Why God Is a He | 5 Minute Video

Is God a man, a woman, or a genderless force that cannot be identified by masculine or feminine traits? Society offers a range of ideas, but what do religious texts have to say about this immutable characteristic of God? Dennis Prager offers some insightful answers.

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Script:

One of the criticisms many people make against the Bible is that it depicts God in male terms. The most obvious example is God is referred to as “He.” Why did the Bible do this?

Well, here’s the answer: Because the Bible is preoccupied with making a kinder, less violent, more just world. If you share these goals—and I suspect you do—then you’ll have to agree the Bible made the right decision.

Before I explain, I need to add an obvious caveat: The God of the Bible is neither male nor female. God transcends gender. What I’m talking about here is why God is depicted in male terms in the Bible.

Gender-wise, the Bible had three choices: masculine—“he”; feminine—“she”; or neuter—“it.”

We can readily rule out neuter. For one thing, neuter nouns don't exist in Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament—which, after all, first introduced this God to us. For another, the biblical God is a personal God to whom we can—and must—relate. And we cannot relate to, let alone obey or love, an “It.”

Aside from the language issue, the Bible depicts God in masculine terms because:

One: The Hebrew Bible’s primary concern is making a good world.

Two: A good world can only be achieved by making good people.

And three: The people who commit nearly all the world’s violence are males.

Therefore, it is in both men’s and women’s interests to depict God in the masculine.

Here’s why:

Without a father or some other male rule-giver, young men are likely to do great harm. If there is no male authority figure to give a growing boy rules, it is very difficult for him to control his wilder impulses.

As President Barack Obama told an audience in 2008, “Children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime, nine times more likely to drop out of school, and twenty times more likely to end up in prison.” Commenting on that speech, Dr. Alvin Poussaint, a psychiatrist with Harvard Medical School, confirmed these statistics: “The absence of fathers corresponds with a host of social ills, including dropping out of school and serving time in jail.”

In other words, if one’s primary goal is a good world—specifically, a world with far less murder, child abuse, theft, and rape—a God depicted in masculine terms (a Father in Heaven), not a goddess (a Mother in Heaven), must be the source of moral commands such as “Do not murder” and “Do not steal.”

If the father figure/rule-giver that boys need is not on Earth, a morally authoritative masculine God can serve as an effective substitute. Any discomfort you might feel with a masculine depiction of God is not comparable to the pain we will all feel if boys are not civilized into good men.

[Africanknight]

Yes indeed, lack of a father-figure on a child’s life is the greatest crime to social structure there is.

[apexpredatorXx]

Obvious that God is a man because jesus called him father...

[danny]

Title : "Why God Is a He ?"

Ariana Grande : **screaming**

[nevergreen]

Conservatives: why is the left so obsessed with gender?
Also conservatives:

[ZapDash]

I'd be interested in Prager's opinion on the role of mothers in men's development.

Might be a good Mother's Day topic.

[John]

This applies even to animals. In the Pilansburg National Park, a new nature reserve in South Africa, there was a project in the 1970's to relocate orphaned baby elephants to this reserve from other reserves, like Kruger National park.
A female Matriarch was brought in to lead the growing herd. All went well until in a few years, the young males became "teenagers", with the same raging hormones that boys have. Anger and sexual violence manifested itself as these youngsters tried to mount Rhinos, often crushing and killing them in the process. As this was a new reserve, the Wardens were at first mystified as to the Rhinos deaths. However, when a Field Ranger witnessed an attempted violent rape of a Rhino, a large Bull Elephant was brought in, and he quickly instilled discipline and order and separated the teenage males into a separate herd until they were mature enough to be herd bulls on their own, in their late 20's to 30's.

[alonpeleg]

Or because in hebrew, when you don't want to be specific about gender/sex you use the male form of expression.

[nicholas.h]

You're arguement with boys growing up without fathers and crime is faulty, correlation doesn't not equal causation. It ignore factors like single women needing to pick up the financial situation from the father's absence, which leads to boys to risking circumstances in order to help their mother

[LatteDMandora]

I grew up father less. Thank god I had my grandfather and god. If it weren’t those two I wouldn’t be half the man I am today

[awepossum]

"We have too many absent fathers on Earth to begin to even entertain the thought of having no father in heaven"

[defaultuser]

It's not just boys/men who need father figures. Women/girls need it too. Society as a whole needs father figures to give order and rules. The maternal role exists in all species. It's the role of the father that sets apart humans from animals.

[dirtydanthesecretsauceman]

It should have been a compilation of priests saying “father”.

[rhonda]

I tend to gravitate towards truth, and this explanation rings true to me. If nothing else, it's an EXCELLENT description of why we tend to call God he. I must thank you for this well articulated explanation.

[c.s.griffel]

As a woman I have never felt disrespected or lesser because the Bible refers to God as a "he" if one WANTS to be offended it's easily enough done.

[jamesmarvel]

Ariana Grande: God is a girl.

Prager U: Hold my beer.

[leroytyson]

Grew up without a father during my most impressionable years and only now I see how much damage it caused me.
Thank God, I have a Father in heaven who had mercy on me and sent His only begotten Son, my Savior Jesus Christ to redeem a great sinner like I am.
Glory to Him alone!

[aprild]

I just woke up & I'd been praying for intervention. Praying for an answer from my heavenly father. My prayers have been answered & thank you.

[natemarx]

If someone starts to actually complain about God being referred to as a 'he, ' it's time to laugh and walk away.

[felixreichelt]

This YouTube Channel is so good, that I can't stop watching
God Bless y'all.

[lorenahafner]

I always thought god is a spirit without gender. The only reason god was called father was because in the past men were in charge of everything.