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From: brunson@usfbobo.UUCP (David Brunson)
Newsgroups: net.religion,net.women
Subject: Re: Deific gender question
Message-ID: <157@usfbobo.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 8-Aug-84 23:23:11 EDT
Article-I.D.: usfbobo.157
Posted: Wed Aug  8 23:23:11 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 9-Aug-84 06:55:07 EDT
References: <254@siemens.UUCP> <957@pyuxn.UUCP>, <178@gargoyle.UChicago.UUCP>
Organization: Univ. of South Florida, Tampa
Lines: 43

re:

>I'll agree with Rich Rosen (are those shocked gasps I hear?), it doesn't
>make sense to assign a gender to God.  Quite bluntly,  what would God do
>with a penis or vagina?  What is the purpose of either without someone /
>something to share it?  If there is one God, who / what is an appropriate
>sexual partner?  If there are no conceivable partners, does it make
>sense to speak of gender?  (Particularly if you deny the physical reality
>of the hardware.)
>
>I think attempts to ascribe a sex to God are based on pop psychology.
>E.g., God is powerful (and therefore male), or God is nurturing (and
>therefore female).  Like most pop psychology, its entertaining, but bunk.
>
>Stuart Kurtz

True.  But the question is which pronoun do we use to refer to 
God?  he, she, or it?

The name "God" refers to the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob about
whom we can read in the Bible.  The pronoun *it* is used to refer
to non-persons: objects, ideas, figments of the imagination.
Since God is definitely a person (after all, we are made in his image),
we must reject the use of *it* to talk about him.  The use of *it*
is perfectly acceptable, however, in discussing the gods of the
heathen ("wood and stone" -- see the Prophets).

Use of *he* vs *she* is not so clear.  For example, one of the names
of God used in the Bible can be translated "The breasty one", giving
cause for the nurturing mother concept.  Also much imagery in the
Prophets is female.  I stick to *he/him* because this is the common
convention, and there doesn't seem to be much reason to switch.
Also, men would be much more uptight about a female God than women
seem to be about the male.  After all, it is not wise to go around
offending the sensibilities of people without good reason!

--

David Brunson
(decvax or duke)!ucf-cs!usfbobo!brunson

... better understanding through higher education.