tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8605839.post5538532440991121696..comments2023-09-03T10:27:50.770-05:00Comments on Personal Musings of Priestly Goth: God Gender and Language, Part ICommunity of the Holy Trinityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15327079170088324442noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8605839.post-77067042746093386112009-11-14T17:59:31.704-06:002009-11-14T17:59:31.704-06:00Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium? ...Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium? <br />Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8605839.post-74011094103045304032007-02-02T13:41:00.000-06:002007-02-02T13:41:00.000-06:00Angeli,
Thanks for the explanation from the Hindu ...Angeli,<br />Thanks for the explanation from the Hindu end. And I hope you realize that I do understand this about Hindu belief.<br />That said, I must distance myself from the Biblical and monotheistic understanding of Christianity and Judaism to not hear "Form is not God. It's a human idea about God, not God itself." as a type of idolatry, even knowing that the Hindu does not worship the form.<br />But this probably means that we understand God in essence differently, and there's the rub and we suddenly have much more of a potential mess.Community of the Holy Trinityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15327079170088324442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8605839.post-38023627714180477812007-02-02T12:47:00.000-06:002007-02-02T12:47:00.000-06:00You say you "wonder if replacing 'She' for 'He' or...You say you "wonder if replacing 'She' for 'He' or even alternating between 'He' and "She" in our address of God in public would actually get at the problem". Certainly it won't solve anything outright, I agree. However I do believe that the metaphors we choose directly influence how we perceive the world. <br /><br />If we spoke of god exclusively as a flame, then I wager that it would seem bright, warm and a little dangerous--even if we were never "inculcated" to believe it so. If we spoke of god exclusively as a tribal leader, I reckon that it would naturally come to be associated with wisdom and protectiveness, as well as vengeance and war. So, I feel that to choose not to speak of god as a male, even metaphorically, will likely have consequences as well--it will make god seem less like a human man.<br /><br />Personally, I try to use "it", although that may not fit into your theology very well (that pronoun is a bit cold, I'll admit). And yes, all the non-gendered English human pronouns have their share of flaws... <i>Ze</i>, &c.<br /><br />Too clumsy to call it <i>ein sof</i> all the time, I suppose...Benjamin Dionysushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17638776794374923213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8605839.post-73654155035900955272007-01-31T20:50:00.000-06:002007-01-31T20:50:00.000-06:00Exactly.
Form in the monotheistic religions does...Exactly. <br /><br />Form in the monotheistic religions does hover close to idolatry! The form *matters* in the Abrahamic tradition. We Hindus know that the form is *not* God. It's a human idea of God, not God itself. <br /><br />This is where I think the historic misunderstanding between our two religions comes from. You think the forms are what we worship! We think you conflate the human idea with the divine truth, sometimes mistaking one for the other! Very messy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8605839.post-28142540632785809452007-01-30T19:58:00.000-06:002007-01-30T19:58:00.000-06:00Angeli,
I can appreciate that sentiment. And Whil...Angeli,<br />I can appreciate that sentiment. And While I as a Christian can agree that essence matters, in part because of the incarnation of God in the human Jesus of Nazareth I cannot say that form is not what matters.<br />The mixture of these two things certainly as your comment points out means that these sorts of debates are simply always present in Christian faith: We may not know the essence fully but the essence is also something particular (a particularity beyond our reach granted). Specifically the essence is personal and not abstract and not empty.<br />Then there is the notion of idolatry in the Jewish and Christian understanding of humanities responce to the divine, your list that concludes with "whatever floats his/her/their boat." from the Hebrew prophets perspective (and thus also the Christian perspective) is precisely the definition of idolatry. <br />But then this is due to the assertion that God (this essence we speak of) reveals God's self to us throught particualr persons Sarah and Abraham, Moses (I am that I am, the name that is unpronounceable), In Jesus of Nazareth, who gives us the Name of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But you probably now all that.<br />So, we agree on the importance of essence (but then probably not what that essence is) but disagree on the meaning of form. Form can be mistaken, thus the debate.Community of the Holy Trinityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15327079170088324442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8605839.post-84453173409886006752007-01-30T16:58:00.000-06:002007-01-30T16:58:00.000-06:00Oh debates like this make me so glad I'm Hindu. Wh...Oh debates like this make me so glad I'm Hindu. Where God is male and female. And elephant-headed. And blue. And whatever floats his/her/their boat. <br /><br />Form is not what matters, but essence. <br /><br />-AngeliAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com