Question :-
Could god be a woman. As god was a creation of man back in the distant past, when men were dominant in most things, & shall we say 'a little less enlightened' perhaps men chose to speak of god as a male being, but surely if he truly is omnipitent energy why assume it to be any gender. Perhaps God is female!

It's a possibility... it relates to the life cycle... God created us (birth)... Mother Nature... there's a big possibility that god is female... of course that is if god exists... but that's another subject entirely

I'm really not kidding here, but three words will sum up my feelings on this matter:

Pregnancy
Smear test.

no sorry you've lost me!

Pregancy = Terrible pain in giving birth.
Smear test = Err... better Google it

SORRY STILL DON'T GET IT

If God was a woman, why would women have such a hard time?!

So you are saying God chose to make life hard for women?

Actually, yes, it would seem that way. And if you read Genesis, you'll see that his punishment for women for eating the fruit of the tree in the Garden of Eden was 'terrible pain in childbirth'...

So much for god being all forgiving

Well it was slightly harsh, considering he put the tree AND the snake there. Either one or the other! Not both!

Well in the bible, it always says He, Him, His, and other male represenative words when referring to god.

Remember though, men wrote the Bible, it's just their interpretation. It's not like if he's male he can do anything with his pride n' joy, so maybe He is infact It. Unisex God... why not?

Yes but remember when it was written. Women didn't have much influence in them days.

Women couldn't read/write those days... Let alone have a say in anything.

true

Mind you, some people would argue not much has changed. How many female Presidents have there been?

And in Britain, our only female Prime Minister took the counrty to an (entirely preventable) war, instituted Poll Tax and is generally viewed as the worst Prime Minister ever...

I don't see God as male or female, but neither (or perhaps either). The BIble does refer to God as "He", but I look at this as much the same way as mariners refer to their boats as "she". The boat is neither male nor female, yet they call it "she". As a spirit/non-corporeal being, how can God be male?

Regards, PA

Well, what about Sophia? (meaning wisdom) who is sometimes thought to be the Holy Spirit in early Christian and Jewish teachings. Big in gnosticism as well.

now there was a candidate for the antichrist

I know, how dare she make us pay money for things! It's just not the democratic way...


And I agree with Paranoid, I think it is purely out of ease of use. If we said 'God sent a message to Its people' it sounds a bit impersonal - probably the same with a boat. So it's nice to refer to it like you would a friend.

I think the Christian God has to be a male.....a female God would not have screwed the world up this bad!

Perhaps not, but I think it must be a pretty tough job!

how can God have a gender? I don't believe it. God is like a grass, stone or clouds. That has no gender.
Bible was written by humans, and no human can convey the real truth using language.
"He" or "she" are just words. They are used to express an idea in imaginable way.
In some languages all things has a gender, this is only a linguistic thing

god is all he is the first father that is,was and will allways be.

god our father plus sopheia the mother equalls the son which the holy spirit gives form.

son of man in the flesh,son of god in the spirit,being as one in god as one.

the father is needed and the mother but together in harmonie .

like it took your mother and father to breing forth in the flesh,it takes the same in the spirit
in order to be one with god as one.

god is the father the first but can't be reached without the mother.

or like this ,behind ever great man there standes a great woman,you can't have the one without the two,

I agree with what you say about other languages - but do you think in the original draft of the Bible they thought of God as an object (as in masculine/feminine), because in my opinion they would have classed 'Him' as something different entirely.

If god was a man men would have a second rib cage to protect the vital area's of a man rather than a thin flap of skin...thats why i believe god is a women. Baaa Ziiing !

I think this is an unanswerable question. First, we would need to find the source called God. If God is the sum of all things, then there would be no need to find it. But, if we find God, and it is an entity, we would have to do some tests on it to determine sex. But, if this sounds too difficult, then it is completely acceptable to invent your own God within you....male or female, love or hate, frog or toad, drugs or food, tv gameshows or UM website, etc. Use your imagination, 'cause its all we've got to go on.

Nice gag. But really, I think that would be fairly impractical, especially if you fell over, or tried to get up from lying down. Imagine breaking a 'lower rib'. Ow...

he is called the 'father' quite alot... and is seen in the simpsons with a beard and a rather deep voice...

God's too stupid to be a woman.

Therefore he must be a man

Why is this thread so bible centered? The fact is, that many other existing and pre existing cultures worshiped the Goddess. The bible is not the only source, nor is it the final word.
But even the misogynistic bible has an aspect of the Goddess in Virgin Mary. Of course she has to be a virgin, as those men had little respect for the one great mystery of womenkind..i.e. the ability to bring forth life.

So yeah...God could very well be a woman. Explore the possibility :

http://www.amybrown.net/women/book.html

I think we took it as read that we were discussing the Christian/Jewish God here, but nice sourcing

Thanks...The world is oh so much bigger than your own backyard eh?

Sorry, are you implying that because I assumed we were discussing 'God' not 'A God', that I'm therefore bigoted and close minded? Nice going

I was just pointing out why that hadn't been brought up before now, okay?

Why would God need to be man or woman?? If he/she/it was either then you would have to presume that he/she/it would have genitals, and the only point in genitals would be to mate. So... if you are sexing God, then you must assume that there is a partner in the equasion.

To me it really wouldn't matter, but I think God is neither/and both. Just my opinion.

good answer

He would have no need to procreate, other than for fun. And anyway, He could just be lonely. Actually, it really doesn't matter either way - which is why I think He is neither It's just a pronoun with a capital letter.

So you mean....he could be a unicycle!!!!!

Yes... a one-wheeled mode of transportation... Hey, why not?

lol

Man was created in the image of God.
Woman was created by our rib.
We provided women life.
They must obey or go to hell.

God is man. Roar!!!!!

In my religion some Gods are male, some are Female. or Goddesses. One must have balance in ritual so I always call both.

Personally i think god is most likely to ebe hermaphroditic.

I think that there were a couple of Hindu gods who had characteristics of both males and females. Or maybe the Zoroastrian Gods.

Anyway I think god is either both or neither.

It makes no sense whatsoever for him to be one or the other.

Cobblers....heck while you where at it...why didn't you add....period pains too

So because women can suffer harder than any man...that MUST mean God is MAN??

News flash for you...not all women go through childbirth..and not all suffer a bad childbirth...not all have bad periods...and since when is a smear test painful???

A smear test is to see if there are any signs of cancer..I have had a few...they are not painful....

The funny part to your answers ...is the fact you call yourself an agnostic...meaning you believe there is no way of proving God actually exists..but you seem to think there is NO WAY god can be a woman

I agree that god has to be both - or at least some sort of being with both a feminine and masculine side. There's no way that "it" can be just one sex - for all the reasons listed above and because it just plain wouldn't make sense! How could there only be one sex to "govern" both sexes?

As for the birth pains and whatnot, I think that the Christian belief that their god "cursed" women with these pains as a punishment was just a way to give some sort of meaning to it. The plain fact is that if women's bodies were designed to have painless childbirth, the baby wouldn't make it to term - it would slide right out! I can't think of one mammal that has a live, pain-free birth process - would that mean that the females of all those species sinned, too?

Now, don't get me wrong, the pain & occasional embarrassment of just generally being a woman DOES make me wonder if I've been cursed at times, but it also makes me happy that I didn't have to go through such a public puberty as a boy! And, I get to lord my "suffering" over all the men in my life...

Well put

*keels over*