The Holy Spirit as female?

[VoidCat]

.First let me tell you that I'm a Quaker and a Christian.This probably will not change based on the evidence I have gather on Jesus's resurrection and death.But I have always had a believed that God and Christianity is a lot more complicated then what meets the eye,you could study and follow it for years and never truly understand God.I've had a belief quite a while based on how the old testament use of many different forms of Elohim both singular and plural that the trinity is meantion in old testament.But.I did not know that it also uses the singlar feminine form of Eloah and Elat.In the new testament the Holy Spirit is always refereed to as feminine it's just taught that the Holy Spirit is male by tradition not by scripture.Then again this could be just language being a pain in the behind such as how some languages using feminine forms to refer to masculinity.But what if The Holy Spirit is female?I just find this interesting and I need to do more research before I come to any conclusions but what do you guys think?Is it possible that 1 of the aspects of the Godhead is female?Of course The Father and The Son are male but what about the Holy Spirit?

 

[PruePhillip]

.First let me tell you that I'm a Quaker and a Christian.This probably will not change based on the evidence I have gather on Jesus's resurrection and death.But I have always had a believed that God and Christianity is a lot more complicated then what meets the eye,you could study and follow it for years and never truly understand God.I've had a belief quite a while based on how the old testament use of many different forms of Elohim both singular and plural that the trinity is meantion in old testament.But.I did not know that it also uses the singlar feminine form of Eloah and Elat.In the new testament the Holy Spirit is always refereed to as feminine it's just taught that the Holy Spirit is male by tradition not by scripture.Then again this could be just language being a pain in the behind such as how some languages using feminine forms to refer to masculinity.But what if The Holy Spirit is female?I just find this interesting and I need to do more research before I come to any conclusions but what do you guys think?Is it possible that 1 of the aspects of the Godhead is female?Of course The Father and The Son are male but what about the Holy Spirit?

Maybe you could ask is the Holy Spirit Islamic? Or maybe it's black?
We don't know the reason why God is masculine, and the Messiah
is the Son of God. It's enough to know that they are, and to respect
that. When culture, human philosophy and politics enter the picture
we instantly corrupt what it is we are meant to see.

 

[VoidCat]

Maybe you could ask is the Holy Spirit Islamic? Or maybe it's black?
We don't know the reason why God is masculine, and the Messiah
is the Son of God. It's enough to know that they are, and to respect
that. When culture, human philosophy and politics enter the picture
we instantly corrupt what it is we are meant to see.

Humans do have a habit of corruption don't they?

 

[Windwalker]

We don't know the reason why God is masculine, and the Messiah
is the Son of God. It's enough to know that they are, and to respect
that. When culture, human philosophy and politics enter the picture
we instantly corrupt what it is we are meant to see.

It is because of culture that you view God as masculine. If the Bible had been written from within a matriarchal system instead of a patriarchal one, God would be portrayed as feminine.

 

[PruePhillip]

It is because of culture that you view God as masculine. If the Bible had been written from within a matriarchal system instead of a patriarchal one, God would be portrayed as feminine.

For starters, has there ever been a "Matriarchal System"?
Secondly, I couldn't imagine the Messiah being some
single woman. As it was, the Messiah came as a man
and that speaks of God's will.
As I see it, there are certain qualities of masculinity that
appear to speak of God, ie judgment, revenge, legalisms
etc.. We are made in God's image, and God has made
the masculine more in His likeness, IMO.

 

[BSM1]

For starters, has there ever been a "Matriarchal System"?
Secondly, I couldn't imagine the Messiah being some
single woman. As it was, the Messiah came as a man
and that speaks of God's will.
As I see it, there are certain qualities of masculinity that
appear to speak of God, ie judgment, revenge, legalisms
etc.. We are made in God's image, and God has made
the masculine more in His likeness, IMO.

Absolutely. In many cultures. The Virgin of Guadalupe comes to mind in Mexico. The early missionaries had to superimpose the Virgin Mary over this Mother Goddess to control the populace at the time. As a matter of fact, the Hebrew God was one of the first truly Patriarchal religions none. Other religions were Mother oriented or Poly God oriented.

 

[VoidCat]

Absolutely. In many cultures. The Virgin of Guadalupe comes to mind in Mexico. The early missionaries had to superimpose the Virgin Mary over this Mother Goddess to control the populace at the time. As a matter of fact, the Hebrew God was one of the first truly Patriarchal religions none. Other religions were Mother oriented or Poly God oriented.

Let's not forget the idea of a trinity is very common with female goddesses.

 

[BSM1]

Let's not forget the idea of a trinity is very common with female goddesses.

I see this every day. I have lived with the same woman for over 45 years and I never know who she's going to be on any given day...lol (Sorry, I couldn't let it pass.)

 

[VoidCat]

I see this every day. I have lived with the same woman for over 45 years and I never know who she's going to be on any given day...lol (Sorry, I couldn't let it pass.)

You are good.I like it when people joke around on threads it means that at least one person is not fighting others and humor tends to be one of the best things in life

 

[Shiranui117]

The Holy Spirit has no gender. Nor does the Father, for that matter, nor even the pre-incarnate Logos.

 

[VoidCat]

The Holy Spirit has no gender. Nor does the Father, for that matter, nor even the pre-incarnate Logos.

Logos?

 

[Shiranui117]

Logos?

"In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God." We badly mistranslate it as "Word" in English. It means much, much more in Greek--reason, cosmic order, the structuring principle of the universe, harmony, the creative force used to create everything... It's a word that Greek philosophers got a LOT of mileage out of, from Plato to Aristotle to the Stoics to others I'm forgetting.

 

[VoidCat]

"In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God." We badly mistranslate it as "Word" in English. It means much, much more in Greek--reason, cosmic order, the structuring principle of the universe, harmony, the creative force used to create everything... It's a word that Greek philosophers got a LOT of mileage out of, from Plato to Aristotle to the Stoics to others I'm forgetting.

ok.I'll look more into this.