Fred in Skirts wrote:Having read this discussion and give some thought to it I do not know God's sex. So If some call him a male that is fine, if some call her a female that is fine. Many don't call God anything but God and that is fine too!
I don't think anyone can really "know" God sex. Personally I'm not of the opinion that "God" is even of human form, and probably beyond having a sex or gender. Such matters or mortal constructs. All of that being said, Manly Hall, in his book "Old Testament Wisdom" made an interesting point on page 95 regarding the creation story:
From the book, Old Testament Wisdom by Manly P. Hall wrote:
Let us first examine the word God as it is used throuout the first chapter of Genesis. The word in Hebrew is not God, or Jah, or Jehovah, but Elohim. The Anglo-Saxon word God is a reverent but entirely insufficient term with which to convey the true meaning of Elohim. In Hebrew, this is an androgynous term strongly implying a combination of male and female attributes, and also, by its termination, the word is plural. It would be more correct to say, therefore, that Elohim means "The Male-Female Creators," representing a host, or at least a group, or powers, symbolically described as a septenary, and not under any condition a single personal deity.
The book was a FASCINATING read, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to dig a little deeper into the mysteries of the Old Testament.
oldsalt1 wrote: But when he throws out a comment in jest than and he finds that it is insulting to someone , than he adamantly stands by his decision to say it he can ……………..
I understand what you're saying, and I do aim to not be offensive, but with all due respect Dan, it seems people tend to overreact over what others say. I mean, I hear people say things I disagree with on the daily. I just ignore most of it. Once in a while I may put out my two cents on a matter, sometimes I get agrees, sometimes not, but I seldom get asked to take back a remark, especially on religious grounds seeing as how religion is one of those subjects that basically impossible to prove either way.
Everyone has a right to believe what they want, but when said people socialize in the greater world, they have to understand that not everyone will share their beliefs and would do well to just not fret over religious disagreements. Very few people view God in the way I do. I'm okay with that. FWIW I personally believe that the bible story comes down to one of two, or perhaps a combination of both things: 1) The greatest story (fiction) ever told to keep people in line, and/or 2) inspired by extra terrestrial visitors.
I do believe that there is spiritual matters spelled out in the bible, and many of the authors of said books, most likely recorded these books with a spiritual mindset. All of that being said, there is an ENORMOUS amount of information about the history of the bible, the Jews, and the culture of the day. I've been somewhat "into" the old testament here lately and I can say that my mind has been blown by some of what I've read regarding various interpretations and history. The bible by itself is rather like trying to understand an IKEA instruction manual to assemble a TV stand with several pages missing. As a result, sometimes we put the wrong screw in the wrong hole, but most of us finish with a somewhat workable result in the end...
Using the IKEA metaphor to elaborate further: It takes someone who has a background in assembling furniture as well as someone who knows how to read drawings and instructions as they were meant to be understood. With this knowledge you will have no major issues. The bible seems to be the same way. One must understand the history of the two religions it covers (yes it covers two, Judaism and Christianity), and finally one must understand, at least to some extent the various nuances of the languages of the day, Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, etc. To put your trust solely on the King James English version and nothing more leaves many proverbial biblical stones unturned. Further, most people don't realize there are actually two King James Versions, the current one, and the 1611 version. The latter is a VERY interesting read! I hope to get one in an actual bound book soon (rather than online only)
My opinion on the core "religions" of the bible.... are you reading for this (sit down for it....)
I find them to be most interesting, fascinating, elegant, and in many ways beautifully thought out. It is a crying shame that the average Christian American can probably quote a few of the 10 commandments, and of course John 3:16. There is SO MUCH DEPTH in the story of the Hebrews in ancient times it boggles the mind. I can't help but feel that if more "Christians" actually studied the history and deep traditions of their chosen faith, quite frankly they wouldn't bother worrying about what people like myself have to say, they probably woudln't worry so much with what ever their politician is up to, or who's sleeping with who.
I find it offensive, on behalf of the religion at hand, that so many people pay lip service to "God" and haven't the faintest idea what their "God" truly is, or represents. As I said above, the belief structure itself is beautifully elegant. American Christians by and large seemed to have dumbed it down, and use it primarily as a means to assert their own bigotry and prejudiced views onto the world. I find that of the greatest offense, but these matters often go unchecked, as long as the offering plate is full of money, nobody really seems to care what the actual message is.
I came back to this study as I found out, that whether the Neo-Wiccans want to admit it or not, their "religion" has roots in Judaism, so does Christianity, obviously. And though I'm not to clear on the matter, I think Islam does too. Where Judaism is rooted, I have yet to learn. I've been told that it all traces back to the ancient Hindu religion, but I don't have a lot of reference work to back that up at this time. Now this isn't to confuse modern day (Neo-Wicca) with old Paganism, or heathens, gentiles, etc. Modern Wicca (and modern Witches generally) trace back their discipline to Gerald Gardner in the 1950's who was aided in assembling the rites by Alister Crowley who was into the Kabbalah, which is of Jewish origin. Virtually every "rite" I've ever read about in modern Wiccan text could have been taken straight from the grimoires of the dark ages which traces much of it's symbolism to old Jewish magick.
The ultra Occultist will swear that their magickal rites date back to Solomon, but I've found that such a view really doesn't hold up to historical scrutiny, and it would seem that most of the occultic magickal rites were probably conceived sometime between 1200-1600 A.D., mostly from Jewish Kabbalist.
it's a real fractal of information out there.. every answer yields three new questions!