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From: christian@topaz.UUCP
Newsgroups: mod.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Gender in religion
Message-ID: <8766@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU>
Date: Fri, 30-Jan-87 05:44:24 EST
Article-I.D.: topaz.8766
Posted: Fri Jan 30 05:44:24 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 31-Jan-87 06:03:59 EST
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Consider:

	God uses gender in the Scriptures to denote character or quality, not
necessarily male or female.  Of course, accordingly to the letter of the Word
of God, when God refers to a man he means a man, and when He refers to a woman
He means a woman; but we have to remember that God is Spirit and that since the
Spirit of God is the author of all Scripture, the Scripture must be interpreted
and read spiritually.

	This is why gender is important in the Old Testament.  God is not so
much concerned about male or female or gender, He is more concerned about what
the gender symbolizes or signifies.

	The Old Testament is written in Hebrew.  And if you know anything about
Hebrew you know that it knows nothing of the neuter sense.  Hebrew is a little
like French in the way nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.  

	When the Scriptures talk about God in the feminine sense, say as a
mother, the Holy Spirit is trying to emphasize the mother-like characteristics
of God.  In contrast, when the Scriptures talk about God in a masculine sense,
say as father, the Holy Spirit is emphasizing the father-like characteristics
of God.

	Can't it be understood that an earthly father, especially in this day
of house husbands, can also do motherly type chores and responsibilities.  A
father can change a diaper or make a meal or do anything that women in the 
past have historically done.

	So it is not unreasonable to understand how God can be at times
symbolized as a father or a mother, or as a man or a woman; and that Scripture
is not saying that God is absolutely a man or a woman.

	This is why I bring up the Hebrew, because the Hebrew designates 
people, places and things as masculine or feminine for the express purpose
of showing the symbol or disposition or trait of that particular person, 
place or thing.

	I am open to further discussion on this subject.

Ken Hall