Spirituality for the Skeptic




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IS GOD MALE?

IS GOD A SUPER-HUMAN MAN?

What does it mean to say we're
in God's image?  Does it mean
even now God is a flesh and blood
being like ourselves complete with
race, color, sexual gender, and
the like?
 
To answer that question, we should
first define what we mean by God: 
Most would agree by "God" we mean
nothing less than the all-creative,
all-present power behind the entire
universe.  St. Anselm once stated
that if you could think of a term
greater than the one you just used,
you have not truly spoken about
God. 
 
Think about it...
 
Moreover many passages in the Bible
consider it idolatry to portray any
image of God.  For, especially in
Judaism (also Islam), God is too
sacred and beyond description to be
portrayed in images.
 
Such idolatry was especially
emphasized by Isaiah, who asks:
When God sees within the circle
of the earth nations as fine
dust - to whom we can liken God?
(Isaiah 40: 15-18) For truly God
will share no glory with images.
(Isaiah 42:8) So verily any images
of God created by man are
falsehoods. (Isaiah 44:17-20) 
 
Less known to Christians, The New
Testament comdemns such idolatry as
well.  Surprisingly, even after the
Christ appeared John:1:8 stated human
eyes have never seen God!  1 John 5:21
agains warns us to guard ourselves
against idols...
 
This leaves us with two puzzles: What
about Genesis' passages about God
creating us in his own image?  Also,
how can Christians reconcile Jesus as
part of God coming into the world in 
human form?  Let's start with Genesis.
 
 
IN GENESIS - WHAT WAS GOD'S IMAGE?
 
Biblical scholars find two stories
of Adam & Eve's creation in Genesis. 
So Let's take them one at a time:
 
Genesis 1; 26-28 states:  "Let us
make man( or ha-adam, from the earth)
in our image, according to our
likeness... So God created man in his
own image, male and female he created
them..."  Two factors stand out here:
 
(1) Here God created male and female
    together, giving neither first
    choice as far as it  was said.
 
(2) God also used the term "us" and
    "in our image" in those passages. 
    No sole image of a male God is
    implied here.
 
Could this plural God imply the
Trinity? Perhaps it could to
Christians.  However, the passage
was written by Hebrews who believe
in no Trinity.  However, unbeknown
to many, underlying the Hebrew
traditions a feminine side of God 
can be revealed.
 
For instance, the Holy Spirit
in Hebrew ("Ruah") is actually
a feminime term.  Also, in the
Kabbalah and other Jewish
literature God has a feminine
counterpart,"Shekhina".Wisdom
or "Sophia" was also thought
God's counterpart in the
beginning. (See "The Hebrew
Goddess" in this site.)
Overall, the Hebrew tradition
unwittingly implies God cannot
be viewed as just male alone. 
Realizing
God's feminine side now makes
perfect sense of God's dual
image in Genesis 1: 26-28.
 
Then what of the second creation
story in Genesis 2?  Genesis 2:
21-22 has Eve created from Adam's
rib.  How can that not contradict
the earlier depiction of Adam &
Eve created together in the image
of a dual-faced God?  The answer
lies in the very next verses 
(23-25) giving the second version
its meaning, and a moral lesson
that renders the rib story more
of a parable:
 
"Therefore, a man shall leave his
father and mother and be cleaved to
his wife, and they shall be of one
flesh."  In other words, the verses
signify man and wife should be
joined to one another and be of the
same flesh even more so than thier
former kin.
 
So apparently God's image encompasses
at least both male and female (as well
as much more). As it appears: just as 
God's facets are united as one, the
male and female of our species are to
also cleave together (in marriage) as
one as well.  So, let us never commit
the idolatry of putting human limits
on God....
 
 
THE CHRIST IN GOD'S IMAGE?
 
Now, what of Jesus coming into the
world in the form of a male human
being?  Does that imply the
universal Godhead of all the
heavens is even today a flesh and
blood super-human man floating
about up there?  And how does
Christ's appearance on earth
reconcile with John 1:18 stating
no human eyes have ever seen God ?
 
For one thing, if God is all-
powerful and all-creative, then
incarnation in any earthly image
would be possible.  The fact is
that if he were a woman at that
time, the Jews and most Pagans
would not take heed of Jesus
teachings. Only a man's teachings
would be taken seriously at that
place in time.
 
But beyond Jesus' death on this
invisible dot in the universe ,
what form could the second person
of a cosmic Trinity take now? 
First of all, we can view the
Trinity as "persons" at least as
it works in and through persons
themselves. 
 
But from a cosmic perspective -
wherein even our entire galaxy is
but a speck - the "Father" could
be nothing less than the incredible
Law-giver of the entire universe,
and God's Spirit its creative Power.
 
From that universal perspedtive the
Christ then must represent nothing
less than the resurrection and new
creation permeating all of infinity
and eternity.  And this answers the
question of why John claimed no one
has ever saw God, even after Jesus
arrived here:
 
For John (1:1-14) also spoke of the
Christ as the Logos before he became
flesh - who was with God and was God,
and through whom all things came to
be.  He was the light the darkness
could not overcome.
 
And in Clolssians 1:15-17 Paul
states: "In the Christ God created
all things in the heavens and on the
earth,everything visible and
invisible.Before anything created
Christ was."
 
Again, we should not put limits on
what the Christ represents in the
Godhead.
 
 
(Conclusion below)
 
 

CONCLUSION: 
 
From the universal perspective
above, we must look beyond the
immediate creation and salvation
of humanity.  There we would
find the totality of the Godhead
must transcend far beyond human
traits like flesh, race, or
sexulal gender alone. Therefore,
we can be created in no physical
image of God. 
 
We are instead created in God's
Spiritual image.
 
Now it's time to ask: What can
God's Spiritual image mean in our
lives?
 
Being created in God's Spiritual
image means we are created in an
image able to transcend fleshly
limitations... an image able to
become reborn into something more
than naked apes on this earth,,,
an image able to embrace more than
just our finite selves alone... an
image bestowing moral
responsibility to us all....
 
Perhaps few can live up to this
divine, spiritual image.  However,
all cultures have their teachings
and their covenants.  And for
Christains a savior appeared once
in human form to create the human
example and the way...
 
Let's take our closing Thoughts from
Glations 3:28:  "There is neither Jew
nor Greek; there is neither slave nor
free; there is neither male nor
female: For you are all one in God..."