No Equality for the Devil
I have never been much for political correctness. In fact, I got in trouble from one of my Religious Studies profs in university for referring to God as "He" in a paper. Although, this should not surprise me, since Marc and I later referred to this prof as an "Nazi Eco-feminist" -- we're cruel sometimes. But I've always assumed "He" to be an easy way of saying "He/She", at least when referring to God. And I've always thought it kind of lame when people refer to God as "She" just to make a point. But then yesterday I started wondering what feminists, or whoever, would do if everyone just started referring to Satan as "she"... Think about it.
posted by Dixie Vandersluys @ 2:20 PM
9 comments
9 Comments:
..always assumed "He" to be an easy way of saying "He/She", at least when referring to God.
REALLY???!! You may think me naieve (and a bad speller since that looks wrong), but I assumed it was the Christian belief that God was a HE...I realize that different religions have differences here, but since he's supposedly the Father (isn't "he") I assumed that meant well, male...Which to me seems highly inappropriate and doubtful since it's the female of species to create life.
that was Raven's comment by the way sorry....
Well, I will safely assume that when she refers to the "easy way" of referring to God, that it is in reference to conversations with non-believers.
As far the Christian belief that God is a He, and your supposed sense of "propriety" and doubt, "WE were created in HIS image. Male and female He created them."
But maybe you're just referring to the notion that behind every good man is a good woman.
Thank you for clearing that up for me. I, myself, am not a Christian, but am curious of those of that religion. Personally I believe in Mother Earth, which is why I wondered on the He/She thing. Thank you.
Why is is easier to refer to God as He? That "Sh" sound is difficult to make?
Oh boy. The biblical view of God is not that he is male -- after all, humans, both male and female were made in the image of God. God is described as having what are perceived traditionally to be feminine qualities in the bible. We use "He" because scripture refers to God as "He", and as "Father" - but why that should be an issue is beyond me.
More interesting from an interpretive point of view I think is the fact that "Spirit" in both Hebrew and New Testament Greek is a feminine word. Traditional translation has consistently referred to the Holy Spirit as a "he"...
traditional translation sucks - makes you wonder what else they've misinterpretted/altered/or otherwise screwed up. HUMANS, after all, have been translating the bible for centuries, and HUMANS are very apt to make mistakes, or change things for their own benefit. How can we know if any of the "truth" is even left? HOW?
I'm no biblical scholar, but as far as those in the know tell me, there are many ancient manuscripts that show that any changes from manuscript to manuscript, if any, are of a minor and inconsequential nature. In other words the gist of what's contained in the scriptures has remained consistent through time.
In terms of interpretation, translation from one language to another inevitably involves some subjectivity on the part of the interpreter--although given the proliferation of bible translations, it becomes easier to get the 'big picture' in terms of what is said in the original manuscripts.
Raven, can you tell me about Mother Earth, what you believe, etc.? I'm interested.
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