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From: rlr@pyuxn.UUCP (Rich Rosen)
Newsgroups: net.religion,net.women
Subject: Re: Deific gender question (SARGENT)
Message-ID: <981@pyuxn.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 14-Aug-84 16:19:09 EDT
Article-I.D.: pyuxn.981
Posted: Tue Aug 14 16:19:09 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 15-Aug-84 01:28:49 EDT
References: <254@siemens.UUCP>, <957@pyuxn.UUCP> <921@pucc-h>
Organization: Bellcore:  We were the CSO, we were the central staff
Lines: 32

> It is appropriate to refer to God with *some* personal pronoun.  "God created
> man in His own image", and we are persons; so how could God not be personal?
> Even without the creation argument, a god is something greater than human; so
> it seems a little odd to suggest an impersonal god when we see personal
> humans.

It is precisely because the notion of a deity implies something "greater than
human" that that the use of "human"-oriented or even life-form-oriented terms
seems bogus.  Does the idea of using a pronoun denoting neither sex seem less
great than using one that implies a particular sex?

> As to the gender question:  The New Testament, in probably dozens of places,
> uses the word Father to refer to God in heaven; particularly is this evident
> in the words of Jesus Himself.  On the other hand, even the man Jesus is
> recorded as having applied at least one feminine image to Himself
> ("O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I would have gathered you as a hen gathers
> her chicks under her wings, and you would not let me!" [approximate quote]).

The sexuality preconceptions of those who wrote the text should not affect what
a deity really is, should they?

>> If it doesn't change your life, it's not worth doing. [from my signature]
> This has a great deal of application to Christianity.

It has even more application to rationalism and independent logical thinking.
(You got your plug in, I get the chance to get mine in, too, no?)

I hope Jeff doesn't think THIS signature line is applicable to Christianity,
otherwise we're all in trouble...
-- 
"If we took the bones out, it wouldn't be crunchy!"
					Rich Rosen    pyuxn!rlr