Father-Mother God

[Gabriela]

On 9/13/2016 at 2:29 AM, Antigonos said:

the various names and titles of God are in the masculine.

לא כולם: השכינה. 

[beatitude]

4 hours ago, Gabriela said:

לא כולם: השכינה. 

I was thinking of that, but perhaps Antigonos was referring just to the titles that appear in Tanakh? I think Shekinah appears mainly in Talmud.

[Antigonos]

2 hours ago, beatitude said:

I was thinking of that, but perhaps Antigonos was referring just to the titles that appear in Tanakh? I think Shekinah appears mainly in Talmud.

The Shechina or "radiance" of God is more an adjectival quality than a title or name.  One does not invoke the Shechina in prayer.  There are quite a few of these qualities or attributes, some masculine and some feminine, as for example "דין", "din" (judgement), or רחמנות "rachmanut" (mercy).  They are words which describe God, not names.  If one wished, one could (and indeed, one does) invoke "El Rachum" (Merciful God). ריבונו של עולם, "Ribono shel Olam", or "Master of the Universe", would be another title used in prayer.

A subtle difference.

Edited September 15, 2016 by Antigonos

[Jack4]

Quote

CCC 370 In no way is God in man's image. He is neither man nor woman. God is pure spirit in which there is no place for the difference between the sexes. But the respective "perfections" of man and woman reflect something of the infinite perfection of God: those of a mother and those of a father and husband.

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2) http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20080201_validity-baptism_en.html 

 

[Gabriela]

4 hours ago, Antigonos said:

The Shechina or "radiance" of God is more an adjectival quality than a title or name.  One does not invoke the Shechina in prayer.  There are quite a few of these qualities or attributes, some masculine and some feminine, as for example "דין", "din" (judgement), or רחמנות "rachmanut" (mercy).  They are words which describe God, not names.  If one wished, one could (and indeed, one does) invoke "El Rachum" (Merciful God). ריבונו של עולם, "Ribono shel Olam", or "Master of the Universe", would be another title used in prayer.

A subtle difference.

I was taught by Chabad and they said that "the Shechinah" rests between a husband and wife when they're married, when they're intimate, etc. The "Shechinah" is simply God present in the world, like the Holy Spirit. I'm not sure the title/quality distinction matters much for the masculine/feminine argument, but in any case you're right that the large majority of titles/qualities are masculine, so maybe it doesn't matter!

[dominicansoul]

You should just ask the community what they mean by that.