Is the holy spirit a man

endofdays

Well-Known Member
Is the holy spirit a man
The bible says he when talking about holy spirit
I know that he is also God
As well as a man.
 

athenasius

Well-Known Member
The pronoun "He" is how God refers to Himself in regard to all three of His persons. It reflects an aspect of His nature, not that He is a man.

I may be all out to lunch here Adrian but this is what strikes me when thinking about this thread.

One aspect of male vs female gender shows how impossible it is for God to be "female" in any of His three persons.

Simply put, men give, women receive. Men give seed, women receive seed.

Who can give to God?

God is the GIVER of life, the Creator, the one who brings everything into being. That is most ultimately a MALE role. It is a creative, and active role, it is the one who BEGINS everything, who acts in creation to create.

The creation is the one that receives from God. What do we receive? Life, the world, the universe, even Salvation. We receive from God.

That which we give back, our praise our thanksgiving, our worship is in response to his gift. We RESPOND.

But He doesn't need our gifts, He is All Sufficient.

Our gifts are that which is a FRUIT of the gift of life and later Salvation that He gave us FIRST. We love HIm because HE first Loved Us. It's our response back in return for His actions.

Some feminists insist that there is one name of God that has a feminine aspect, I think it's El Shaddai, the God who is more than enough-- who satisfies us. They point to the idea of breasts giving sustenance, and equate God as feminine or having feminine aspects because He NUTURES and SUPPLIES us not unlike a mother nursing a baby. They blasphemously assert that God either has female aspects or that God is female.

But that aspect ignores the male supplier and sustainer role. He is the provider who provides and protects the home so that the woman can endure pregnancy safely, and feed the babies that come into that home.

God is male in gender. He refers to Himself that way. But if I were arguing the case without being able to use the Bible I think I'd use this argument above.
 

Andy C

Well-Known Member
No, brother. Is the Father a man? Because the Bible says "he" when speaking about him. Ditto when speaking of God in general. The pronoun "He" is how God refers to Himself in regard to all three of His persons. It reflects an aspect of His nature, not that He is a man.
I agree with this!

Sorry Athenasius.
 

Andy C

Well-Known Member
From the late Jack Kelley

Question: In Gen 1:27, it says God created them in His image, both male and female. That is confusing because it sounds as if God is both male and female in spirit. Is God both male and female?


Answer: The confusion comes from the fact that Genesis 1 is God’s account of the Creation and Chapter 2 is Adam’s account based on what God had told him. In 2:7 Adam is repeating the story of his own creation, saying his body was formed first and then God breathed His spirit into it giving him life. The reason God created them male and female is because Adam and Eve were the only two humans directly created by God. From that time on the creation process was delegated to man in the form of pro-creation which requires both a man and a woman. As Paul explained, the union of man and woman is intended to be a model of Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:22-33) and is not meant to imply anything about the Spirit of God.
Throughout the Bible, God is always referenced in the male gender. But God isn’t human and attempts to assign human characteristics to Him are doomed to failure. God created us in His image, and ever since then, unbelieving humans have tried to re-create God in ours. It doesn’t work.

https://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/is-god-both-male-and-female/
 

Work4Peanuts

I like being just a Well-Known Member
And I'm seeing another aspect to this question besides gender. God is the original, while man was made in God's image. Just as when you take a picture of, say, a flower. The photo is the image of the flower, but it is not the flower. Nor is the flower suddenly reduced to only being a picture.

To ask if the Holy Spirit is a man is to reduce Him to our level. Jesus became man, became flesh, but since His resurrection is now once again, more.
 

Andy C

Well-Known Member
Since God is not male, should we stop using masculine pronouns to refer to God?"

Answer:
We know that God is a spiritual being. Strictly speaking, He does not have a gender. However God has chosen to reveal Himself to humanity using masculine pronouns and imagery. In the Bible, God does not refer to Himself using gender-neutral terms; He uses masculine terms. Since God has chosen to reveal Himself to humanity in language that specifies the masculine gender, we can and should refer to Him in similar language. There is no biblical reason to stop using masculine pronouns to refer to God.

From the very start in the Bible, God refers to Himself using masculine pronouns: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). God refers to Himself from the beginning in masculine terms. Ancient Hebrew had no grammatically neutral-gender pronouns, so all items were intentionally given a grammatical gender of masculine or feminine. That pronoun was deliberate. In the Old Testament, the pronouns referring to God are grammatically masculine.

The same thing is found in the New Testament. The epistles (from Acts to Revelation) contain nearly 900 verses where the Greek word theos—a masculine noun—is used to refer to God. Although Koine Greek had gender-neutral terms, God is still referred to in the masculine gender.

In addition to the grammatical constructions, the imagery used in the Bible also confirms that God has chosen to refer to Himself as possessing male qualities. Several metaphors and titles are used to describe God. There are hundreds of references to God as a Father, King, and Husband. Jesus taught us to pray specifically to “our Father” (Luke 11:2). There are numerous other references to God as Father, such as Deuteronomy 32:6, Malachi 2:10, and 1 Corinthians 8:6. God is explicitly called a king (not a queen) in many passages; for example, Psalm 24:10, Psalm 47:2, Isaiah 44:6, and 1 Timothy 1:17. He is also described as a husband in places like Isaiah 54:5 and Hosea 2:2, 16, and 19.

In one place a simile is used to refer to God comforting His people like a mother comforts her child (Isaiah 66:13). Even there, God does not say He is a mother, only that He will comfort His people like a mother. Isaiah 49:15 is another verse that mentions a mother in a description of God, but it is not even a comparison; it is a contrast: God cares more for His people than a nursing mother does her baby.

The greatest revelation of God to us is His Son, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:2). In the Incarnation, the Son came to earth as a physical man, not a woman. Jesus consistently referred to God as His Father, not as His mother. Before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed to God, calling Him, “Abba, Father” (Mark 14:36). In the Gospels alone, Jesus calls God “Father” well over 100 times.

Again, God is spirit; He is not “male” in the sense that any man in this world is. God has no physical characteristics and no genetics. He transcends gender. At the same time, God has purposefully revealed Himself to us using masculine language. God is always a “He” in the Bible. Since God uses masculine pronouns to refer to Himself, we should continue using masculine pronouns to refer to God as well.

https://www.gotquestions.org/masculine-pronouns-God.html
 

Goodboy

Won't Be Long Now!
Who was the first and only original human? The answer is Adam, who is a male. Eve was created from Adam's rib and was not the first nor original human. While God is not human, he is the first and original of his kind. Thus for our human understanding he would be considered the male of his kind, meaning the first and original. If he were female that would mean there was something before him.

Those are my thoughts anyway. :)
 
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Andy C

Well-Known Member
Who was the first and only original human? The answer is Adam, who is a male. Eve was created from Adam's rib and was not the first nor original human. While God is not human, he is the first and original of his kind. Thus for our human understanding he would be the male of his kind, meaning the first and original. If he were female that would mean there was something before him.

Those are my thoughts anyway. :)
:confused2
 

mattfivefour

Well-Known Member
I may be all out to lunch here Adrian but this is what strikes me when thinking about this thread.

One aspect of male vs female gender shows how impossible it is for God to be "female" in any of His three persons.

Simply put, men give, women receive. Men give seed, women receive seed.

Who can give to God?

God is the GIVER of life, the Creator, the one who brings everything into being. That is most ultimately a MALE role. It is a creative, and active role, it is the one who BEGINS everything, who acts in creation to create.

The creation is the one that receives from God. What do we receive? Life, the world, the universe, even Salvation. We receive from God.

That which we give back, our praise our thanksgiving, our worship is in response to his gift. We RESPOND.

But He doesn't need our gifts, He is All Sufficient.

Our gifts are that which is a FRUIT of the gift of life and later Salvation that He gave us FIRST. We love HIm because HE first Loved Us. It's our response back in return for His actions.

Some feminists insist that there is one name of God that has a feminine aspect, I think it's El Shaddai, the God who is more than enough-- who satisfies us. They point to the idea of breasts giving sustenance, and equate God as feminine or having feminine aspects because He NUTURES and SUPPLIES us not unlike a mother nursing a baby. They blasphemously assert that God either has female aspects or that God is female.

But that aspect ignores the male supplier and sustainer role. He is the provider who provides and protects the home so that the woman can endure pregnancy safely, and feed the babies that come into that home.

God is male in gender. He refers to Himself that way. But if I were arguing the case without being able to use the Bible I think I'd use this argument above.
I do not wish to get into a disagreement over this topic, but a question has been asked that does need a full response. I could not do it earlier as I was tied up watching the Understanding The Times prophecy conference most of the day.

With the greatest of respect for you and your knowledge of God’s Word, Marg, I would respectfully disagree with you over whether God is a male. I agree it is a fact that God has chosen to refer to Himself using masculine nouns and pronouns, but I do not think we should presume from that that God is a male. And even if we disagree on that point, seeing as He is a being of another order and magnitude to His creation, I think it safe to say He is certainly not a man (which was the OP question.) After all, the Bible says God is a spirit (John 4:24).

I am not always in agreement with the answers in Got Questions, but I think they probably deal with this issue as well as anyone.


That all said, there is absolutely no license given to refer to God with feminine nouns and pronouns, as some do, even though He sometimes refers to Himself in motherly terms. After all, just because Paul told the Thessalonians "we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother caring for her children (1 Thessalonians 2:7)” didn’t mean Paul was a woman. As Got Questions says in another article (which I see Andy has posted in its entirety above):

"God is spirit; He is not “male” in the sense that any man in this world is. God has no physical characteristics and no genetics. He transcends gender.​

Rocky, I could write an entire academic article on the various likely reasons God uses chiefly masculine terms to refer to Himself, and why Jesus came as a man, but I believe what is important is that what we view as the characteristics of masculinity best represent the characteristics of God that are necessary for us to understand— Protector, Provider, and Potentate. In this I agree with Marg. I just do not believe that that fact means God is male, any more than his feminine characteristics—Nursing Mother and Nourisher—mean He is female. He is (as noted above) spirit. And what is necessary for us to understand of Him and His nature does not have to be deduced from the gender of the nouns and pronouns by which He refers to Himself, but can be plainly seen throughout the Bible— especially encapsulated in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and Galatians 5:22-23. And it is to these things we should look, and for these things we should seek. The ones who increasingly model these characteristics are the ones who will need not be ashamed when Christ comes and who will in the meantime serve Him most effectively.

As these verses reveal: God is love. As such He is patient, kind, doesn’t envy, doesn’t boast, isn’t proud, isn’t rude, isn’t self centered, isn’t quickly angered, keeps no account of wrongs suffered, takes no pleasure in evil, rejoices in the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and displays a love that never ever diminishes. The Holy Spirit will produce those same characteristics in the ones who are His and who seek His will in their lives. Thus, they will reflect love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Therefore, we can see the characteristics of God as He reveals Himself in our lives in this dispensation. And when we get to Heaven, we shall see the fearsome and awesome and absolutely holy God in all His kingly majesty … yet without fear because of Jesus Christ—our eternal sacrifice, our eternal advocate, and our eternal bridegroom and husband.

Glory to God!
 

ItIsFinished!

Blood bought child of the King of kings.
I do not wish to get into a disagreement over this topic, but a question has been asked that does need a full response. I could not do it earlier as I was tied up watching the Understanding The Times prophecy conference most of the day.

With the greatest of respect for you and your knowledge of God’s Word, Marg, I would respectfully disagree with you over whether God is a male. I agree it is a fact that God has chosen to refer to Himself using masculine nouns and pronouns, but I do not think we should presume from that that God is a male. And even if we disagree on that point, seeing as He is a being of another order and magnitude to His creation, I think it safe to say He is certainly not a man (which was the OP question.) After all, the Bible says God is a spirit (John 4:24).

I am not always in agreement with the answers in Got Questions, but I think they probably deal with this issue as well as anyone.


That all said, there is absolutely no license given to refer to God with feminine nouns and pronouns, as some do, even though He sometimes refers to Himself in motherly terms. After all, just because Paul told the Thessalonians "we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother caring for her children (1 Thessalonians 2:7)” didn’t mean Paul was a woman. As Got Questions says in another article (which I see Andy has posted in its entirety above):

"God is spirit; He is not “male” in the sense that any man in this world is. God has no physical characteristics and no genetics. He transcends gender.​

Rocky, I could write an entire academic article on the various likely reasons God uses chiefly masculine terms to refer to Himself, and why Jesus came as a man, but I believe what is important is that what we view as the characteristics of masculinity best represent the characteristics of God that are necessary for us to understand— Protector, Provider, and Potentate. In this I agree with Marg. I just do not believe that that fact means God is male, any more than his feminine characteristics—Nursing Mother and Nourisher—mean He is female. He is (as noted above) spirit. And what is necessary for us to understand of Him and His nature does not have to be deduced from the gender of the nouns and pronouns by which He refers to Himself, but can be plainly seen throughout the Bible— especially encapsulated in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and Galatians 5:22-23. And it is to these things we should look, and for these things we should seek. The ones who increasingly model these characteristics are the ones who will need not be ashamed when Christ comes and who will in the meantime serve Him most effectively.

As these verses reveal: God is love. As such He is patient, kind, doesn’t envy, doesn’t boast, isn’t proud, isn’t rude, isn’t self centered, isn’t quickly angered, keeps no account of wrongs suffered, takes no pleasure in evil, rejoices in the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and displays a love that never ever diminishes. The Holy Spirit will produce those same characteristics in the ones who are His and who seek His will in their lives. Therefore, they will reflect love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Therefore, we can see the characteristics of God as He reveals Himself in our lives in this dispensation. And when we get to Heaven, we shall see the fearsome and awesome and absolutely holy God in all His kingly majesty … yet without fear because of Jesus Christ—our eternal sacrifice, our eternal advocate, and our eternal bridegroom and husband.

Glory to God!
Right on.
:thumbup
 

athenasius

Well-Known Member
I do not wish to get into a disagreement over this topic, but a question has been asked that does need a full response. I could not do it earlier as I was tied up watching the Understanding The Times prophecy conference most of the day.

With the greatest of respect for you and your knowledge of God’s Word, Marg, I would respectfully disagree with you over whether God is a male. I agree it is a fact that God has chosen to refer to Himself using masculine nouns and pronouns, but I do not think we should presume from that that God is a male. And even if we disagree on that point, seeing as He is a being of another order and magnitude to His creation, I think it safe to say He is certainly not a man (which was the OP question.) After all, the Bible says God is a spirit (John 4:24).

I am not always in agreement with the answers in Got Questions, but I think they probably deal with this issue as well as anyone.


That all said, there is absolutely no license given to refer to God with feminine nouns and pronouns, as some do, even though He sometimes refers to Himself in motherly terms. After all, just because Paul told the Thessalonians "we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother caring for her children (1 Thessalonians 2:7)” didn’t mean Paul was a woman. As Got Questions says in another article (which I see Andy has posted in its entirety above):

"God is spirit; He is not “male” in the sense that any man in this world is. God has no physical characteristics and no genetics. He transcends gender.​

Rocky, I could write an entire academic article on the various likely reasons God uses chiefly masculine terms to refer to Himself, and why Jesus came as a man, but I believe what is important is that what we view as the characteristics of masculinity best represent the characteristics of God that are necessary for us to understand— Protector, Provider, and Potentate. In this I agree with Marg. I just do not believe that that fact means God is male, any more than his feminine characteristics—Nursing Mother and Nourisher—mean He is female. He is (as noted above) spirit. And what is necessary for us to understand of Him and His nature does not have to be deduced from the gender of the nouns and pronouns by which He refers to Himself, but can be plainly seen throughout the Bible— especially encapsulated in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and Galatians 5:22-23. And it is to these things we should look, and for these things we should seek. The ones who increasingly model these characteristics are the ones who will need not be ashamed when Christ comes and who will in the meantime serve Him most effectively.

As these verses reveal: God is love. As such He is patient, kind, doesn’t envy, doesn’t boast, isn’t proud, isn’t rude, isn’t self centered, isn’t quickly angered, keeps no account of wrongs suffered, takes no pleasure in evil, rejoices in the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and displays a love that never ever diminishes. The Holy Spirit will produce those same characteristics in the ones who are His and who seek His will in their lives. Thus, they will reflect love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Therefore, we can see the characteristics of God as He reveals Himself in our lives in this dispensation. And when we get to Heaven, we shall see the fearsome and awesome and absolutely holy God in all His kingly majesty … yet without fear because of Jesus Christ—our eternal sacrifice, our eternal advocate, and our eternal bridegroom and husband.

Glory to God!


No problem at all Adrian or AndyC, I was hoping someone would help me out as this was a passing thought, and not a deep conviction.

I appreciate the answers.

I popped it in there because Rocky's OP reminded me. In the respect of God being male as a human male, no. I wasn't tryng to make that point although I wasn't expressing it very well either. I completely agree with this

Again, God is spirit; He is not “male” in the sense that any man in this world is. God has no physical characteristics and no genetics. He transcends gender. At the same time, God has purposefully revealed Himself to us using masculine language. God is always a “He” in the Bible. Since God uses masculine pronouns to refer to Himself, we should continue using masculine pronouns to refer to God as well.


I think my point is that we could never assign a female gender either to God-- firstly because that is inconsistent with how He reveals himself, in the masculine pronouns but also because He comes before all, and without His actions we don't even exist. The creation itself owes it's life to the Creator.

His action demands a reaction from His creation-- to give Him honour, glory and love. We love Him because He first loved us.

I know this is foggy and I'm not stating it well. The point I wanted to make is that those feminist "theologians" who assign God as female are wrong because even in the feminine similes (hen gathers her chicks, nursing mother unable to forget her child) God acts in the expressive form not the receptive. He is expressing His love thru those similes. Even when He receives our praise, it's only right because it is His rightful due.

We and all creation are the receptive vessels of His actions-- grace, creation, salvation etc. We don't have the ability to give ourselves or others grace, original creation out of nothingness as God did it, nor can we save ourselves. We are totally dependent on God's action towards us.

I'm annoyed by the modern habit of the Emergent church and other "progressive" regressives to assign a female gender to God. I want arguments that they will listen to, and be unable to argue with. I don't run into the problem with people assigning a male gender, as the pronouns used by God thru the Bible are male and it's the usual understanding.

The feminists have really attacked the masculine pronouns everywhere. And feminist theology is particularly corrosive and blasphemous.

Since they don't actually seem to consider the Bible as authoritative, I wanted to make the point from philosophical grounds as well.

But that isn't always the best way to go in an argument because it moves off the solid ground of the Bible.

Going forward I'll stay with the Bible and let them fight with the Word as God uses it to convict them.
 

Andy C

Well-Known Member
The feminists have really attacked the masculine pronouns everywhere. And feminist theology is particularly corrosive and blasphemous.

Since they don't actually seem to consider the Bible as authoritative, I wanted to make the point from philosophical grounds as well.

But that isn't always the best way to go in an argument because it moves off the solid ground of the Bible.

Going forward I'll stay with the Bible and let them fight with the Word as God uses it to convict them.
Amen sister, good post
 
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