The
gender of God can be viewed as a literal or as an
allegorical aspect of a
deity. In
polytheistic religions,
the gods are more likely to have literal sexual genders which would enable them to interact with each other, and even with humans, in a sexual way. In most
monotheistic religions, there is no comparable being for
God to relate to in a literal gender-based way, so the
gender of this one-and-only deity is most likely to be an analogical statement of how humans and God address, and relate to, each other, with no sexual connotations. Although God is an intangible spirit in many religions and therefore has no gender, debate over his or her "actual" sex nevertheless has passionately raged in recent decades. The preponderance of references to God in both the
Old and
New Testaments are in the context of a masculine reference, often "father." However, there are a significant number of feminine allegorical references to the Judaeo-Christian god, most often in some maternal role.
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Christianity
God the Father,
Cima da Conegliano, Circa 1510-17.
Main article:
Gender of God in Christianity
Most
Christian groups conceive of God as
Triune, having the belief that
God the Father,
God the Son, and God the
Holy Spirit are distinct persons, but one being that is wholly God.
[9][10]
God the Son (
Jesus Christ), having been incarnated as a human man, is clearly masculine. God the "Father" or "Creator" is interpreted as clearly masculine to
Biblical literalists.[
citation needed] Classical western philosophy believes that God lacks a literal sex because it would be impossible for God to have a body (a prerequisite for sex).
[11][12] However, Classical western philosophy states that God should be referred to (in most contexts) as masculine by analogy. It justifies this by pointing to God's relationship with the world as begetter of the world and revelation (i.e. analogous to an active instead of receptive role in sexual intercourse).
[13] Others interpret God as neither male nor female.
[14][15]
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