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Thegender of God can be viewed as a literal or as anallegorical aspect of adeity.
Inpolytheistic religions, gods often havegenders which would enable them tosexually interact with each other, and even with humans.
Abrahamic religions worship a singleGod, which in most interpretations ofYahweh,God the Father, andAllah, is not believed to have a physical body. Though often referred to withgendered pronouns, many Abrahamic denominations use "divine gender" primarily as ananalogy to better relate to theconcept of God, with no sexual connotation. In Christian traditions with the concept of theTrinity,Jesus, who is male, is believed to be the physical manifestation of thepre-existentGod the Son.
In theHebrew andChristian Bible, God is usually described in male terms in biblical sources,[1] withfemale analogy inGenesis 1:26–27,[i][2]Psalm 123:2-3,[ii] andLuke 15:8–10;[iii] a mother inDeuteronomy 32:18,[iv]Isaiah 66:13,[v]Isaiah 49:15,[vi]Isaiah 42:14,[vii]Psalm 131:2;[viii] and a mother hen inMatthew 23:37[ix] andLuke 13:34,[x] although never directly referred to as being female.
Although the gender of God in Judaism is referred to in theTanakh with masculine imagery and grammatical forms, traditional Jewish philosophy does not attribute the concept of sex to God.[a] At times, Jewishaggadic literature andJewish mysticism do treat God as gendered. The ways in which God is gendered have also changed across time, with some modern Jewish thinkers viewing God as outside of thegender binary.Guillaume Postel (16th century),Michelangelo Lanci [it] (19th century), and Mark Sameth (21st century) theorize that the four letters of the personal name of God, YHWH, are a cryptogram which the priests of ancient Israel would have read in reverse ashuhi, "heshe", signifying a dual-gendered deity.[3][4][5][6]
MostChristian groups conceive of God asTriune, believing thatGod the Father,God the Son, and God theHoly Spirit are distinct persons, but one being that is wholly God.[7][8]
God the Son (Jesus Christ), having been incarnated as a human man, is masculine. Classical western philosophy believes that God lacks a literal sex as it would be impossible for God to have a body (a prerequisite for sex).[9][10] However, Classical western philosophy states that God should be referred to (in most contexts) as masculine by analogy; the reason being God's relationship with the world as begetter of the world and revelation (i.e. analogous to an active instead of receptive role in sexual intercourse).[11] Others interpret God as neither male nor female.[12][13]
TheCatechism of the Catholic Church, Book 239, states that God is called "Father", while his love for man may also be depicted as motherhood. However, God ultimately transcends the human concept of sex, and "is neither man nor woman: He is God."[14][15]
In contrast to most Christian denominations,The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) teaches that God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit are physically distinct while being one in purpose.[16][17] LDS Church members also believe that God the Father is married to a divine woman, referred to as "Heavenly Mother."[18] Humans are considered to be spirit children of these heavenly parents.[19]
The New Testament refers to theHoly Spirit as masculine in a number of places, where the masculine Greek word "Paraclete" occurs, for "Comforter", most clearly in theGospel of John, chapters14 to16.[20] These texts were particularly significant when Christians were debating whether the New Testament teaches that the Holy Spirit is a fully divine person, or some kind of "force." All major English Bible translations have retained the masculine pronoun for the Spirit, as in John 16:13, although it has been noted that in the original Greek, in some parts of John's Gospel, the neuter Greek wordpneuma is also used for the Spirit.[21]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) doctrine teaches that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are three distinct and separate beings. In LDS teachings, God has a physical body, and thus is not only identified as being a man, but is physically male.[22] The same is for Jesus, but not for the Holy Spirit, which has a spiritual form.[22] God is also married toHeavenly Mother, who also has a physical body.[23]
Islam teaches that God (Allah) is beyond any comparison,transcendent, and thus God is beyond any gender attributes.[24] Arabic only possesses gendered pronouns ("he" and "she") but does not have gender neutral pronouns ("it"), and "he" is typically used in cases where the subject's gender is indeterminate. Thus, Allah is typically referred to as "He", despite not having any gender attributes.[25]
In theBaháʼí Faith,Baha'u'llah uses the Mother as an attribute of God: "He Who is well-grounded in all knowledge, He Who is the Mother, the Soul, the Secret, and the Essence".[26] Baha'u'llah further writes that "Every single letter proceeding out of the mouth of God is indeed a Mother Letter, and every word uttered by Him Who is the Well Spring of Divine Revelation is a Mother Word, and His Tablet a Mother Tablet."[27] The Primal Will of God is personified asthe maid of heaven in the Baháʼí writings.
InHinduism, there are diverse approaches to conceptualizing God and gender. Many Hindus focus upon impersonalAbsolute (Brahman) which is genderless. Other Hindu traditions conceive God asandrogynous (both female and male), alternatively as either male or female, while cherishing genderhenotheism, that is without denying the existence of other Gods in either gender.[28][29]
TheShakti tradition conceives of God as a female. OtherBhakti traditions of Hinduism have both male and female gods. In ancient and medieval Indian mythology, each masculinedeva of the Hindu pantheon is partnered with a feminine who is often adevi.[30]
The oldest of the Hindu scriptures is theRigveda (2nd millennium BC). The first word of the Rigveda is the nameAgni, the god of fire, to whom many of the vedic hymns are addressed, along withIndra the warrior. Agni and Indra are both male divinities.
TheRigveda refers to a creator (Hiranyagarbha orPrajapati), distinct from Agni and Indra. This creator is identified withBrahma (not to be confused withBrahman, the first cause), born of Vishnu's navel, in later scriptures. Hiranyagarbha and Prajapati are male divinities, as is Brahma (who has a female consort,Saraswati).
There are many other gods in theRigveda.[31]They are "not simple forces of nature," and possess "complex character and their own mythology."[31]They include goddesses of water (Āpaḥ) and dawn (Uṣas), and the complementary pairing of Father Heaven and Mother Earth.[31]However, they are all "subservient to the abstract, but active positive 'force of truth' [Ṛta]...which pervades the universe and all actions of the gods and humans."[31]This force is sometimes mediated or represented by moral gods (theĀditya, e.g.Varuṇa) or even Indra.[31]The Āditya are male and Ṛta is personified as masculine in later scriptures (see alsoDharma).
In some Hindu philosophical traditions, God is depersonalized as the quality-lessNirguna Brahman, the fundamental life force of the universe. However, theism itself is central to Hinduism.[32]
While many Hindus focus upon God in the neutral form,[citation needed]Brahman being of neuter gender grammatically, there are prominent Hindu traditions that conceive God as female, even as the source of the male form of God, such as theShakta denomination. Hinduism, especially of theSamkhya school, views the creation of the cosmos as the result of the play of two radically distinct principles: the feminine matter (Prakṛti) and the masculine spirit (Purusha). Prakṛti is the primordial matter which is present before the cosmos becomes manifest. Prakṛti is seen as being "the power of nature, both animate and inanimate. As such, nature is seen as dynamic energy" (Rae, 1994). Prakriti is originally passive, immobile and pure potentiality by nature . Only through her contact with the kinetic Purusha she unfolds into the diverse forms before us. The idea of Prakṛti/Purusha leads to the concept of the Divine Consort. Almost everydeva of the Hindu pantheon has a feminine consort (devi).[30]
The scripture ofSikhism is theGuru Granth Sahib. Printed as a heading for the Guru Granth, and for each of its major divisions, is theMul Mantra, a short summary description ofGod, in Punjabi. Sikh tradition has it that this was originally composed byGuru Nanak (1469–1539), the founder of Sikhism.
ਸੁੰਨ ਮੰਡਲ ਇਕੁ ਜੋਗੀ ਬੈਸੇ ॥ ਨਾਰਿ ਨ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਕਹਹੁ ਕੋਊ ਕੈਸੇ ॥ ਤ੍ਰਿਭਵਣ ਜੋਤਿ ਰਹੇ ਲਿਵ ਲਾਈ ॥ ਸੁਰਿ ਨਰ ਨਾਥ ਸਚੇ ਸਰਣਾਈ ॥
Sunn mandal ik Yogi baiseh. Naar nuh purakhu kahahu kou kaiseh. Tribhavan joth raheh liv laaee. Suri nar naath sacheh saranaaee
The Yogi, the Primal Lord, sits in the Realm of Absolute Stillness (state free of mind's wanderings or Phurne). (Since God) is neither male nor female; how can anyone describe Him? The three worlds center their attention on His Light. The godly beings and the Yogic masters seek the Sanctuary of this True Lord.
— SGGS. Ang 685
However, the Guru Granth Sahib consistently refers to God as "He" and "Father" (with some exceptions), typically because the Guru Granth Sahib was written in north IndianIndo-Aryan languages (mixture ofPunjabi andSant Bhasha,Sanskrit with influences ofPersian) which have no neutral gender. English translations of the teachings may eliminate any gender specifications. From further insights into the Sikh philosophy, it can be deduced that God is, sometimes, referred to as the Husband to the Soul-brides, in order to make a patriarchal society understand what the relationship with God is like. Also, God is considered to be the Father, Mother, and Companion.[34]
Unificationism views God, the Creator, as having dual characteristics of masculinity and femininity. Since an artist, like God, can only express that which is within the boundaries of their own nature, and according to Genesis 1:27, "So God created mankind in his own image, male and female he created them", indicating that God's image includes both male and female attributes.
Due to the more active role of masculinity, mankind typically portrays God as male, but the more receptive or supportive and nurturing role within God's characteristics is less emphasized or even neglected or ignored in writings and in art.[35]
Animist religions are common among oral societies, many of which still exist in the 21st century. Typically, natural forces andshaman spiritual guides feature in these religions, rather than fully-fledged personal divinities with established personalities. It is inpolytheism that such deities are found. Animist religions often, but not always, attribute gender to spirits considered to permeate the world and its events. Polytheistic religions, however, almost always attribute gender to their gods, though a few notable divinities are associated with various forms ofepicene 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.[36]
In her essay "Why Women Need the Goddess",Carol P. Christ argues the notion of there having been an ancient religion of a supreme goddess.[37] The essay was first presented in the spring of 1978 as akeynote address for the "Great Goddess Re-emerging" conference at theUniversity of California, Santa Cruz. Christ also co-edited the classicfeminist religion anthologiesWeaving the Visions: New Patterns in Feminist Spirituality (1989) andWomanspirit Rising (1979/1989), the latter of which include her 1978 essay.
humans are modeled onelohim, specifically in their sexual differences.
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