Saturday, February 26, 2022

IS40:8 (part 2) - God's Pronouns

 



What are your pronouns?

Often in short bios, people list the pronouns which they choose to be addressed by:

he/him
she/her
they/them
zhe/zher
it/its
....
whatever 

In the name of open mindedness and diversity and tolerance and civility, most respect their wishes and call them by their preferred pronouns.

It's the polite thing to do.

What are God's Pronouns?

He/Him

These masculine pronouns are used in traditional translations of the Bible as well as other references to the Deity:  Father, Son, Lord, King, Prince of Peace, etc. 

As the One who Created us--male and female--here is a reason as to why God identifies as male:



Yet, I've seen a trend of referring to God as gender neutral, in worship as well as some more recent Bible translations that also strike out other male specific words man, men, mankind, etc. 

All done in the name of inclusiveness.

Here is an example from The Doxology:

Traditional:

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Gender neutral:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God for all that love has done;
Creator, Christ, and Spirit, One.

reference: Doxology

There are numerous examples in Bible translations. 

Check out: BibleGateway.com

Look up your favorite verses in more traditional translations and compare them to the more recent ones, especially the paraphrases.

What trend do you see, if any?

Respect:

The question of the lack of respect has been brought up before in the Old Testament. 

The context in the verses below are God's people offering blemished sacrifices:

“A son honors his father,
and a slave his master.

 If I am a Father,
where is the honor due Me?

If I am a Master,
where is the respect due Me?”
says the Lord Almighty.


Good question.

Today's Question:

We respect the pronouns of another human being.

Do we respect God's pronouns?

You be the judge of this one.


Isaiah 40:8

The grass withereth,
the flower fadeth:
but the word of our God
shall stand for ever.

-----------------------------
-----------------------------

For other posts on this thread, search:

IS40:8

Similar threads (search blog):

Faith
10C - The Ten Commandments
Biblia Files
PPP - Psalms, Proverbs, and Politics

-----------------------------
-----------------------------