Why is God referred to as male rather than female?
Upvote:2
LDS view:
Short answer: Because he is male.
Long answer:
God the Father is male. Before I cite bible scriptures, let me point to the First Vision:
Joseph Smith - History 1:17
17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the otherβThis is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
So, Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son. If God was anything but male, Joseph would know it. Instead, he taught that Jesus is in the likeness of his father (and therefore a male).
You correctly noted that God revealed himself in male terms. Why not just accept that he IS male, then:
John 14:7-9
7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
God the Father is a father, and his son looks like him (apparently, that's nothing I could just check). And to be honest, it would be kind of weird if God had revealed himself as female in the OT, and then send an angel to tell her: "I, your female God, will now make you mother of my Son, to whom I will be the father."
If this explanation doesn't suit you, then the next reasonable explanation would be that male is, in many languages (not sure about hebrew), the "default" gender. So God revealing himself in female terms would be far more telling than him revealing himself in male terms. Note though that I am not sure which gender is the default in hebrew, but strongly suspect it to be male.
Note also this question: Is there any biblical justification for referring to God as Mother?
One of the answers cites Isaiah 49:15 describing the God-People relationship as a mother-child one. Exceptions prove the rule ;-)
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