Is God male?

[Barrd]

I'm curious as to what you guys think about this, and why...

 

[lforrest]

I changed the topic so people can post

 

[iakov]

I'm curious as to what you guys think about this, and why...

God has revealed Himself as Father. (As in "Our Father...")
Jesus referred to God as His "Father."
"Father" is "male."

 

[Barrd]

I changed the topic so people can post

Thank you, Forrest.
I never can do a poll without help. What did I do wrong?

 

[Barrd]

God has revealed Himself as Father. (As in "Our Father...")
Jesus referred to God as His "Father."
"Father" is "male."

Thank you for your vote, Iakov.

 

[lforrest]

There was a checkbox that needed unchecked

 

[Barrd]

There was a checkbox that needed unchecked

Hmmm...

Okay, well, thanks, Forrest!

 

[Deborah_]

Take a look at this (but don't take it too seriously!)

https://deborahsbiblestudies.wordpress.com/2015/06/10/is-god-male-or-female/

 

[Barrd]

Take a look at this (but don't take it too seriously!)

https://deborahsbiblestudies.wordpress.com/2015/06/10/is-god-male-or-female/

Deborah, that is absolutely priceless...and it put a smile on my face that will be there all day long. I may even chuckle a bit from time to time.

Thank you, Deb, for sharing that with me.

(BTW, my name is Deborah, too. My Mom named me that, she said, because it was so "unique".
I guess lots of other Moms must have had the same idea.
Aren't we getting close to our legal limit on women named Deborah?)

 

[Wormwood]

God the Father is Spirit, thus, without gender. He uses male pronouns and the term "Father" to refer to himself in Scripture so it seems best we refer to Him as such based on His self identification. Jesus was obviously a man, and the Holy Spirit in Greek is feminine gender. However, Greek word genders do not mean much of anything. Most Greek words have gender associations but serve grammatical purposes and are often not for gender identification.

In sum, God the Father is without gender and without form. We should not seek identify or quantify Him based on His creation. He warned Israel of such things.

 

[StanJ]

God the Father is Spirit, thus, without gender. He uses male pronouns and the term "Father" to refer to himself in Scripture so it seems best we refer to Him as such based on His self identification. Jesus was obviously a man, and the Holy Spirit in Greek is feminine gender. However, Greek word genders do not mean much of anything. Most Greek words have gender associations but serve grammatical purposes and are often not for gender identification.

In sum, God the Father is without gender and without form. We should not seek identify or quantify Him based on His creation. He warned Israel of such things.

I agree, but I do find it interesting that Elohim in the Hebrew, is feminine plural!

 

[Barrd]

God the Father is Spirit, thus, without gender. He uses male pronouns and the term "Father" to refer to himself in Scripture so it seems best we refer to Him as such based on His self identification. Jesus was obviously a man, and the Holy Spirit in Greek is feminine gender. However, Greek word genders do not mean much of anything. Most Greek words have gender associations but serve grammatical purposes and are often not for gender identification.

In sum, God the Father is without gender and without form. We should not seek identify or quantify Him based on His creation. He warned Israel of such things.

Sounds like you and I kinda agree here.
How 'bout that?

Thanks for your vote, WW.

 

[KingJ]

I voted God has no gender. But I believe a strong argument can be made for Him being male.

We will recognize Jesus in heaven. IE I imagine Him always being a male figure with the scars from the cross. God did not have a think tank on whether Jesus should be female or male. I believe He could only be male because of who He is.

There is more to different sexes then just body parts.

 

[brakelite]

I voted both male and female. Ge 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them

 

[Barrd]

I voted God has no gender. But I believe a strong argument can be made for Him being male.

We will recognize Jesus in heaven. IE I imagine Him always being a male figure with the scars from the cross. God did not have a think tank on whether Jesus should be female or male. I believe He could only be male because of who He is.

There is more to different sexes then just body parts.

Thanks for your vote, King.
Even if it is a bit confusing...

 

[Barrd]

I voted both male and female. Ge 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he themI

I have always thought that "in His image" meant quite a bit more than physical image.
But your point is taken, my friend.
Thank you for your vote.

 

[StanJ]

I voted both male and female. Ge 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them

That's because humans are Triune in nature, just as God is. He us 3 in 1 and we are 3 in 1.

 

[OzSpen]

I'm curious as to what you guys think about this, and why...

The Barrd,

John 4:24 (ESV) confirms, 'God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth'. To have gender one must be a biological being. Does a spirit have gender? A spirit does not have flesh and blood (Luke 24:39).

God is most often referred to by the masculine because he is the Person of the Father, which in Greek is pater (masculine). The word for God is theos, which is masculine gender.

However, all nouns in Greek are either male, female or neuter. That doesn't make these nouns necessarily masculine, feminine and neuter in relation to gender. Greek, like German, defines all nouns as masculine, feminine and neuter but gender is not intended (there are exceptions).

Oz

 

[OzSpen]

That's because humans are Triune in nature, just as God is. He us 3 in 1 and we are 3 in 1.

Stan,

That's your tripartite understanding of human nature. There are many who are bipartite. I consider that the issues need more exposition than your one-liner.

Evangelical apologist and theologian Norman Geisler rightly states that "the primary meaning of soul can most often be captured best by translating it as person, which usually is embodied but is sometimes disembodied" (Systematic Theology, vol. 3, BethanyHouse Publishers, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2004, p. 47).

The word spirit (Greek, pneuma; Hebrew, ruach) almost always refers to the immaterial part of a human being and is sometimes used interchangeably with soul in many verses (cf. Luke 1:46). The body without the soul is dead (James 2:26) but at death, Jesus "bowed his head and gave up his spirit" (John 19:30).

So the view that you have given, 'That's because humans are Triune in nature, just as God is. He us 3 in 1 and we are 3 in 1', needs further explanation as there are other dimensions:

1. The Scripture refers to the soul (nephesh in Hebrew; psuche in Greek) as distinct from the body in passages such as Gen. 35:18, "And as her [Rachel's] soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin" (ESV). So, the soul leaves the body at death.
2. I Thess 5:23, "Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
3. Revelation 6:9, "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne." So here the souls are separated from the bodies in heaven.

The word "soul" can mean "life" and refers to the principle of life in a human being. It gives life to the body and is sometimes used to refer to a dead body as in Lev. 19:28; 21:1; 23:4 as I might refer to my departed loved one as "the poor soul."

Oz

 

[StanJ]

Stan,

That's your tripartite understanding of human nature. There are many who are bipartite. I consider that the issues need more exposition than your one-liner.

Evangelical apologist and theologian Norman Geisler rightly states that "the primary meaning of soul can most often be captured best by translating it as person, which usually is embodied but is sometimes disembodied" (Systematic Theology, vol. 3, BethanyHouse Publishers, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2004, p. 47).

The word spirit (Greek, pneuma; Hebrew, ruach) almost always refers to the immaterial part of a human being and is sometimes used interchangeably with soul in many verses (cf. Luke 1:46). The body without the soul is dead (James 2:26) but at death, Jesus "bowed his head and gave up his spirit" (John 19:30).

So the view that you have given, 'That's because humans are Triune in nature, just as God is. He us 3 in 1 and we are 3 in 1', needs further explanation as there are other dimensions:

• The Scripture refers to the soul (nephesh in Hebrew; psuche in Greek) as distinct from the body in passages such as Gen. 35:18, "And as her [Rachel's] soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin" (ESV). So, the soul leaves the body at death.
• I Thess 5:23, "Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
• Revelation 6:9, "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne." So here the souls are separated from the bodies in heaven.

The word "soul" can mean "life" and refers to the principle of life in a human being. It gives life to the body and is sometimes used to refer to a dead body as in Lev. 19:28; 21:1; 23:4 as I might refer to my departed loved one as "the poor soul."

Oz

As I was dealing with a completely different issue, this equivocal post really doesn't clarify THAT issue. God is tripartite as are humans. How soul, life and other words are used in scripture is defined by their context, which is not the same as that in Gen 1
You seem to have a real fascination with Geisler, despite my post having nothing to do with our soul, but with us being made in God's image.