Merlot Goddess
The Fly
Any thoughts on the Goddess in Christianity? Does anyone think that "God" created humankind rather than just "man" in his (her?) image?
Christianity and the Goddess
- Thread starter Merlot Goddess
- Start date
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I do think God created humankind. But I also believe God has no gender. I think God is either both male and female or neither.
The only reason why I call God "He" is because there's no gender-neutral pronoun in the English language.
The only reason why I call God "He" is because there's no gender-neutral pronoun in the English language.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
I think it's simple minded to think God needs a gender.
Liesje
Blue Crack Addict
BonoVoxSupastar said:
I agree. "Gender" is a human and animal attribute. It's honestly blasphemous to make assumptions about God having certain human attributes. God has never defined himself as exclusively male. Yes, he's referred to himself as a "father" and such, but for the purpose of an analogy, not as a definitive statement.
Merlot Goddess
The Fly
That's how I'd see it myself. I used to struggle with the "God is a man" thing when I was a child as my family really believe it. I found it really alienating.
verte76
Blue Crack Addict
I don't think God has a gender. That's too confining for someone who's supposed to be Infinite.
But the Bible refers to God as the Father, or Jesus as His only son. So, since the Bible is the direct word of God merely written by humans, that must mean that God is a man.
Case closed.
Case closed.
Actually, there is a "goddess" associated with Judaism called "Shekhina." However, rather than a separate deity, "Shekhina" is merely "God's feminine side." This isn't all that different from the Hindu "Trimurti," really, where Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, while being "three deities," are really the same "one God."
Here's more information:
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/s/shekhina.html
Here's more information:
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/s/shekhina.html
u2fan628
The Fly
GOD IS A MAN BABY!
coemgen
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Obviously, Christ was a man. God "the father" was a relational term. God has no gender.
AussieU2fanman
Refugee
God, being a human invention IMO, was created by man and needed to have the attributes of strength and power etc. so people usually think of God as a man.
coemgen
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Most people here don't.
AEON
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
I read "Jesus and the Lost Goddess" a few years ago. Interesting, but certainly there was a clear agenda to discredit Christianity.
I think the closest thing Christianity comes to a "goddess" role is the Holy Spirit. This is in-line with what Melon was touching on with Skikinah Glory - the role of Comforter and bringer of Wisdom. I think of the Holy Spirit in somewhat feminine terms for these reasons...sort of like a combination of Virgin Mary and Athena.
I think the closest thing Christianity comes to a "goddess" role is the Holy Spirit. This is in-line with what Melon was touching on with Skikinah Glory - the role of Comforter and bringer of Wisdom. I think of the Holy Spirit in somewhat feminine terms for these reasons...sort of like a combination of Virgin Mary and Athena.
MrsSpringsteen
Blue Crack Addict
I don't think of God as having a gender- but once I heard a priest say something to the effect that if you don't have the human father that you feel is adequate and adequately loving-that you always have God the father. I like that. Obviously God still can't provide you with certain things that a human father can if he is a good father, but it's comforting all the same. In general though God has male and female characteristics, but at the same time God's qualities are genderless.
AussieU2fanman
Refugee
coemgen said:Most people here don't.
That's the image I got hammered into me being raised a Christian, and I very often see God being portrayed as a well built old man with a white beard.
Liesje
Blue Crack Addict
AussieU2fanman said:
I don't really have a problem with God being portrayed as such because 1) God as father/comforter/protector is a good analogy in many circumstances (but it's widely understood that this is not an explicit definition of God) and 2) there are many other depictions of God with other attributes, so there is a balance. Since humans cannot fully comprehend God, it only makes sense that we depict him with various human characteristics. I think this is OK as long as no one's actually claiming that their depiction of God is definitive.
For me, it all boils down to this - the Christian creation narrative is not a factual, chronological recording of events; rather, it is a story that defines three relationships vital to Christianity: God's relationship to humankind, humankind's relationship among itself, and humankind's relationship with God's creation. God created humans and God created genders. Humans cannot define God with attributes that God created for them, not himself.
If you don't believe in God, none of this matters, but if you DO believe in God, you believe he came first. I've never met anyone that believes in God AND believes that humans created him, therefore he is male.
coemgen
Rock n' Roll Doggie
AussieU2fanman said:
Ah, I see.
nathan1977
Rock n' Roll Doggie
MrsSpringsteen said:
That's beautiful, MrsS. Some female friends of mine whose fathers left them or abused them take great solace precisely in this. Thanks for sharing.
Merlot Goddess
The Fly
I suppose the thing that puts me off Christianity the most is the sexism. I feel totally alienated by it because by picking one gender over the other, a statement is being made that maleness is superior to the feminine. To be abolutely fair God could be refered to as "Lord and Lady" with "God" as a neutral word.
e2a: In fairness... in here most people have said they think of God as not being exclusively male. That heartens me.
e2a: In fairness... in here most people have said they think of God as not being exclusively male. That heartens me.
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Merlot Goddess
The Fly
AussieU2fanman said:
It makes me think of this...
coemgen
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Merlot Goddess said:
I don't think God's exclusively male, however, I don't feel it's sexist to use the term Lord or Father with God either. That's how he was referred to by Christ himself, in a relational sense. These must be terms that reflect God's nature more accurately.
INDY500
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
God exists eternally as a spirit, possessing no physical body and hence no gender, yet having all the traits of both males and females.
But throughout his Word it's clear how believers are to speak to him. Christ's own example being "Our Father Who art in heaven."
But throughout his Word it's clear how believers are to speak to him. Christ's own example being "Our Father Who art in heaven."
redhotswami
Blue Crack Addict
INDY500 said:
"Our Father who art in heaven" was from the KJV though. In this translation the additional nuances and suggestions of the original Aramaic are lost. I'm not saying it is wrong, but just very limited. Aramaic itself has many spiritual posibilities. A scholar once retranslated the Bible into Aramaic, and came up with these version of the line "Our Father who art in heaven"
O Thou, the One from whom breath enters being in all radiant forms
O Parent of the universe, from your deep interior comes the next wave of shining life.
O fruitful, nurturing Life-giver! Your sound rings everywhere throughout the cosmos.
Father-Mother who births Unity, You vibrate life into form in each new instant.
I'm not saying one is right or wrong, but it was fascinating to read some of the passages of the Bible retranslated into the original language. It really tore through my original conceptions of God.
coemgen
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Yes, but Christ used the term Abba, father . . . I've understood that to translate into almost a "daddy" word.
Liesje
Blue Crack Addict
I don't have a problem with using "male" words to describe God because 1) I know I can never comprehend the true nature of God, so this analogy is fair enough, for me, and 2) Christ = God and Christ as fully divine AND fully human HAS to have a gender, otherwise the "fully human" part is a crock of shit. I don't think the fact that Jesus was male is really relevant to his teachings and how he led by example.
LyricalDrug
Rock n' Roll Doggie
She moves in mysterious ways, baby
coemgen
Rock n' Roll Doggie
I've never heard that, but if that is the case, it doesn't mean the concept of Lord didn't exist before.
coemgen said:
Actually, yes, the concept of "Lord" has no ancient equivalent. The earliest it stretches back is a Germanic (read: "pagan") tribal structure of the "loaf guardian" or "keeper of the loaves" (Old English: "hlaf-weard"). This position reflected a Germanic tribal custom, where the superior provided food for his followers. The inclusion of "Lord" in the Bible is an example of sloppy medieval translation practices. Or, perhaps, with this being the days of the "Divine Right of Kings," ensuring that "God" had a medieval aristocratic title would more than imply to the worldly Lord's vassals and serfs that he was to be obeyed and unquestioned like God.
The Bible, at the very least, has no Germanic heritage, and, instead, was written wholly from a Semitic and, later, a Greco-Roman point of view. By the time the last book of the Bible was written, the Germanic tribes were still mostly in Scandinavia and Germany, with their culture having no effect on the Roman Empire.
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Shaliz
War Child
Ormus said:
Ormus, I'm really curious about this, too, since I've never heard this before. Do you know what scholars believe is a more accurate translation of the word(s) that have been translated as "Lord"? The churches I've attended have always made a big deal out of the "Lordship" of God, so I'm really curious to know if there is another interpretation of this.
