Gender as a divine attribute

It is standard within the Christian tradition to characterize God in predominantly masculine terms. Let ‘traditionalism' refer to the view that this pattern of characterization is theologically mandatory. In this article, I seek to undercut the main motivations for traditionalism by showing tha...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Rea, Michael C. 1968- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Cambridge Univ. Press [2016]
In: Religious studies
Year: 2016, Volume: 52, Issue: 1, Pages: 97-115
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B God / Gender / Attribute
RelBib Classification:AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
NBC Doctrine of God
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:It is standard within the Christian tradition to characterize God in predominantly masculine terms. Let ‘traditionalism' refer to the view that this pattern of characterization is theologically mandatory. In this article, I seek to undercut the main motivations for traditionalism by showing that it is not more accurate to characterize God as masculine rather than feminine (or vice versa). The novelty of my argument lies in the fact that it presupposes neither theological anti-realism nor a robust doctrine of divine transcendence, but instead rests heavy theoretical weight on the imago Dei doctrine and the method of perfect-being theology. The article closes by examining the implications of the article's main argument for the moral and liturgical propriety of characterizing God in predominantly masculine terms.
ISSN:1469-901X
Contains:Enthalten in: Religious studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1017/S0034412514000614