2007-07-20 06:31:08 · 3 answers · asked by jammin2rythim 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
When men wrote the Bible, and ruled society.
Fortunately we have evolved since then.
2007-07-20 07:39:07 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
To the best of our knowledge, it wasn't so much that they decided that God was male...rather that the god who became God happened to be male. YHVH (or Yahweh) appears to be an old polytheistic god of the Hebrews. Some have suggested he was a god of war (although, to be honest, most gods from that region and time were pretty warlike... it reflected the culture). For whatever reason, he became more and more central, until he became the only god of the hebrews. (In the Torah, the Hebrews are told to worship only one god, not that there IS only one god.) When the Biblical stories talk of the Hebrews worshipping other gods, its not that they're going out and arbitrarily finding new ones, but that they keep reverting to some of their old ones.
So it was a 50/50 chance that that one central god happened to be male. Considering that Hebrews/Jews are a strongly patriarchal culture, however, I think the odds swing in favor of that deity being male.
2007-07-20 11:38:10 · answer #2 · answered by Nightwind 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Catholic Church believes that God transcends the human distinction between the sexes.
For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 239: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt1art1p2.htm
With love in Christ.
2007-07-20 16:08:27 · answer #3 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋