Since When Is God a He?

Now let us continue to assume during the aforementioned lifetime, that this God reveals itself to whatever else exists. How would it make itself known and demonstrate its Godliness? That would depend upon whether it was a benevolent God or a not-so-benevolent God. Nothing says a real God has to be nice. A real God could do anything. Omni means it can do anything. Then again, nothing says a god has to be omni to be a god either. A god could still have limits and still be a god. There could be more than one god, perhaps a good one, a bad one, a masculine, and a feminine one. Yet, for the purpose of this hypothetical exercise, our God is omni. Would an omni God want to limit its identity and power to a gender and be referred to as "He?" Would it want to be the "father" of mankind, have a son as a "He," and limit its capabilities to bear a son on its own? Why would an omni God want to forego a feminine perspective by declaring itself a masculine authority? Of course, if a god is truly masculine, it is not omni. It may be great, and it may be powerful, but it is not omni because it is not also feminine. Without femininity, it lacks a certain quality, a definite power different from masculinity. If a God is masculine, it cannot claim omnipresence and omnisciency because it cannot exist in the feminine perspective. But the God to whom we are refering is omni. Therefore, we must assume that our omni God would not identify itself with masculinity. Our omni God would be neuter. Existing under a neuter God would change our religious language, symbols, and rituals, something we could not possibly do in our lifetime without disturbing our entire communication system. All sorts of questions would have to be answered. Of course, the first question would be how the mishap of calling our omni God "He" happened. It would mean reexamining the recording of God's word in religious publications. Not only would we need to know who first defamed our God by referring to it as a "He," but why great religious leaders through the years have continued to let the falsehood stand as truth. The next thing we would need to know is who has been capitalizing from such a falsehood. If God has been around since the beginning of the beginning, God was here before language. When pronouns were being invented, could there not have been one created exclusively for God? If the first people called God "He" because the voice they heard was so low, that would explain the association. I am trying to recall exactly who heard the voice. Finally, we would have to confront such atrocities as a masculine God implanting the seed of fertilization into the physical feminine body of Mary, the mother of Jesus. That, in itself, confirms that God is masculine, not feminine. If God were neuter, God would have to create without sex. Yet for the purpose of this exercise, we must shy away from possibilities that God is masculine. That means there was no birth of Jesus as God's son. Rather that would make Jesus no more God's son than any other child of God. Oh, dear. That would mean there are no children of God because God is neuter. There is no big family of God. Does this get disturbing? In order to have an omni God, we must give up the idea of being the children of God. We would have to become creations of God, like clay, something it makes without sex. How cold. How unsensual. What a price we must pay to actually have an omni God. We like our little metaphors of sexual reproduction, family, father and son, and children of the Great Almighty. It is comfortable, regardless of the truth value. To question where and when the metaphors arose and under what circumstances is too uncomfortable, too destructive if one wants to continue to bask in the blissfulness of "everything is okay just the way it is." Far be it from me to upset the apple cart. You can call God "He" all you want. It might help to keep it all in perspective though. Think utility. The utility of God as a "He" supports the social system in which we exist. For those seeking more than utility, the apple cart may be upset. Regardless, don't blame this one on me. I had nothing to do with it. Sheila Witherington is a first-year graduate student in the Annenberg School for Communication from Little Rock, Arkansas. The Gadfly appears alternate Thursdays.

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