Lovin You and All,
Julia ; )
>Subject: Re: lovegender, reptillianbrain,looong.
>From: "ringchild" <kring@mail.eclipse.net>
>Date: Fri, Oct 10, 1997 00:09 EDT
>Message-id: <01bcd532$3ddff5e0$67c4cfcf@dcr>
>
>
>> Actually, Sky, in the same OT class, we learned that the original wording
>of
>> Hebrew said: God made man in OUR image.
>> Originally, the Hebrews did look at God as both Mother and Father. You
>can
>> find it in the texts--in Proverbs, I think it was, God wsa described as
>being
>> the protective father and as the murturing mother. Somewhere along the
>line,
>> they began to look at God as completely male. So interesting, huh?
>>
>> Lovin You,
>> Julia
>>
>> (a note from a new guy) There's actually quite a lot of feminine imagery
>of related to God and the Spirit in the bible. There's a few good books
>i've seen (one by Virginia Mollenkott, I believe). If anyone's interested,
>i can dig them up and give you any info that'll help you find them... It's
>a difficult subject, however, for those of us for whom ancient hebrew or
>koine greek is not a native tongue (i.e., everyone). A "masculine" image
>of God is actually reinforced by the english language... In languages like
>greek and hebrew, every noun has a gender. So a tree is a "he" and a boat
>is "she." a fish is a he, whether it is a male or female fish. and god
>happens to be "he." The unfortunate thing that happens when these
>languages are translated to english is that fish and trees and boats all
>become "its" but God remains "he." When in fact, god is just as assexual
>as a boat. Unfortunately, also, is that our idea of "masculinity" is so
>twisted. but i suppose that's a whole other subject... We cannot be
>surprised, though, that western minds would mistake analogical portraits
>of God as scientific descriptions...
> Well, i guess the real point is that if one were seeking the spirit
>and seeking truth, instead of seeking to preserve empty notions - and if we
>have experienced any degree of interaction with the Spirit - we would find
>it quite ridiculous to speak of God in any gender specific terms. In fact,
>it's often difficult to use words at all, which is why we cry out to the
>Spirit in pure syllables which express what words could never...