Do you use feminine or masculine terms in reference to God?

[JHow]

Masculine pronouns in English don’t necessarily refer to males as in someone who has a penis. It’s sort of the “default” pronoun when referring to someone or something who is either male or neither male nor female.

Actually, when it comes to pronouns, they almost always coincide with the real or natural gender of the antecedent.

This is due to the fact that we live in a Patriarchal society, but that’s beside the point.

It is not beside the point - it’s simply wrong. The vagaries of English on this point are rather atypical. There are many examples of modern and ancient languages that use grammatical gender systems, including Old English. Patriarchal systems have nothing to do with it.

Polish, for example, has potentially (depending on how you want to count it) five genders: personal masculine (referring to male humans), animate non-personal masculine, inanimate masculine, feminine, and neuter. Nobody in Poland complains about sexist pronoun use, however, but they still open doors for women and will even sometimes kiss ladies hands when they meet.

Language is language and you can’t change the rules.

Well, the rules for language do change, slowly, over time. But if you want to be clear in how you communicate with others, it’s best not to change the rules on your own initiative.

God has both feminine and masculine attributes but He is not male or female. If I say “He” I don’t mean to say; God is a male, he has a male’s body, etc. I am saying He is neither, that’s how English works. However, if I say “She” in reference to God, that’s directly calling God a female, which God is not. It is correct to use masculine pronouns in reference to God, at least in English. I can’t say for other languages.

Sort of. The old rule was that “he” served for males and in situations where the sex of antecedent is unknown. “She” was marked for females only. The old rules are proving confusing for modern speakers (with their finely-tuned sexism radar), however, and modern usage tries to avoid this and use formulations such as “he or she”, or (shudder) “they”. :tsktsk:

 

[Adam_Warlock]

This site is not good for my spiritual, emotional, and mental wellness. A large number of people fail to see the point of my request, turning this in to a political, theological and even an English debate. This is not something I sought to cause. From now on I will stay in the non-triggering forums designed for people like my self. At least there rape survivors can ask questions without starting stupid debates that are pointless.

To those who understand: Thank you for your understanding and kindness. Reading your replies were uplifting and as helped me greatly. God bless you all.

To those choose to think that this is a political, theological and even an English issue. You are totally clueless, I wish I still lived in the world you do. Where such issues seem important or even a matter of choice. I miss those days. For women like my friends this is not something that is a choice. I sadly have the same issue as my friends, I have spent hours in prayer over this issue, off on on tormented by the face of that monster who raped me… Reliving the experience. No longer will I do this to my self. Thankful after talking with a Sister (Roman Catholic Nun) this evening she helped me to see that God doesn’t want me to feel this pain. Prayer should not make you wish that you could shoot someone, it should non make you feel like your endanger for your life every time you close your eyes. PTSD is just that our is related to what men have done… I do not hate men but I will never feel safe around them again… The only man I trust is my husband and still sometimes I feel uncomfortable being near him!

Thank you for reminding how childish normal people are…

Friend, perhaps I might make a recommendation? You can also think of our Lord as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

 

[JHow]

This site is not good for my spiritual, emotional, and mental wellness. A large number of people fail to see the point of my request, turning this in to a political, theological and even an English debate. This is not something I sought to cause. From now on I will stay in the non-triggering forums designed for people like my self. At least there rape survivors can ask questions without starting stupid debates that are pointless.

To those who understand: Thank you for your understanding and kindness. Reading your replies were uplifting and as helped me greatly. God bless you all.

To those choose to think that this is a political, theological and even an English issue. You are totally clueless, I wish I still lived in the world you do. Where such issues seem important or even a matter of choice. I miss those days. For women like my friends this is not something that is a choice. I sadly have the same issue as my friends, I have spent hours in prayer over this issue, off on on tormented by the face of that monster who raped me… Reliving the experience. No longer will I do this to my self. Thankful after talking with a Sister (Roman Catholic Nun) this evening she helped me to see that God doesn’t want me to feel this pain. Prayer should not make you wish that you could shoot someone, it should non make you feel like your endanger for your life every time you close your eyes. PTSD is just that our is related to what men have done… I do not hate men but I will never feel safe around them again… The only man I trust is my husband and still sometimes I feel uncomfortable being near him!

Thank you for reminding how childish normal people are…

Sorry we got off topic. Threads have a way of twisting away from the original post sometimes.

 

[Publisher]

This site is not good for my spiritual, emotional, and mental wellness. A large number of people fail to see the point of my request, turning this in to a political, theological and even an English debate. This is not something I sought to cause. From now on I will stay in the non-triggering forums designed for people like my self. At least there rape survivors can ask questions without starting stupid debates that are pointless.

To those who understand: Thank you for your understanding and kindness. Reading your replies were uplifting and as helped me greatly. God bless you all.

To those choose to think that this is a political, theological and even an English issue. You are totally clueless, I wish I still lived in the world you do. Where such issues seem important or even a matter of choice. I miss those days. For women like my friends this is not something that is a choice. I sadly have the same issue as my friends, I have spent hours in prayer over this issue, off on on tormented by the face of that monster who raped me… Reliving the experience. No longer will I do this to my self. Thankful after talking with a Sister (Roman Catholic Nun) this evening she helped me to see that God doesn’t want me to feel this pain. Prayer should not make you wish that you could shoot someone, it should non make you feel like your endanger for your life every time you close your eyes. PTSD is just that our is related to what men have done… I do not hate men but I will never feel safe around them again… The only man I trust is my husband and still sometimes I feel uncomfortable being near him!

Thank you for reminding how childish normal people are…

Friend, I will hold you in the Light.

 

[Byzantine_Wolf]

Friend, I will hold you in the Light.

What if he was a cockroach or a bat? They hate the light. You’d just be a jerk then.

 

[Publisher]

What if he was a cockroach or a bat? They hate the light. You’d just be a jerk then.

But she isn’t…she’s in need of of a healing…a healing of her heart…"There is One, even Christ Jesus that can speak to her condition.’

I’ll hold you in the Light as well friend Wolf.

 

[Byzantine_Wolf]

I’ll hold you in the Light as well friend Wolf.

Oh good. Thank you.

 

[eslocklier]

It is said that God is neither male nor female, so although I may say “He” I’m not necessarily referring to God as a man. Jesus, obviously was a man so maybe thats why it just makes sense to say “he.” When praying however, I say “Our Father, Lord, God, etc” without using a pronoun.

Interesting thoughts…