Not allowed to say He or Him for God

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marysmessenger

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In our Seattle parish, we’re not allowed to use He or Him as a pronoun for God. Of course, “it” sounds stupid.

Anybody encounter this?
 
I know of people who regularly speak this way. They don’t refer to God as “It” but as “God.” For example: God calls all people to Godself. While it’s not exactly my cup of tea I do think it helps to remind us that God is completely different from us and is pure spirit.
 
I was just going to ask, who said you can’t say He or Him, does it come from the Bishop?
 
I don’t see anything the matter. A manager I used to work for had a plate on her desk saying “Trust in God; She will provide.” Now, THAT’s a problem. Stick to the Latin; pronouns are seldom used. 🙂
 
ProVobis said:
I don’t see anything the matter. A manager I used to work for had a plate on her desk saying “Trust in God; She will provide.” Now, THAT’s a problem. Stick to the Latin; pronouns are seldom used. 🙂
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Well, yes, but that’s due to a feature of Latin grammar whereby the subject is implied by the verb. Scripsit : “he wrote”. Ambulat : “he walks”. And of course, inflected adjectives can be used nominally, and it’s never less than clear which sex is indicated, especially in context.

It sounds like the OP is referring to re-writes of the liturgy like “It is right to give God thanks and praise” instead of “…give Him thanks and praise.”
 
You need to leave that parish.
Everyone who goes there is in spiritual danger.
This is not an exageration!
 
Good heavens, Jesus himself referred to God as “Father”. Here’s just one example that we can all relate to:
Mt 28:19
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of** the Father** and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, "

If Jesus referred to God as Father, why shouldn’t we refer to God as He?
 
shondrea said:
Have the Feminists taken over or something?
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Of course, its Washington. Our Cathedral scares me sometimes, they keep the wine in a glass carafe during Mass, consecrate it, and then pour the Precious Blood into glass chalices.:eek:
 
marysmessenger said:
In our Seattle parish, we’re not allowed to use He or Him as a pronoun for God. Of course, “it” sounds stupid.

Anybody encounter this?
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Never heard such a thing and I went to RCC schools, even through High School…we were all taught and know the history of the Trinity, the 3 Godheads…the first is our Supreme Father God…the second Godhead of the Trinity is the Mother God…and the third Godhead of this Trinity, is the Son, as the Word of God.

Maybe there is some confusion in pronouncing which God is being referenced when you use the word God in prayer? Usually, when praying to God, it is assumed we are praying to The One, The All, The First Godhead as our Supreme Father God…HE
 
Nowhere_Man said:
Of course, its Washington. Our Cathedral scares me sometimes, they keep the wine in a glass carafe during Mass, consecrate it, and then pour the Precious Blood into glass chalices.:eek:
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facepalm Hoooi…I’m as much for equal rights as the next chick, but feminists are the number 1 point of rage for me. Now, I dunno if being PC has anything to do with OP’s issue, but I’ve met more than my fair share of women who are “offended” that I’d be so “sexist and misogynistic” to call God He. 🤷
 
shondrea said:
Have the Feminists taken over or something?
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Feminism shouldn’t be used as an insult.
God is not a male and there’s nothing wrong with referring to God as God without the words He or Him. While I don’t do this, I don’t think we should judge other people.
 
mariahloves said:
Feminism shouldn’t be used as an insult.
**God is not a male **and there’s nothing wrong with referring to God as God without the words He or Him. While I don’t do this, I don’t think we should judge other people.
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Jesus called God the Father. He did not call Him Mother, Sister or Mother/Father or Brother/Sister. He called Him Father.

I think that probably means something and that something is very important in the scheme of things.

And just how do you know that God is not male? Jesus, who is a part of the Blessed Trinity along with the Father:eek:, whoops there is that word again, and the Holy Spirit, which comprise the Godhead, was certainly male or do you argue that He was some sexless creature brought forth to unite both sexes into a common non sexual scheme of things?
 
Palaeologos said:
Well, yes, but that’s due to a feature of Latin grammar whereby the subject is implied by the verb. Scripsit : “he wrote”. Ambulat : “he walks”. And of course, inflected adjectives can be used nominally, and it’s never less than clear which sex is indicated, especially in context.

It sounds like the OP is referring to re-writes of the liturgy like “It is right to give God thanks and praise” instead of “…give Him thanks and praise.”
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There are other languages where pronouns are seldom used. My mother used to have a fit when the conversation included a “he” or “she” as reference is sometimes vague and my mother just found it insulting. You never use third-person pronouns in business or legal documents.

That said, as long as its capitalized, “He” and “Him” is always reference to God and shouldn’t be insulting. In regular conversation, though, this could be a problem.
 
LayingHands said:
Never heard such a thing and I went to RCC schools, even through High School…we were all taught and know the history of the Trinity, the 3 Godheads…the first is our Supreme Father God…the second Godhead of the Trinity is the Mother God…and the third Godhead of this Trinity, is the Son, as the Word of God.
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What on earth are you talking about? Catholics do NOT believe in 3 Godheads --Father God, Mother God, and the Son as the Word of God. Catholics believe in three Persons in one God – the first Person of the Trinity is God the Father, the second Person of the Trinity is God the Son, and the third Person of the Trinity is God the Holy Spirit.
MIKE46 said:
And just how do you know that God is not male?
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Mike, at His incarnation, God the Son, Jesus, was a male and there is no doubt about that. But Catholic theology teaches that God is pure spirit and as such is neither male or female. However since Jesus called God “Father”, then we should also.
 
marysmessenger said:
In our Seattle parish, we’re not allowed to use He or Him as a pronoun for God. Of course, “it” sounds stupid.

Anybody encounter this?
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Malleus: I have not encountered this where we go to Church. I can speculate as to why. We all know that Feminism is alive and well in the United States. We know that the Church isnt immune to it. But we also know that the Church has always taught that GOD made man in his own likeness and image. Now some say that Scrpture says “Let Us” but Us is likewise is not necessarily feminine. But then of course Eve came from the Rib of Adam - Jesus was male and Jesus is GOD - St Paul speaks of women being subject to men just as Christ is head of the Church so to is man head of the woman and explains the roles of Men and women as GOD intended (Not to be judged by earthly standards - because we all know who the most powerful Saint in Heaven is dont we) and so on. But in order to pave the way for Women ordination and true “Equality” obstacles like this must be removed.

Pax
 
mariahloves said:
God is not a male and there’s nothing wrong with referring to God as God without the words He or Him. While I don’t do this, I don’t think we should judge other people.
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While it is true that God is pure spirit and does not possess sexual characteristics of either gender, theology is very clear on this: the persons of the Holy Trinity are referred to as male. The liturgy is also very clear: God the Father, Jesus the only-begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit use male pronouns.

I used to go to a Newman Center where the congregation had spontaneously decided to slip in “God” instead of “His” in various parts of the Mass - i.e. “… for our good and the good of all God’s church.” This is an illicit practice. Nobody can add, subtract or change the words of the Mass no matter what their personal preference.
 
I think this can be settled and shut down very quickly using the following:

Jesus IS God.
Jesus IS man.
He is the God-Man.

Case closed.

If a person doesn’t believe Jesus IS God 100% and also man 100% then that person is already in serious trouble long before they even begin the argument against calling God Father or referring to God as He or Him.
 
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