The philosophy of God's "gender"

[sidetrack]

I wouldn’t be to surprised if we refer to God as a “father” b/c of the ancient association of him with various other “sky father” like deities.In Catholicism we all know that the notion of an important “sky”/heavenly woman goes to Mary.Never assuming such that things are so straight forward when trying to understand the nature of an omnibenevolent and almighty creator that what we say about him applies so readily,is something I always keep in mind.This goes for the usual gender designation that we give him of being male.Can anyone delve into the philosophy of we so strongly associate male features to him rolleyes: yeah I know the Holy trinity has a part in this).

 

[Simpleton]

God does not have a “gender.” I was under the belief that God is called Father simply because it is the best we can do as humans to explain God’s perfection and the relationship which exists in the Trinity.

PS. God is also called the Word.

 

[davidv]

God as spirit, has no gender. He is called Father because of what revealed of His nature.

The Father revealed by the Son

238 Many religions invoke God as “Father”. The deity is often considered the “father of gods and of men”. In Israel, God is called “Father” inasmuch as he is Creator of the world.59 Even more, God is Father because of the covenant and the gift of the law to Israel, “his first-born son”.60 God is also called the Father of the king of Israel. Most especially he is “the Father of the poor”, of the orphaned and the widowed, who are under his loving protection.61
239 By calling God “Father”, the language of faith indicates two main things: that God is the first origin of everything and transcendent authority; and that he is at the same time goodness and loving care for all his children. God’s parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood,62 which emphasizes God’s immanence, the intimacy between Creator and creature. The language of faith thus draws on the human experience of parents, who are in a way the first representatives of God for man. But this experience also tells us that human parents are fallible and can disfigure the face of fatherhood and motherhood. We ought therefore to recall that God transcends the human distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor woman: he is God. He also transcends human fatherhood and motherhood, although he is their origin and standard:63 no one is father as God is Father.

240 Jesus revealed that God is Father in an unheard-of sense: he is Father not only in being Creator; he is eternally Father in relation to his only Son, who is eternally Son only in relation to his Father: "No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."64 241 For this reason the apostles confess Jesus to be the Word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”; as “the image of the invisible God”; as the “radiance of the glory of God and the very stamp of his nature”.65

 

[runningdude]

I wouldn’t be to surprised if we refer to God as a “father” b/c of the ancient association of him with various other “sky father” like deities.

Correction, all other ancient religions have a “sky father” because humans have an innate relationship to God the Father.

In Catholicism we all know that the notion of an important “sky”/heavenly woman goes to Mary.Never assuming such that things are so straight forward when trying to understand the nature of an omnibenevolent and almighty creator that what we say about him applies so readily,is something I always keep in mind.This goes for the usual gender designation that we give him of being male.Can anyone delve into the philosophy of we so strongly associate male features to him rolleyes: yeah I know the Holy trinity has a part in this).

God chose to represent himself as a “Father”. God created gender, and he created Fatherhood to reflect the nature of his relationship with humanity

 

[Ad_Orientem]

We don’t call God our Father because of Pagan male deities. We call God our Father because Jesus did, and because He taught us to do the same. “Our Father, who art in Heaven.” This is divine revelation. Don’t tell me that Jesus, God Incarnate, was unconsciously influenced by Paganism.

 

[TK421]

The groom is as Christ, and the bride is as the Church. Just as Christ gives himself up for the Church, the groom gives himself up for the bride. Just as the Church submits to Christ, the bride submits to the groom. Because the male gender ontologically reflects Christ, God likewise reveals himself in the person of the Father, even though he has no gender as we would know it, since He is fully spirit. The universal Church is the mystical body of believers - all believers that are joined to Him - and it is collectively referred to as a She. Wisdom is also personified as a she in the Old Testament, and she has been with Him since eternity.

God created the genders as a reflection of Christ and the Church he loves.

 

[Back2Church]

Because if God were mother, he would have gone to Joseph to produce a son, rather than Mary?

Ok, so that was cheeky, but there’s still a point in there. We call God father because that 's the role he took with us. No one impregnated God resulting in the birth of the universe from Him. Rather, it was he who impregnated the nothingness which gave birth to our universe. So to speak. -ish… Ok, it’s a rough way to put it, but I think my point can be seen in there.

 

[Starrsmother]

I wouldn’t be to surprised if we refer to God as a “father” b/c of the ancient association of him with various other “sky father” like deities.In Catholicism we all know that the notion of an important “sky”/heavenly woman goes to Mary.Never assuming such that things are so straight forward when trying to understand the nature of an omnibenevolent and almighty creator that what we say about him applies so readily,is something I always keep in mind.This goes for the usual gender designation that we give him of being male.Can anyone delve into the philosophy of we so strongly associate male features to him rolleyes: yeah I know the Holy trinity has a part in this).

Also, Jesus himself referred to the Father in heaven, so it must pertain to His characteristics since God is a spirit…

 

[Mount_Carmel]

I think that genderising God as being Male speaks more of the patriarchal nature of the religion and society into which Jesus lived out His life.

 

[latin_rite]

It is obvious God is male. Because God is a boys name. If God was a female the Bible would refer to God as Goddess.

Philosophy. Over thinking things since 5,000 bc

 

[tonyrey]

                      God as spirit, has no gender.

*

**CCC 239 **

By calling God “Father”, the language of faith indicates two main things: that God is the first origin of everything and transcendent authority; and that he is at the same time goodness and loving care for all his children. God’s parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood,62 which emphasizes God’s immanence, the intimacy between Creator and creature. The language of faith thus draws on the human experience of parents, who are in a way the first representatives of God for man. But this experience also tells us that human parents are fallible and can disfigure the face of fatherhood and motherhood. We ought therefore to recall that God transcends the human distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor woman: he is God. He also transcends human fatherhood and motherhood, although he is their origin and standard:63 no one is father as God is Father.*

 

[tonyrey]

I think that genderising God as being Male speaks more of the patriarchal nature of the religion and society into which Jesus lived out His life.

Precisely. If Jesus had been born into a matriarchal society He would have been lynched if He had referred to God as “Our Father”.

 

[algonquin]

God has no gender. God is above all of that. God is Spirit. Gender is only for the created beings on the earth. Most all creatures are divided into male and female. I understand that even plants are divided into male and female. Jesus spoke of God as Father perhaps to compare him to an earthly father and what an earthly father should be like to his children. When people die and if they are determined to go to heaven, they are like the angels. They no longer have any need of the kind of body that was needed while on the earth. On the earth we need male and female persons to perpetuate the human race upon the earth.

 

[latin_rite]

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[tonyrey]

God does not have a “gender.” I was under the belief that God is called Father simply because it is the best we can do as humans to explain God’s perfection and the relationship which exists in the Trinity.

PS. God is also called the Word.

All human descriptions of the divine nature are analogical.

 

[tonyrey]

God has no gender. God is above all of that. God is Spirit. Gender is only for the created beings on the earth. Most all creatures are divided into male and female. I understand that even plants are divided into male and female. Jesus spoke of God as Father perhaps to compare him to an earthly father and what an earthly father should be like to his children. When people die and if they are determined to go to heaven, they are like the angels. They no longer have any need of the kind of body that was needed while on the earth. On the earth we need male and female persons to perpetuate the human race upon the earth.

Welcome to the forum.

“compare” is the key word. Its original meaning is “make equal with” - which is nonsensical with reference to God.

 

[latin_rite]

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[runningdude]

PS. God is also called the Word.

Correction: The bird is the word.

 

[Starrsmother]

It is obvious God is male. Because God is a boys name. If God was a female the Bible would refer to God as Goddess.

Philosophy. Over thinking things since 5,000 bc

God is a spirit and has no sex. We call him the Father because of our relationship to Him, but more importantly, because of His relationship to us!

 

[balto]

Well God has no gender because He is pure spirit. As far as I know He is masculine. In fact there is nothing more masculine than God is. There is such as thing as cosmic masculinity and femininity, which is why many languages have masculine and feminine nouns because they recognized these things in reality.

Peter Kreeft actually did a very nice job of explaining the philosophy behind this in his discussion on women priests. Yes, it’s true that Christ referred to God as Father and that is all we need to know. However there is a reason why God is appropriately called “Father” and not “Mother.” God plays the masculine role in relation to humanity which plays the feminine role. Why is that? Think about the relationship that God, who is Truth, has with humanity. Truth invades the human mind, which forms a “conception” of that reality (isn’t it interesting that we actually talk about how we have a “concept” or something, almost like a physical conception in the womb). The mental conception resembles the Father in that it reflects reality and resembles the mother in that it is mental.

I think this is one of the reasons why Catholicism has a male priesthood. The symbolism is incredibly important. We are supposed to allow God to enter our lives and form new life in us, not the other way around. So God is neither male nor female, but He is masculine. Most of the ancient pagan religions had the gods playing a sort of feminine role to humans in that humans were supposed to seek out the gods and initiate communion with them. The ancient Jews were the first to say the exact opposite.