Moviefan
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Post by Moviefan on Feb 11, 2017 22:07:46 GMT
I believe that God is neither male nor female. God is a spiritual being and existed before there was male and female. What do you think?
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filmfan95
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Post by filmfan95 on Feb 12, 2017 1:37:16 GMT
I believe he is neither male nor female, but that he is to be referred to with masculine terms.
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Post by awhina on Feb 12, 2017 1:54:45 GMT
I believe that God is neither male nor female. God is a spiritual being and existed before there was male and female. What do you think? I agree. God is neither male nor female. God is most definitely a spiritual not a corporeal being.
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Post by clusium on Feb 12, 2017 4:24:04 GMT
As a Spirit, God Is neither male nor female. However, the way we address the Deity reflects our views of the Deity's Relationship to Creation.
When the male creates, he creates outside of himself.
When the female creates, she creates inside of herself.
So, when we address the Deity in masculine terms, we express belief that the Deity Created outside of Himself.
That is why Goddess worshipping religions are not monotheistic. Because monotheistic beliefs separate the Deity from Creation. Goddess worshipping religions are always pantheistic. Ie, worshipping Mother Earth, or Mother Nature, etc.
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Post by awhina on Feb 12, 2017 4:28:51 GMT
As a Spirit, God Is neither male nor female. However, the way we address the Deity reflects our views of the Deity's Relationship to Creation. When the male creates, he creates outside of himself. When the female creates, she creates inside of herself. So, when we address the Deity in masculine terms, we express belief that the Deity Created outside of Himself. That is why Goddess worshipping religions are not monotheistic. Because monotheistic beliefs separate the Deity from Creation. Goddess worshipping religions are always pantheistic. Ie, worshipping Mother Earth, or Mother Nature, etc. Thank you Clusium for that expansion! It's a great explanation.
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Post by clusium on Feb 12, 2017 6:06:17 GMT
Your welcome Awhina.
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Blue
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Post by Blue on Feb 12, 2017 8:24:34 GMT
As a Spirit, God Is neither male nor female. However, the way we address the Deity reflects our views of the Deity's Relationship to Creation. When the male creates, he creates outside of himself. When the female creates, she creates inside of herself. So, when we address the Deity in masculine terms, we express belief that the Deity Created outside of Himself. That is why Goddess worshipping religions are not monotheistic. Because monotheistic beliefs separate the Deity from Creation. Goddess worshipping religions are always pantheistic. Ie, worshipping Mother Earth, or Mother Nature, etc. I'm going to save this and probably use it in discussion someday. I'll do my best to credit you. Really insightful post.
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Blue
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Post by Blue on Feb 12, 2017 8:27:27 GMT
On the topic I agree with other posters that the Judeo-Christian God is physically neither male or female, but referred to male due to tradition and simplicity. It's relate-able as well, for those who believe in him call him Our Father.
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Post by CoolJGS☺ on Feb 12, 2017 20:00:46 GMT
God is identified in masculine terms.
Otherwise, it can be assumed that no spirit creatures have a biological gender based on their descriptions and actions in Scripture.
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Blue
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Post by Blue on Feb 13, 2017 8:31:57 GMT
God is identified in masculine terms. Otherwise, it can be assumed that no spirit creatures have a biological gender based on their descriptions and actions in Scripture. Which spirit creatures?
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Post by FilmFlaneur on Feb 13, 2017 14:27:06 GMT
. When the male creates, he creates outside of himself. When the female creates, she creates inside of herself. Thank you Clusium for that expansion! It's a great explanation.
Fine as well as it goes - until one remembers that there is no reason why women cannot create art, which is an external act - or that males cannot create abstract thoughts, which are internal. (Or even why the idea of two sexes ought to be universal at all. There are animals on earth , at least, which are not so neatly divided.)
Also unexplained is why, if God is really just a spiritual being, why He apparently pottered around a small part if the middle east as Jesus for thirty years or so. Especially as lately I've lately been assured that Jesus claimed that he "was God". If one says that God must always be spiritual and never concrete then that just limits Him. It also does not explain the time when God does something in the real, Biblical world which is not spiritual, since to be evidenced something needs to be made visible.
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Post by CoolJGS☺ on Feb 13, 2017 15:06:20 GMT
God is identified in masculine terms. Otherwise, it can be assumed that no spirit creatures have a biological gender based on their descriptions and actions in Scripture. Which spirit creatures? Angels & demons Jesus & God
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Post by CoolJGS☺ on Feb 13, 2017 15:12:47 GMT
On the topic I agree with other posters that the Judeo-Christian God is physically neither male or female, but referred to male due to tradition and simplicity. It's relate-able as well, for those who believe in him call him Our Father. Well, that isn't really tradition at work. Many non-English languages denote masculine and feminine descriptors for different things. For example, wisdom is feminine. The reality is that God endowed both male and female with qualities he possesses. However, the man, by being created first and given authority, would suggest that he is the one that most closely resembles the qualities & desire to lead in ways similar to the way we see God as a ruler. Equally important, the woman is the one that would complement, or even tone down, those attributes to form something complete. Both are expected to be humble, submit to authority, treat each other with respect, and raise a family.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2017 15:17:39 GMT
On the topic I agree with other posters that the Judeo-Christian God is physically neither male or female, but referred to male due to tradition and simplicity. It's relate-able as well, for those who believe in him call him Our Father. Well, that isn't really tradition at work. Many non-English languages denote masculine and feminine descriptors for different things. For example, wisdom is feminine. The reality is that God endowed both male and female with qualities he possesses. However, the man, by being created first and given authority, would suggest that he is the one that most closely resembles the qualities & desire to lead in ways similar to the way we see God as a ruler. Equally important, the woman is the one that would complement, or even tone down, those attributes to form something complete. Both are expected to be humble, submit to authority, treat each other with respect, and raise a family. You're kidding right?
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Post by CoolJGS☺ on Feb 13, 2017 15:20:21 GMT
You can tell I'm kidding by a "lol" or "j/k"
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2017 15:21:53 GMT
You can tell I'm kidding by a "lol" or "j/k" I can tell you were kidding by the content of your post.
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Post by phludowin on Feb 13, 2017 20:24:31 GMT
I believe that God is neither male nor female. God is a spiritual being and existed before there was male and female. What do you think? I believe that "God" does not exist at all. However, why some people perceive "God" as male or female has been addressed on this thread. With terms like "Male creativity" or "Female creativity". I guess the "God" image reflects the human society and mindset. When "God" (like the God of Abraham) is associated with maleness (like the "Father"), then you can bet that the society is patriarchal. When polytheistic systems have male deities as their most powerful deities, then the societies are patriarchal as well (Ancient Greece, India...). When societies worship some sort of Mother Goddess (maybe in a pantheistic way), then it's possible that the society was more matriarchal. Just my 2 cents.
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Blue
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Post by Blue on Feb 13, 2017 21:45:13 GMT
I didn't see anything questionable about his interpretation of God's gender. I found it fascinating.
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Post by CoolJGS☺ on Feb 14, 2017 4:23:29 GMT
You can tell I'm kidding by a "lol" or "j/k" I can tell you were kidding by the content of your post. Right, when you see a "lol" or "j/k".
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The Lost One
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Post by The Lost One on Feb 14, 2017 13:20:48 GMT
As regards Ancient Greece, it's not quite that straightforward. Zeus of course was king of the Greek gods, but his importance was variable. The Greek pantheon was a somewhat artificial amalgamation of various cults throughout the Greek world (itself largely un-united). While most of these cults had a Zeus figure, they believed quite different things about him and they did not always consider him so important. Classical Athens was incredibly patriarchal, yet their patron god was the female Athena. Athena was also the patron of Sparta, and Sparta had unrivalled rights for women in the classical Greek world. Sparta however paid almost as much respect to the male Apollo as they did to Athena. Of course Athena, while female, was not a mother goddess type. Argos favoured Hera who was definitely a mother Goddess, and although we don't know a great deal about Argive daily life, we do know of one female poet - Telesilla of Argos. Herodotus says she even led the womenfolk of Argos against the Spartans. It's unlikely to be true, but its still interesting that this was thought plausible of a Greek city state and that they even had a famous female poet in the first place.
India has a long tradition of female god worship. Shaktism is the third biggest tradition within Hinduism and considers the feminine aspects of the divine superior to the male. Shaktism seems to have started during the Vedic period which was a time of near equality between men and women in India. Oddly though it increased in popularity during the Gupta empire which had fairly mixed women's rights - polygamy was common as was marriage between pre-pubescent girls and older men and purdah was being practised by the higher castes. They were educated but not to the same extent as men though they were allowed jobs as teachers and administrative staff. Sati was practised but rarely.
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