Gender and Heaven

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So a subquestion I had on another thread regarding the resurrected bodies of transgendered people, led me to a question that I feel is a bit more philosophical as I’m not sure if there are any, or enough, scriptural evidence to suggest an answer, but I could be wrong, which is where you lot come in.

In Scripture we read that there will be no marriage in heaven, which is understandable as there is / will be no need for it. And as there is no need for it, angels do not have a gender, as they are pure spirit. Now, I understand that spirit has a specific nature which defines how it functions, God’s being divine, angels’ being angelic, and us having a human nature to our spirit. Now, is our God given gender associated within the human nature? If not, is it only defined by our bodies? (because spirit itself wouldn’t have a gender, especially if the human nature of the spirit doesn’t contain our gender, I theorize) Or is there some spiritual reason for our gender aside from the physical procreation bit?

Continuing, gender doesn’t have a function in heaven, does it? If there is no marriage or procreation in heaven, then there is not need for genders, right? If there is no need for genders, then would we still have genders in heaven that would be associated with our heavenly bodies (until the resurrection of our bodies)? Also, would our resurrected bodies become genderless (aside from maybe physical form)?

Okay, so not just one question, but they all kind of lead up to a generic question of, would we have genders in heaven? And if so, why would we given that we wouldn’t have a need for it, since there is no procreation or marriage?

That’s all for now… please discuss. This has me curious, and I’d like to find an answer.

Thanks!
 
A bit on Spirits: All living things have a soul, but only the soul of a Human is a spirit. The Human Soul and Spirit are one, not parts of a whole. The Angels are pure spirit, but never possess a body. (paraphrased from Frank Sheed’s Theology for Beginners)

Below are some paragraphs, from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Bible, which may be helpful in answering your questions. From my understanding of the excerpts I have listed, as it is that we have been created in the image and likeness of God, male and female, our gender assignments are not accidental and remain important even after death. It seems safe to make this assumption knowing that Christ’s Resurrection was of body and soul, complete with mortal wounds. After the Resurrection, Jesus certainly doesn’t need his body or his earthly wounds, but he retains them, even as he ascended into heaven. Also, we are told in the Catechism that during the Resurrection our bodies will become like Christ’s Ressurected body (999), our separated bodies and soul’s will be reunited (650). I don’t believe the question of “need” is relevant or necessary, being that when (if) we make it to heaven (let’s pray!), we won’t be in need of anything at all. Pure bliss. The question of “why” are our bodies assumed into heaven isn’t easily answered, but I will dare to make an assumption that it has a lot to do with God creating us in both his image and likeness. So, I believe the answer to your question is yes, people will retain their genders upon ascending into heaven. I hope this helps!

Genesis 1:27) And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.

Paragraph 645) By means of touch and the sharing of a meal, the risen Jesus establishes direct contact with his disciples. He invites them in this way to recognize that he is not a ghost and above all to verify that the risen body in which he appears to them is the same body that had been tortured and crucified, for it still bears the traces of his Passion.508…

Paragraph 650) The Fathers contemplate the Resurrection from the perspective of the divine person of Christ who remained united to his soul and body, even when these were separated from each other by death: "By the unity of the divine nature, which remains present in each of the two components of man, these are reunited. For as death is produced by the separation of the human components, so Resurrection is achieved by the union of the two."519

Paragraph 999) How? Christ is raised with his own body: “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself”;551 but he did not return to an earthly life. So, in him, “all of them will rise again with their own bodies which they now bear,” but Christ “will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body,” into a “spiritual body”:552…

Paragraph1004) In expectation of that day, the believer’s body and soul already participate in the dignity of belonging to Christ. This dignity entails the demand that he should treat with respect his own body, but also the body of every other person, especially the suffering:

The body [is meant] for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. and God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? … You are not your own; … So glorify God in your body.561
 
I don’t usually wander into this forum because philosophy tends to make my head hurt, but I had an immediate reaction to your question. Good question, by the way.

It is my understanding that Jesus returned to earth in his glorified form to show us what lies ahead for us in his kingdom. That was the whole point of the Resurrection - to show us that our bodies remain in this world but there is more to come. A world where our bodies are reunited with our souls in the next age, it’s just that those bodies will be glorified. It’s the reason the church teaches we are to be buried, and if cremated, all remains are to be contained and buried. I’m of the belief, however, that the victims of 9/11, war, other explosive events, or heinous crimes which obliterate/separate human flesh and bone will be in heaven in their glorified complete form, as all things are possible with God. If it’s within our ability to be buried intact, we are obliged to do so, I guess, is the real message there.

With regard to your question, however, my first thought was, he came back male, not female, not neutral. Male. So the simple answer would be yes, our human gender will follow us into the New Age because that’s what Jesus revealed to us.

As for transgenders, God doesn’t make mistakes. That a person is not able to identify with the gender under which he/she was born is a complicated human issue. Seems to me, if they go to heaven they will be reunited with the body God gave them, but this time they will not be at odds with it.
 
Mary and Jesus are in heaven body and soul and are still male and female. We too will have resurrected bodies and I would suspect still have our male/femaleness.
 
Men and women have psychological differences, so their souls are probably different as well. Such differences will probably persist in the next life.
 
bzkoss236 said:
So a subquestion I had on another thread regarding the resurrected bodies of transgendered people, led me to a question that I feel is a bit more philosophical as I’m not sure if there are any, or enough, scriptural evidence to suggest an answer, but I could be wrong, which is where you lot come in.

In Scripture we read that there will be no marriage in heaven, which is understandable as there is / will be no need for it. And as there is no need for it, angels do not have a gender, as they are pure spirit. Now, I understand that spirit has a specific nature which defines how it functions, God’s being divine, angels’ being angelic, and us having a human nature to our spirit. Now, is our God given gender associated within the human nature? If not, is it only defined by our bodies? (because spirit itself wouldn’t have a gender, especially if the human nature of the spirit doesn’t contain our gender, I theorize) Or is there some spiritual reason for our gender aside from the physical procreation bit?

Continuing, gender doesn’t have a function in heaven, does it? If there is no marriage or procreation in heaven, then there is not need for genders, right? If there is no need for genders, then would we still have genders in heaven that would be associated with our heavenly bodies (until the resurrection of our bodies)? Also, would our resurrected bodies become genderless (aside from maybe physical form)?

Okay, so not just one question, but they all kind of lead up to a generic question of, would we have genders in heaven? And if so, why would we given that we wouldn’t have a need for it, since there is no procreation or marriage?

That’s all for now… please discuss. This has me curious, and I’d like to find an answer.

Thanks!
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You assume that gender is only for behaving sexually. It is not.

One’s gender also determines such things as one’s body build, muscular strength, voice, various aspects of your senses, and some finer nuances of your mind.

So even if there will be no “sexual expression” in Life Everlasting, your gender will remain. It is as much a part of you as your human body (indeed, the two go together).

ICXC NIKA
 
I dont think that i am being rude but i would think we still need our private parts to go to the toilet (bathroom). if we can eat here on earth then i would think we would also eat in heaven. when jesus appeared after his death he did eat with his apostles.
 
I believe we will all have our genders in heaven, genders are not just for reproduction or marriage. Men will still look like men and women will still look like women. And women will act like women and men will act like men. 🙂
 
GEddie said:
You assume that gender is only for behaving sexually. It is not.

One’s gender also determines such things as one’s body build, muscular strength, voice, various aspects of your senses, and some finer nuances of your mind.

So even if there will be no “sexual expression” in Life Everlasting, your gender will remain. It is as much a part of you as your human body (indeed, the two go together).

ICXC NIKA
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Exactly! Well put! 👍
 
Our gender is a crucial part of our whole identity as a person. That is why transgender people, whose physical sexual characteristics do not match the gender they psychologically feel they belong to, have such problems.

In heaven we will still paychologically be aware of our gender and doubtless our physical bodies will correspond.
 
LilyM said:
Our gender is a crucial part of our whole identity as a person. That is why transgender people, whose physical sexual characteristics do not match the gender they psychologically feel they belong to, have such problems.

In heaven we will still paychologically be aware of our gender and doubtless our physical bodies will correspond.
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Granting the notions of heaven and bodily resurrection, one might be tempted to suggest that if, indeed, gender is a feature of our eternal existence, it would be so in heaven without all the human prejudice and persecution that people of non-mainstream gender face on earth…
 
GEddie said:
You assume that gender is only for behaving sexually. It is not.

One’s gender also determines such things as one’s body build, muscular strength, voice, various aspects of your senses, and some finer nuances of your mind.

So even if there will be no “sexual expression” in Life Everlasting, your gender will remain. It is as much a part of you as your human body (indeed, the two go together).
Click to expand...
It’s difficult to imagine gender in heaven without some form of attraction between male and female and yes, even some form of “union” (without procreation/marriage). What do you think of the Peter Kreeft article cited in my previous posting ( #11 above)?
 
Just to clarify to some folks, I wasn’t referring to transgendered people when I said “those who are both male and female”, I was referring to those that are born intersex, having both male and female reproductive organs (and also carrying the DNA to have such, which I believe can be caused by having XXY chromosomes instead of just XX or XY).

but I thank you all for your (name removed by moderator)ut. I was too focused on the purpose of gender rather than what effect gender has on our identity as well.
 
yep! you hit the nail on the head! " the effect gender has on our identity"
 
levinas12 said:
It’s difficult to imagine gender in heaven without some form of attraction between male and female and yes, even some form of “union” (without procreation/marriage). What do you think of the Peter Kreeft article cited in my previous posting ( #11 above)?
Click to expand...
There will be no sex or sexual attraction in heaven, but everyone will have genders. We’ll be like the way small children are, genders won’t mean anything sexual to us.
bzkoss236 said:
Just to clarify to some folks, I wasn’t referring to transgendered people when I said “those who are both male and female”, I was referring to those that are born intersex, having both male and female reproductive organs (and also carrying the DNA to have such, which I believe can be caused by having XXY chromosomes instead of just XX or XY).

but I thank you all for your (name removed by moderator)ut. I was too focused on the purpose of gender rather than what effect gender has on our identity as well.
Click to expand...
Oh that’s an interesting question! I guess whichever gender the person felt more comfortable as on earth, the one they identified more towards is what gender they will be in heaven. 🙂 People who do sex changes, if they get to heaven will be their original gender they were born with. 😉 By the time they get to heaven their soul will be healed of whatever emotional issues they had that made them feel like they belonged to the other gender.
 
LilyM said:
Our gender is a crucial part of our whole identity as a person. That is why transgender people, whose physical sexual characteristics do not match the gender they psychologically feel they belong to, have such problems.

In heaven we will still paychologically be aware of our gender and doubtless our physical bodies will correspond.
Click to expand...
Amen! Spoken or written very well.
 
Reading these posts, I get the distinct impression that all of you have taken one verse of Scripture…(“there will be no marriage or being given in marriage…but men will be like the angels”)…and have decided that God’s highest gifts to Mankind (human sexuality and procreation) will be missing in Heaven.

I agree with the gender posts…that explain human identity in masculine and feminine terms. For God tells us that we are made in His own image…male and female. How so?
Well one way to see God as “male” and “female” is through Virtue. “Virtus” in Latin means “power” and God is Perfectly Virtuous. However, Virtue comes in 3 forms…there is the Outward expressions of Power and Justice (extroverted virtue)…and…there is God’s introverted virtues of restraint like Mercy. Thus we can see an Extroverted pouring out of God’s Justice…and an Introverted pouring out of Mercy in the Person of Jesus at Creation. We can also see a Virtuous relationship between the 2…Love, Trust, Faith (this is the Holy Spirit).
Code: 
All three types of virtue make One united concept we call Virtue.  However, my point here is that we (with God's grace) can clothe ourselves in the wedding garment of the Holy Spirit....We can put on Faith, Hope and Love toward God.  We will ultimately KNOW the Father of Justice and Poiwer when we are first married to the Holy Spirit....then married to the Lamb...and the Lamb is married to the Father.
All of this “knowing” is quite beautiful and eternally flows toward us in heaven like a river from the Throne…which delights the city of God…but also waters the tree of Life whose leaves are “for the healing of the nations”.
Now, are these “nations” your future offspring in heaven?
 
bzkoss236 said:
Continuing, gender doesn’t have a function in heaven, does it? If there is no marriage or procreation in heaven, then there is not need for genders, right? If there is no need for genders, then would we still have genders in heaven that would be associated with our heavenly bodies (until the resurrection of our bodies)? Also, would our resurrected bodies become genderless (aside from maybe physical form)?

Okay, so not just one question, but they all kind of lead up to a generic question of, would we have genders in heaven? And if so, why would we given that we wouldn’t have a need for it, since there is no procreation or marriage?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
This is a great question! I printed out the Peter Kreeft article and am looking forward to reading it. My gut tells me we definitely will have gender in heaven. We will be fully human and that to me entails our genders (which as people have already said) is intrinsically connected to our identities as persons.
 
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