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The gender of God has generally been considered to be male. However, there exists a complex range of views. Christianity, Judaism and Sikhism generally consider God to be male while Islam considers God to be beyond gender. Most polytheistic religions have a male central or ruling god.

God and gender

god

The first definition of god provided by the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is "A superhuman person (regarded as masculine)". It goes on to note that, "when applied to the One Supreme Being, this sense becomes more or less modified", and also that, "Even when applied to the objects of polytheistic worship, the word has often a colouring derived from Christian associations. As the use of God as a proper name has throughout the literary period of English been the predominant one." Thus, English language usage of god and God vary sufficiently widely for the OED to note the variation, and to use the imprecise phrase "more or less modified" for God, and "often a colouring" for god.

The etymology of the word is given by the OED as Proto Indo-European (PIE) origin, from either the verbal roots for to invoke or to pour (libation or blood in sacrifice). It enters modern English not via Greek or Latin, but via Gothic guþ and Old Norse (ON) goð, in which "the words always follow the neuter declension, though when used in the Christian sense they are syntactically masc." Old High German (OHG) shows the same pattern of neuter plurals but masculine singulars, "the adoption of the masculine concord being presumably due to the Christian use of the word." The OED further suggests, "The neuter , in its original heathen use, would answer rather to numen than to deus."

gender

Gender is also an idea that has been been progressively disambiguated in the field of sexology by John Money, and in cultural anthropology by Donald Brown (see also Steven Pinker, The Blank Slate). A more precise term is gender role (sexual dimorphism of preferences in social behaviour), in particular those aspects of gender roles which are universal across cultures, like masculine generative, providing and protecting roles and their consequent authority (Steven Goldberg 1972, 1991; Brown 1991 and others), also the feminine maternal and nurturing roles, all of which are frequently observed by scholars of comparative religion, particularly in the common fertility motif of a Sky Father and an Earth Mother.

Comparative religion

What is understood by words for god varies across cultures and has sometimes changed dramatically at various times. Buddhism challenged various ideas in Hinduism, the montheism of Judaism challenged its polytheistic neighbours, and in european history, the Roman Empire officially adopted Christianity under Constantine I, later becoming its centre, but being challenged itself during the Reformation.

A simple view of the history of religion as an evolutionary process was proposed in the 19th century— from animism to polytheism to monotheism, with some believing theism, atheism or agnosticism to be the most advanced approach. Such views are no longer widely current either in the study of religion, nor in philosophy. Analytic philosophy widely considers speculative metaphysics to be outside the reach of epistemology and scientific scrutiny. Comparative religion notes distinctive idiosyncracies across major religions that are better explained by close historical scrutiny, rather than appeal to a simplistic theory.

Nonetheless, animist religions are common among preliterate societies, many of which still exist in the 21st century. Typically, natural forces and shaman spiritual guides feature in these religions, rather than fully fledged personal divinities with established personalities. It is in polytheism that such deities are found, Hinduism being the largest current polytheistic religion. Animist religions often, but not always, attribute gender to spirits considered to permeate the world and its events. Polytheistics religions, however, almost always attribute gender to their gods, though a few notable divinities are associated with various forms of epicene characteristics—gods that manifest alternatingly as male and female, gods with one male and one female "face", and gods whose most distinctive characteristic is their unknown gender.

In the philosophies of several polytheistic traditions, a primal, "high" God is postulated as source of the lesser gods (and demi-gods) of the pantheon. In some religions, like Buddhism, such philosophising goes further, considering ultimate reality to transcend pantheons of gods, without proposing a high God in their place. Buddhism considers anihilation or nirvana to be ultimate reality, and the desire for existence to be the wrong-headed heart of human misery. European nihilism since the 19th century may owe a debt to western thinkers discovering Buddhist ideas from that time of increased trade with the East.

Nonetheless, a hegemonic western conception of metaphysics, influenced strongly by Judaism and Christianity is identifiable in European literature from Greek and Roman authors through to the present, such that English language betrays an inherent bias towards monotheistic thought. Where animist languages may not even have words for personal deities, but rather a nuanced vocabulary of spiritualism, and polytheistic cultures have lexis suited to articulating relationships between deities in a pantheon, some modern English speakers only recognize alternatives such as God, gods or no God, being unfamiliar with Buddhism and animism.

When considering the literature of the world's religions and metaphysical philosophies, the diversity of the underlying conceptions of the spiritual realm is foundational to appreciating any points of comparison. Comparison of views of the gender of spiritual entities is no exception. Each religion or philosophy needs to be understood in its historical, social, linguistic and philosophical context. Thus, matters of gender do apply to animism, but not in the foundational way they do in polytheism and monotheism. Additionally, since animism is largely associated with preliterate societies, we are dependent on the ethnographies of cultural anthropologists rather than documented scriptures. Shinto is a notable exception.

Specific religions

Hinduism

The oldest of the Hindu scriptures is the Rigveda (2nd millennium BC). The first word of the Rigveda is the name Agni, the god of fire, to whom many of the vedic hymns are addressed, along with Indra the warrior. Agni and Indra are both male divinities.

The Rigveda refers to a creator (Hiranyagarbha or Prajapati), distinct from Agni and Indra. This creator is identified with Brahma, first of the gods, in later scriptures. Hiranyagarbha and Prajapati are male divinities, as is Brahma (who has a female consort, Saraswati).

There are many other gods in the Rigveda. They are "not simple forces of nature" and possess "complex character and their own mythology". They include goddesses of water (Āpaḥ) and dawn (Uṣas), and the complementary pairing of Father Heaven and Mother Earth. However, they are all "subservient to the abstract, but active positive 'force of truth'" (Rta), "which pervades the universe and all actions of the gods and humans." This force is sometimes mediated or represented by moral gods (Āditya such as Varuṇa) or even Indra. The Āditya are male and Rta is personified as masculine in later scriptures (see also Dharma).

There are some Hindu sects, such as Shakta and Tantra, that have a well-developed philosophy of a mother goddess, and literature that harmonizes this to greater or lesser extents with vedic and other traditions. In these traditions, Shiva is often conceived of as the consort of Shakti, rather than vice versa.

In some Hindu philosophical traditions, Brahma is depersonalized (and demasculinized) as Brahman, the fundamental life force of the universe. However, theism itself is central to Hinduism.

Judaism

The first words of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh or Old Testament) are B'reshit bara Elohim — "In the beginning God created." The verb bara (he created) suggests a masculine subject. Elohim is also masculine in form. The most common phrases in the Tanakh are vayomer Elohim and vayomer Y<small=2>HWH — "and God said" (hundreds of occurrences). Again, the verb vayomer (he said) is masculine; it is never vatomer, the feminine of the same verb form. The personal name of God, Y<small=2>HWH, is presented in Exodus 3 as if the Y (Hebrew yod) is the masculine subjective prefix to the verb to be

In Isaiah 62:5, God is compared to the bridegroom, and his people to the bride.

• "For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee."

Most Orthodox Jews and many Conservative Jews hold that it is wrong to use English female pronouns for God. However, feminine characterisation of God is found in a feminist siddur (Jewish prayerbook). Reconstructionist Jewish Rabbi Rebecca Alpert (Reform Judaism, Winter 1991) comments:

The experience of praying with Siddur Nashim ... transformed my relationship with God. For the first time, I understood what it meant to be made in God's image. To think of God as a woman like myself, to see Her as both powerful and nurturing, to see Her imaged with a woman's body, with womb, with breasts - this was an experience of ultimate significance. Was this the relationship that men have had with God for all these millennia? How wonderful to gain access to those feelings and perceptions.

Within Judaism, this statement is controversial. Many traditional rabbinic commentators, such as Maimonides, view any such beliefs as avodah zarah - idolatry. Secondary male sexual characteristics are attributed to God in some piyuttim (religious poems). These include a description of the beard of God Shir Hakavod, "The Hymn of Glory", and similar poetic imagery in the midrash Song of the Seas Rabbah. Traditional meforshim (rabbinic commentators) hold that these descriptions are metaphorical.

Christianity

In Christianity, the New Testament is the primary source of beliefs about God. Perhaps the two most significant debates in Christian history sought to understand what the New Testament implied regarding:

• Jesus as divine as well as human (see Christology), and
• God as three persons in unity — the Trinity.

The three persons of the Trinity are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The masculinity of the Father and the Son is clear from their names, which are derived from the New Testament. In the case of the Son, masculinity is reinforced by the belief in his incarnation as the man, Jesus of Nazareth. The New Testament also refers to the Holy Spirit as masculine in number of places, most clearly in the Gospel of John 14-16. John reports Jesus referring to the Holy Spirit as Comforter (masculine in Greek), and uses grammatically necessary masculine forms of the Greek pronoun autos. Grammatical gender, on its own, says nothing about natural gender. However, when John reports Jesus speaking of the Holy Spirit as Spirit, grammatically neuter in Greek, he uses the masculine form of the demonstrative pronoun ekeinos ("that male one"). This breaking of the grammatical agreement, expected by native language readers, is an indication of the authorial intention to convey the personhood of the Holy Spirit, and also the Spirit's masculinity.

These texts were particularly significant when Christians were debating whether the New Testament teaches that the Holy Spirit is a full divine person, or just a "force". All major English Bible translations have retained the masculine pronoun for the Spirit, as in John 16:13:

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "God transcends the human distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor woman: he is God." This makes it clear that God has masculine gender role, rather than male biological sex; as indicated by the pronoun He in the official English translation of Ille in the Latin original. God is referred to as masculine in Catholic teaching and practice.

On the other hand, use of "feminine" imagery (like the personification of divine wisdom in Proverbs) has been expanded upon by some Christian writers. In Syriac Christianity, the grammatically feminine ruah (Spirit), and the occasionally associated "hovering" and "dove" imagery of the Bible, led some 4th century theologians, such as Aphrahat and Ephraim, to use explicitly maternal language for the Spirit. The 2nd century Syriac Odes of Solomon use imagery for the Spirit, that some consider to be feminine. Similar imagery is used for the Father. Eastern Orthodox theologian Susan Ashbrook Harvey considers grammatical gender itself to be significant in early Syrian Christianity: "It seems clear that for the Syrians, the cue from grammar — ruah as a feminine noun — was not entirely gratuitous. There was real meaning in calling the Spirit 'She.'"

A few recent theologians, while retaining masculine reference to Father and Son, have explored feminine alternatives for the Holy Spirit. Some have related this to perceived maternal functions in Scripture or Christian tradition. These include: Clark H. Pinnock, Thomas N. Finger, Jürgen Moltmann, Yves M.J. Congar, John J. O'Donnell, Donald L. Gelpi, R.P. Nettlehorst and Evan Randolph.

The B'nai Yashua Synagogues Worldwide, a Messianic group headed by Rabbi Moshe Koniuchowsky, holds to the feminine view of the Holy Spirit.

There are also some other independent Messianic groups with similar teachings. Some examples include Joy In the World; The Torah and Testimony Revealed; Messianic Judaism - The Torah and the Testimony Revealed; and he Union of Nazarene Jewish Congregations/Synagogues , who also count as canonical the Gospel of the Hebrews which has the unique feature of referring to the Holy Spirit as Jesus' Mother .

Mormonism

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon, teaches that both God the Father and Jesus have distinct, perfect, immortal male bodies. Mormons consider the empty tomb proof that God the Son has a body, transformed by the resurrection to power, glory and immortality. They teach that the Son, though glorified, was able to show his body to humans, eat with them, drink with them, and allow them to touch him as a witness that he had taken his body up, a body with which he later ascended to heaven, a body that he has never again laid aside. The Holy Spirit has a spirit body, not a physical body, and is also considered to be male. There is evidence that Mormons believe there to be more divine beings than just those of the Trinity. In particular, at least one Mormon hymn refers to a Heavenly Mother, partnered to the Father. The official doctrine of the Church is that prayers should be directed to the Father in the name of the Son by the power of the Spirit. The Heavenly Mother is not worshipped.

• See also Mormonism and Christianity.

Branch Davidians and other variations

While being small in number (and not "feminist" in the modern sense), there are some Christian groups whose thinking in regards to the gender of the Holy Spirit is, in part, based on the understanding that the Hebrew word for Spirit, ruach, is feminine, and that is then based upon skepticism toward Greek primacy for the New Testament. They are skeptical of the neuter Greek word for "spirit" (Greek pneuma), and the masculine Latin word, because the logos ("oracles" or "words") of God were are said to be given unto the Jews (Romans 3:1–2).

Foremost among these groups, and the most vocal on the subject are the Branch Davidian, Seventh-day Adventists. In 1977, one of their leaders, Lois Roden, began to formally teach that a feminine Holy Spirit is the heavenly pattern of women. In her many studies and talks she cited numerous scholars and researchers from Jewish, Christian, and other sources.

They see in the creation of Adam and Eve a literal image and likeness of the invisible Godhead, male and female, who is "clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made" (Romans 1:20). They take the Oneness of God to mean the "familial" unity which exists between them, which unity is not seen in any other depiction of the Godhead by the various non-Hebrew peoples.

Thus, having a Father and Mother in heaven, they see that the Bible shows that those Parents had a Son born unto them before the creation of the world, by Whom all things were created..

These concepts are also taught among other groups, to one degree or another.

Islam

The oneness of God is of primary importance in the Qur'an and Islam. In AL-Qur'an, Allah is most often referred to with the pronouns Hu or Huwa, and although these are commonly translated as him they can also be translated gender-neutrally, as it. This is also true of the feminine equivalent, Hiya. Allah is neither male nor female, and is said to transcend gender. It is considered blasphemy for Allah to be placed in a human or animal sexual gender category. "...Hu births not nor is Hu born, there is none like unto Hu" Surah 112 AL-Qur'an. Other references include the first person pronoun, and the relative pronoun ma (that which), as in the phrase "the heavens and that which created them" (surah Shams (91), verse 5).

Sikhism

The scripture of Sikhism is the Gurū Granth (GG). Printed as a heading for the Guru Granth, and for each of its major divisions, is the Mul Mantra, a short summary description of God, in Punjabi. Sikh tradition has it that this was originally composed by Nanak Dev (1469–1539), the founder of Sikhism.

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ISO 15919: Ika ōaṅkāra sati nāmu karatā purakhu nirabha'u niravairu akāla mūrati ajūnī saibhaṃ gura prasādi.

English: One Universal Creator God, The Name Is Truth, Creative Being Personified, No Fear, No Hatred, Image Of The Timeless One, Beyond Birth, Self-Existent, By Guru's Grace.

The sixth word of the mantra, purakhu, is the Punjabi form of Sanskrit puruṣa (पुरुष), meaning man (personal and male). Verse 5 of a 16 verse hymn in the 10th mandala (or cycle) of the Sanskrit Rgveda (RV) called puruṣa sūkta, speaks of a primal man, Puruṣa, from whom Viraj (woman) was born, being himself then reborn of her.

• From him Viraj was born; again Purusa from Viraj was born. (RV 10:90:5)

The masculine gender sense of purakhu in the Mantra is found in a verse like the following.

• That house, in which the soulbride has married her Husband Lord—in that house, O my companions, sing the songs of rejoicing. (GG 4:3:10, p. 97.)
• You are the Husband Lord, and I am the soul-bride. (GG ::, p. 484.)

Irrespective of the native language meaning of the Mantra, the standard English translation neutralises the implied gender role. Nonetheless, the Guru Granth consistently refers to God as He, even in English. He is also almost uniformly refered to as Father.

• In attachment to Maya, they have forgotten the Father, the Cherisher of the World. (GG 4:9:42)
• You are our Self-sufficient Father. || 2 || O Father, I do not know—how can I know Your Way? (GG 4:26:96, p. 51.)
• You are the Universal Father of all, O my Lord and Master. (GG ::)

Some of these references are inclusive, where God is both Mother and Father.

• The One is my Brother, the One is my Friend. The One is my Mother and Father. The One is the Support of the mind; He has given us body and soul. May I never forget God from my mind; He holds all in the Power of His Hands. (GG 4:8:78)
• Relying on Your Mercy, Dear Lord, I have indulged in sensual pleasures. Like a foolish child, I have made mistakes. O Lord, You are my Father and Mother. (GG 4:26:96)

There is at least one reference to God as Mother, without reference to his fatherhood.

• "O my wandering mind, you are like a camel - how will you meet the Lord, your Mother?" page 234

See also

• Feminism
• Gender and religion
• Gender in Bible translation
• God
• God (male deity)
• Goddess
• Goddess movement
• The Hebrew Goddess
• Sky father
• Thealogy

References

• Berke, Matthew. 'God and Gender in Judaism'. In First Things, 1996.
• Dorff, Elliot N. Male and Female God Created Them: Equality with Distinction. University Papers. Los Angeles: University of Judaism, 1984, pp. 13-23.
• Eller, Vernard. The Language of Canaan and the Grammar of Feminism. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982.
• Harlow, Jules. 'Feminist Linguistics and Jewish Liturgy'. Conservative Judaism 49 (1997): 3-25.
• Johnson, Elizabeth. 'The Incomprehensibility of God and the Image of God Male and Female'. Theological Studies 45 (1984): 441-465.
• Platinga, Alvin Carl. "God, Arguments for the Existence of". Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Routledge, 2000.
• Swinburne, Richard G. "God". In Ted Honderich (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford University Press, 1995.

Notes

1. "Before us lies a literature rich in profound insights and immense with carefully collected and tested facts: a wealth of resources beyond the imaginings of those 19th century scholars who gave attention to religious questions." Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge, A Theory of Religion, (Rutgers University Press, 1996), p. 12.
2. "One of the first to sceptically dismantle speculative metaphysics was French philosopher Pierre Bayle (1647-1706). The turning point, however, came after German philosopher Immanuel Kant in the 1780's expressed scepticism about the speculative metaphysical approach; it was not rational science and was not even real knowledge." Spencer Scoular, First Philosophy: The Theory of Everything, (Universal-Publishers, 2007).
3. "We try to specify in a relatively complete way why and how various aspects of religion occur and to do so through a structure of formal explanation." Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge, work cited, p. 11.
4. "Available 'theories' of religion remain largely the product of 19th century social thought and the tradition of 'grand theory' associated with the founding fathers of social science. But, as already suggested, close scrutiny reveals that these theories are not so grand." Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge, work cited, p. 11.
5. "We are yet more strongly reminded by the two-fold nature of Phanes of the epicene god-heads, who occur frequently in the Babylonian pantheon." Gauranga Nath Banerjee, Hellenism in Ancient India, (Read Books, 2007), p. 304.
6. "All that is essential to Buddhism is found in the four propositions which the faithful call the four noble truths. The first states the existence of suffering as the accompaniment to the perpetual change of things; the second shows the desire to be the cause of suffering; ..." Durkheim, work cited, p. 30. See also Oldenberg, Buddha, translated by Hoey, p. 53.
7. "These pose the opportunity to borrow some extremely powerful tools, and we have responded by ransacking the treasuries of economics, learning theory and cultural anthropology." Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge, work cited, p. 12.
8. ^ Michael Witzel, 'Autochthonous Aryans? The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts', Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies 7 (2001): 1–118.
9. "Religious theism which is central to Hinduism." Robert Lawson Slater, Review of Philip H. Ashby History and Future of Religious Thought: Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 4 (1964): 117–118.
10. Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1990), p. 1.
11. "The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself." CCC 234.
12. "The Council of Nicaea, presided over by the emperor Constantine, was convened to resolve the controversy within the church over the relationship between the persons of the Trinity." 'homoousios', Encyclopædia Britannica, 2008.
13. The Council of Nicaea in 325 stated the crucial formula for that doctrine in its confession that the Son is “of the same substance as the Father,” even though it said very little about the Holy Spirit. Over the next half century, Athanasius defended and refined the Nicene formula," 'Trinitarian theology', Encyclopædia Britannica, 2008.
14. Nestle and others, Novum Testamentum Graece, 27th ed., (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgeselschaft, 1993).
15. William D Mounce, The Morphology of Biblical Greek, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), p. 241.
16. John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13-14.
17. ibid., p. 242.
18. Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. p. 232. ISBN 0310286700.
19. "Many in the churches have become sensitive to the danger of linguistic sexism arising form the inherent bias of the English language towards the masculine gender, a bias that in the case of the Bible has often restricted or obscured the meaning of the original text. ... The mandates from the Division specified that, in references to men and women, masculine-oriented language should be eliminated as far as this can be done without altering passages that reflect the historical situation of ancient patriarchal culture." 'To the Reader', NRSV.
20. 'Pater per Filium revelatus'. Catechismus Catholicae Ecclesiae. (Citta del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1993): 1-2-1-1-2 ¶ 239. (link is to official English translation)
21. "Deum humanam sexuum transcendere distinctionem. Ille nec vir est nec femina, Ille est Deus." Ibid.
22. Regarding the masculine sense of ille in Latin, the following classic reference can be consulted. Aureliano Buendía, 'The Original Language of Winnie-the-Pooh', Speculative Grammarian 148 (1998).
23. Liturgiam Authenticam
24. Susan Ashbrook Harvey, "Feminine Imagery for the Divine: The Holy Spirit, the Odes of Solomon, and Early Syriac Tradition," St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly 37, nos. 2-3 (1993): 111-120.
25. Harvey, "Feminine Imagery," 136.
26. Clark H. Pinnock, "The Role of the Spirit in Creation," Asbury Theological Journal 52 (Spring 1997), 47-54.
27. Thomas N. Finger, Christian Theology:An Eschatological Approach vol. 2 (Scottdale, Penn.:Herald, 1987), 483-490.
28. Jurgen Moltmann, The Spirit of Life: A Universal Affirmation (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992), 157-158.
29. Yves M.J. Congar, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, vol. 3 (New York: Seabury, 1983), 155-164.
30. John J. O'Donnell, The Mystery of the Triune God (London:Sheed & Ward, 1988), 97-99.
31. Donald L. Gelpi, The Divine Mother: A Trinitarian Theology of the Holy Spirit (New York:University Press of America, 1984).
32. More Than Just a Controversy: All About The Holy Spirit - by R.P. Nettelhorst
33. Chapter Seven - Pneumatology: Doctrine of the Holy Spirit
34. Appendix 3 -The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament - The Occurrences of Spirit
35. Church Fathers Belived the Holy Spirit was Feminine
36. The Divine Feminine
38. Who/What is the Ruach HaKodesh? Sermon Delivered 12-25-04 Part One
39. Who/What is the Ruach HaKadosh? Sermon Delivered 1-1-05 Part Two
40. Joy In the World
41. The Ruach HaKodesh: Him Or Her?
42. The Torah and Testimony Revealed
43. Messianic Judaism - The Torah and the Testimony Revealed - Haas geneology
44. The Union of Nazarene Jewish Congregations/Synagogues
47. Eliza R Snow, 'O My Father', Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints #292, 1985.
48. It's all Greek to Them The Holy Spirit He, She, or It?
50. She is a Tree of Life
51. Shelter from the Storm

External links

• God as Mother (A Christian view)
• Feminine images for God
• The Spirit and the Bride
• God and Gender in Judaism

• Christian philosophy
• Gender
• Feminist theology