Referring to God as "he"

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Should we stop referring to God as "he" or "him" ???

Why or why not?

 

[TommyTooter]

an infinite entity cannot have a gender or it would no longer be infinite.

 

[DrLeftover]

In the majority of ancient religions, The Primary creative force is usually referred to as "he", the Secondary creative force is then often regarded in the feminine.

Even the Hindus list Vishu as masculine during the initial creation of the world.

In a few cases, they are seen as equals, such as with the Japanese history. And this fascinating vision from the Navajo traditions:

The Black Cloud represented the Female Being or Substance. For as a child sleeps when being nursed, so life slept in the darkness of the Female Being. The White Cloud represented the Male Being or Substance. He was the Dawn, the Light Witch Awakens, of the First World.

http://navajopeople.org/blog/navajo-creation-story-the-first-world-nihodilhil-black-world/

As the Bible was cited, I'll mention it, you have to go back to the Hebrew texts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, but the pronouns are always male.

However, whenever the Holy Spirit is mentioned, or in the OT, referenced in passing, the aspects mentioned are often regarded as Feminine, such as being the Comforter.

 

[Crusader]

The world has been dominated by males since human kind began, so of course God is going to be considered to be a he. However, if God supposedly created everything, and as we all know it takes both a male and female of a species to reproduce and create new life, then God would have to be both or genderless surely.

 

[DrLeftover]

The CREATOR, as a Spirit, is most likely without sex.

But the majority of the living things in the Creation are either Male or Female, or in a few cases, like earthworms, both in one body.

SIDEBAR:

It is worth noting here and now that people with BOTH aspects in one body, interestingly enough called Two-Spirit People by the Native Americans and similarly identified in various Asiatic civilizations, are regarded as special, and in some cases, religiously significant.

Hijra, Kojja, Chakka, and etc.
Terms for those who belong to what is effectively a Third Sex in some jurisdictions in Southern and Southeastern Asia and elsewhere. The majority of those individuals so identified are biologically male, however, they take on a self identity and societal roles that are more often identified as female. A minority of those have been Castrated (a Eunuch, which see) or totally Emasculated so as to better perform this role as the Nirwaan, a subset of the 'Hijra'. An even smaller number are biologically Hermaphrodites or Androgynous and in some groups are highly revered in their religious sects. Depending on the culture, the Hijra may be monks or priests, or even prostitutes. Some perform cultural or religious rituals such as speaking to the spirits of ancestors, as with the Native American "Two Spirit People" (which see), others are household servants.
The legal and societal status of these individuals depends on the locale, and there have been various attempts to legally recognize them as a Third Sex (which see) which have met with more or less success in different countries. Also see: Intersex and other highlighted terms.

Two Spirit People, Two-Spirited Person
Native American concept of a person who has the indwelling spirit of two different aspects of existence, such as being both Male and Female (literally being a man-woman or a woman-man), or having the inner spirits of two different animals such as a deer and an eagle in the same body that was physically one or the other. In many native cultures, a baby that was born of mixed physical characteristics, or a Hermaphroditic (which see) was left to die in the wilderness as an evil omen and never spoke of again, being considered stillborn. This is in contrast to those that are physically of two different bodies in one in other cultures, such as the Nirwaan of the Hijra of Asia (see Hijra). In the majority of cases in pre-colonial America such individuals were considered 'two spirited' if they exhibited tendencies that belonged to the opposite physical sex in that culture. Such as a male child that enjoyed dancing the roles usually carried out by women during tribal ceremonies or a female child that hunted or pretended to be a warrior. These tendencies were usually ignored until the Child reached Puberty, at which time they would be tested, if found to be a composite of both, they would then be trained in the mystical traditions of the tribe or as a healer. Also see: Yin-Yang, Third Sex, Transgendered, Intersex, and similar ideas. The spellings with and without the hyphen are both used in academic works on the subject.
To some degree the concept of the niizh manidoowag was also used to explain Cross Dressing, Homosexuality, Effeminate men, and other traits among several of the First Nations of North America and other cultures, it should be mentioned here that some of these explanations smack of either white-washing (see Lie) or even Political Correctness as the topic is uncomfortable for many of these groups to discuss openly, some even deny the practice existed among them, and in a few cases, they're right! The term itself is Ojibwe, there are other native words for the same thing, some are even more unpronounceable by anybody who went to a state school in the US. But it is still better than the corrupted French word "berdache" which meant, essentially, Homosexual, because the early French explorers has no idea what they were talking about. For another example see: Ladyboy, Rae Rae, and related.

http://bruthadeep.com/f4/sexglossary.htm

 

[TommyTooter]

The world has been dominated by males since human kind began, so of course God is going to be considered to be a he. However, if God supposedly created everything, and as we all know it takes both a male and female of a species to reproduce and create new life, then God would have to be both or genderless surely.

this is not true. there were matriarchal goddess based societies that subjugated the men prior to the rise of the patriarchal imperialist christianity and their nemesis, the equally patriarchal and imperialist islamic faith. the jews have a 'separate but equal' pair bonding based on the premise that men and women are physically and emotionally suited for different tasks required of the parents of a family business. when push comes to shove, mama almost always gets the last word.

the ancient jews had the neuter godhead 'elohim', the god 'YHVH' and his mate 'SHECHINAH', who are really viewed as superhuman demigods and the parents of adam. in the kabbalistic teachings, when mankind fell from grace and this planet quarantined from the rest of the cosmos, instead of leaving with the rest of the demi-gods, the spirit of YHVH entered the sun and SHECHINAH, whose name means 'she who is with us' entered the body of the earth and appear to be the entities many primitive societies refer to as father sky and mother earth.

 

[TommyTooter]

funny that the professor linked to the two spirit people.

i'm a two spirit. here are some of my own words on the subject and a reading of an authoritative article about two spirit people.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdEwTkagULs&list=UUfPS-7Pmu_u5rdEvG2Xn5Bw