reported Jesus' reference to "the Father", but he insisted on describing that "Father" in baby-talk: "Abba". He was describing a simple, un-nuanced, trusting relationship with God, far more intimate than a stern, judging father-figure.

It's not a matter of "thinking God is female" but of relating to God in more than one way. By insisting on God's "masculinity", one limits one's experience of God. Our experience is imperfect whatever we do, but if we only permit ourselves to think about God in very narrow way, our relationship with God will be poorer for it.

Answer 7

I find it puzzling that people think that God, in terms of God's essential nature, has a gender at all. Those passages you have taken the time and effort to cite, refer to a relationship between the trinitarian persons, not to a biological reality of maleness.

Answer 8

And where is the proof that those statements are truths? There are not any so one can refer to the christian deity as male, female or the genderless 'it'.

Answer 9

Oh sweety, it never occured to you that the MEN who wrote the Bible wrote that god was a MALE for a reason?

Answer 10

Why is it that some people assume that the only God is the god of the Bible?

There are other religions, honest.

Answer 11

Man -- Created in the Image and Likeness of God
Understanding Who We Are
by Dr. Reve' M. Pete


Man was created in the image an likeness of God.(Genesis 1:26) Man is spirit, soul and body. (1 Thessalonians 5:23) Man was given dominion over all the earth. The image an likeness of God is spirit, soul and body having dominion over all the earth.

The word image used in Genesis 1:26 comes from the Hebrew word tselem.It means "representing the original in an imprecise manner". The word likeness comes from the Hebrew word dhemuth. It means "pattern". Therefore, man is an imprecise representation of the original pattern. That pattern is God.

God is Spirit, a Personality and one God in three Persons. Man is one being in three elements -- spirit, soul and body. This is the likeness of God.

The spirit of man is the breath of life. (Genesis 2:7) It is the invisible, immaterial and powerful part of man. Man's spirit reflects the fact that God is Spirit. (John 4:24) It is the means by which man communicates with God. (Proverbs 20:7; 1 Corinthians 14:2)

The soul of man is his person. It is the life element. Man's soul contains his personality. Personality is a combination of intelligence, mind, will, reason, individuality, self-consciousness and self-determination. The word soul used in Genesis 2:7 comes from the Hebrew word nephesh. It means "the inner self" or "person". Nephes refers to the person of man. The New Testament (Greek) word for soul is psuche. It means "the immaterial part of man held in common with animals".

The soul came into existence as a result of the spirit entering the body. (Genesis 2:7) Therefore, the soul is the bridge between man's spirit and his body. Man's soul reflects the fact that God is a Personality.

The physical body of man completes the three-in-one aspect of man. It is the means by which he interacts with the material world. This is demonstrated by the fact that God placed man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. (Genesis 2:15)

God created man similar to Himself. Man has anthropormorphic aspects (i.e. the ability to see, hear, smell,etc.) because God has them. God, a Spirit, sees, hears, smells, etc. By telling man he was created in His likeness, God was telling man how to understand spiritual things. (Romans 1:20) Man understands spiritual things in terms of natural things. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

Man exercising dominion over all the earth is the image of God. This is an imprecise picture of God. In Genesis 2:19, man exercised dominion over the earth by naming every living creature.

Man is Male and Female

Man is male and female. (Genesis 1:27; Matthew 19:4) The dominion given to man was given to the male and the female. (Genesis 1:28) God commanded the male and female: be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. The male and the female do this by becoming one flesh. (Genesis 2:24,25; Matthew 19:5,6)

The Fall of Man

The Fall of Man is Adam's disobedience to the commanment of God. (Genesis 2:16,17; 3:6) The Bible says the serpent deceived Eve but not Adam. (1 Timothy 2:14) Adam knowingly and deliberately disobeyed God. This is the true definition of sin. Jesus called it iniquity. (Matthew 7:21,23)

The results of Adam's sin are:

?/td> Spiritual death. (Genesis 2:17)


?/td> Women bear children in sorrow. (Genesis 3:16)


?/td> The ground is cursed. (Genesis 3:17,18)


?/td> Exhausting physical labor to subsist. (Genesis 3:19)


?/td> Physical death. (Genesis 3:19)


?/td> Sin entered the world. (Romans 5:12)



Redeemed from the Curse

Jesus Christ came to redeem the world from sin and the curse that resulted from Adam's disobedience. Jesus was hung on a tree to redeem man from the curse of Adam's sin. (Genesis 3:13,14) He was made to be sin to redeem man from sin. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Men partake of this redemption by accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.