God a Female?

[Melchior]

TheQuestioner:

I have a friend and also a religion teacher who is Catholic, and they actually think God may be a woman!!! I explained to them that God created man in his image and that if God was female than God would have created Eve first instead of Adam. I also told them that Jesus called God Father, not mother, but my Catholic religion teacher said it was from Jesus’ perspective, and it may not be true.
What kind of people actually believe that God is a female. Can anyone give me any advice on how to bring sense to these people.

God has clearly indicated that He wants us to relate to Him as masculine, a Father. Throughout Scripture the persons of the Holy Trinity are always and everywhere referred to in the masculine. While humanity, both male and female, is made in the image of God and therefore we must assume that God has the best qualities of both sexes, He has been pretty specific since the beginning about being “male”.

Mel

 

[iguana27]

Melchior:

God has clearly indicated that He wants us to relate to Him as masculine, a Father. Throughout Scripture the persons of the Holy Trinity are always and everywhere referred to in the masculine. Mel

Look at my posts above. Masculine imagery of God is not univocal in the scriptures.

 

[Melchior]

iguana27:

The Lord is speaking in the first person in this passage. “I” refers to God.

Like I said above, Jerusalem, prosperity, and the Lord are all described using feminine images.

God bless,
Iguana

Scripture makes various analogies to God as “mothering” us. A hen wishing to gather us under her wings is one example. But poetic language used to describe the nature of God’s love is not the same as how He has instructed mankind to address Him and relate to Him.

It would be wrong to refer to the Father as Mother. We are baptized in the name of The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Therefore we must primarily understand our heavenly Father as… well…our Heavenly Father.

Mel

 

[iguana27]

Melchior:

Scripture makes various analogies to God as “mothering” us. A hen wishing to gather us under her wings is one example. But poetic language used to describe the nature of God’s love is not the same as how He has instructed mankind to address Him and relate to Him.

It would be wrong to refer to the Father as Mother. We are baptized in the name of The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Therefore we must primarily understand our heavenly Father as… well…our Heavenly Father.

Mel

While we should refer to God as our heavenly Father, it would also be wrong to deny the feminine aspects of God noted in the Scriptures and to limit our understanding of God in only a masculine way.

God is neither male nor female, masculine nor feminine, but encompasses and transcends both.

God created man and woman in His image. Males are not more like God, we are created as complementary parts of the image of our Creator. This is an important theological point that has consequences in the way that we respect the dignity of women.

I have never felt closer to God than when I participated in His creative power and gave birth to my children. God as creator and nurturer is a very feminine image. It is supported by Scripture and personal experience for me. I believe that this image is consistent with the CCC, and I am glad that God chose to reveal himself this way in the Bible.

God Bless,
Iguana

 

[Poisson]

iguana27:

It is wrong to define God as a male or female, however it is not wrong to refer to Him with male or female imagery, as seen in Scripture.

Referring to Him in the feminine is another thing altogether. I know many men who have “motherly” type characterisitcs but would never refer to them in the feminine.
Scripture nowhere refers to God as a “She” or “Her” it’s always “He” or “Him” (same with the Holy Spirit) and if that’s how He chose to reveal Himself then who am I to do any different.

 

[Melchior]

iguana27:

While we should refer to God as our heavenly Father, it would also be wrong to deny the feminine aspects of God noted in the Scriptures and to limit our understanding of God in only a masculine way.

God is neither male nor female, masculine nor feminine, but encompasses and transcends both.

God created man and woman in His image. Males are not more like God, we are created as complementary parts of the image of our Creator. This is an important theological point that has consequences in the way that we respect the dignity of women.

I have never felt closer to God than when I participated in His creative power and gave birth to my children. God as creator and nurturer is a very feminine image. It is supported by Scripture and personal experience for me. I believe that this image is consistent with the CCC, and I am glad that God chose to reveal himself this way in the Bible.

God Bless,
Iguana

No argument here. It was when you said it was wrong to refer to God as male or female that I took exception. Since God has revealed how we are to relate to Him.

But as you beautifully pointed out the are transcendant aspects, such as women having the blessing of bringing new life into the world and thus reflecting one hugely important aspect being image baring creatures - partaking in creation. Something you are very blessed indeed with that us men-folk are not.

Mel

 

[meep]

iguana27:

The Lord is speaking in the first person in this passage. “I” refers to God.

Like I said above, Jerusalem, prosperity, and the Lord are all described using feminine images.

Oops, I missed the second-to-last line there! You’re right that that passage uses maternal imagery for God’s too.

This imagery takes the form of a simile. (“God is like ______”, or “as is _____, such is God”… but not “God is _____”)

This may not contradict what you’re saying–but I can’t think of a place where Scripture refers to God by a feminine pronoun or describes Him as having feminine attributes. The passages I’ve seen in this discussion only use explicit similes to feminine traits when explaining God’s characteristics.

but you’re right that God (aside from the humanity of Jesus) can’t be properly considered to have a gender–since gender itself is God’s creation, and thus procedes from Him. If God were gendered, He would have to be a creation, and this is a contradiction (since He is the creator).

 

[PilgrimJWT]

God is a spirit, and therefore without sex or parts. As I see it, references to God as Father is intended to refer to explaining about what “He” does, and is not about sexual identity. If someone wants to refer to God as “She”, I regard that as perhaps untraditional, but not wrong. The English language lacks a personal pronoun that covers both male and female. If there was one, it would be appropriate to refer to God by it.

 

[Ghosty]

Funny, I always use He to refer to the Father and Son, because that’s the word that fits those identities, and I use It to refer to the Holy Spirit, and either It or just God to refer to the Trinity as a whole. I wish that the word It was more personal in our language, because it sounds like I’m trying to make God a thing and not a being, but ultimately I’m more comfortable using that word to represent God when God is not presented in a gender-specific way.

I never use She, however, simply because it’s incorrect in the case of Father and Son, and it’s equally incorrect as He in the case of the Trinity as a whole, IMO. Ultimately, however, God is without sex, and the term He is simply a fitting term for the relationships described in the Father and the Son, and of course for the physical reality of the Incarnation.

 

[Treasures]

Thank you for posting this thread…the 2 points that upset me the most are when catholics say “all religions are the same” and referring to God as “mother god” or "she"re the female …

1. God is spirit
2. It is revealed truth to refer to God as Father by Jesus himself in the Bible
3. (No one mentioned this argument yet but some have brought it up to me so be prepared) That is was culturally a male dominated culture …but the reality is that at the time…multiple gods were more the norm and the female was certainly in the mix …so a male god was not necessarily the norm…
4. yes I too have heard the Wisdom is feminine argument too …but wisdom is one aspect of the total and while wisdom may be a feminine aspect …it is not God in total…just as strength is a masculine attribute but if I can lift something …that does not make me male…
   5 I personally agree that this is a anti-catholic agenda…feminist or wiccan … there may be different reasons people hold this …and also they may be deceived …and believe what they were taught by their teachers.
   Peggy Frye…a CAtholic Answers apolegist helped me in a pinch with this argument when I really needed the help when I was involved with a parish committee and I thank her and CA for providing this help.
   Now I feel I need to go forward and really get into it deeper. In addition to it being used within my own parish by several people… my own godchild and niece is a graduate student at a “big name” catholic university and holds this too. I hope to really be able to correct this error…but I need more credentials to do that since she seems to feel as a grad student she knows more…which I don’t think is necessarily true but I am going to take a Masters of Arts in religious studies through CDU ( catholic distance u) in order to have more credibility. I think people feel intimidated when someone has more degrees and even though they don’t speak the truth , the degree can be intimidating. I think my getting a degree would level the playing field so my niece and others too would be more openminded to listening and not so dismissive. My niece seemed a little moved by the few arguments I have already brought up…but not enough yet.
   I have checked with CDU and they said after completing a specific core course that it should be easy for me to refute this. I also checked with the web site www.catholicculture.net regarding the fidelity rating of CDU and it is rated as faithful. I highly recommend verifying web sites for rating for fidelity …too many web sites say “catholic” but are really anti-catholic or anti-magesterium and CINO…
   When I find out about further possible arguments and responses to this point I will try to post for you.
   I just want to encourage you whenever you hear something that is not correct or even if you don’t know or something does not just seem right about a statement…take it a step further and check either CAtholic Answer or even the EWTN web site…the Q&A sections often have at least a starting point for you. You can go back and correct the person once you have the response. At the very least you will be better prepared to respond the next time you heard the argument or statement. It is important we speak up when something incorrect is said because if we don’t people will keep spreading the falsehoods and others will accept that as the truth. We all must do our part to stem the lies and attacks on true Church teachings. God bless your efforts and may the Holy Spirit give you wisdom and discernment
   Diana

 

[Giovanni]

Man has such an ego, in this case I should say woman. Why are we always trying to elevate our being, and bring God to our level. I believe our Lord Jesus said that whoever has seen me has seen the Father, also our Lords prayer starts out “Our Father who …”. and every reference to God from Genesis to Revelation is as “He”.

What are some people trying to prove???