We can’t grasp the infinite

by worrylessjourney, posted in answers, belief, choices, consequences, feminine, infinite, masculine, religions, understanding, viewpoint

venus-of-willendorfI was thinking today about how our image of God (if you have one) colors who we are and how we think. If anthropology tells us correctly the images of God dug up from very old civilizations were mostly feminine. Women with bulbous breasts and often pregnant. The idea that women created life brought about ideas of their sacredness.

I don’t know that I have ever read any study that gives a step by step progression of how and why that image changed. Might be fun to look that up but I suspect it had to do with the shift from a hunter-gatherer society to a less mobile farming one. As civilization progressed roles continued to be defined and somehow the God as woman shifted. In many cultures there were multiple Gods connected with the perception that Gods controlled the vagaries of the earth and could be appealed to to bring good outcomes.

As God, melded into a single entity in several cultures that entity was primarily male. Our Christian beginnings, linked to the Jewish culture, were firmly entrenched in a male image.

god-box-100

All this being said how does this affect how we think? If we see a male, patriarchal God we will expect a male dominated society. Our society has had this aspect for quite a long time. If we believe in a God we have to learn to see God as more. God as feminine, God as neutral, God as gay, transgender or whatever allows us to feel connected with the divine. This idea can be offensive to some but the point is we connect with a God who is like us for right or wrong. That is why some people have had a difficult time with images of god. The image we have definitely colors our thinking. It is time we espouse a very broad image. After all, we can’t possibly grasp the infinite. Don’t put God in a box.

16 thoughts on “We can’t grasp the infinite”

      2. I understand. I too believe the Bible. Did your message finish? It ended with God is…and stopped. Probably ideas was a bad choice of words. Sometimes trying to word something doesn’t come off the way you want. Thank you for answering me.

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  3. He is perfect. He made us. He gave us the Bible. We are sinners. He sent His only perfect son to die for us.
    Therefore, knowing this, we live for Him. His way is the best way. The only true way. Other ways lead to death.
    Maybe I misunderstood you, but it seems like you said that we can do what we want and live how we want, in sin, and Our Heavenly Father is perfectly fine with this.

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    1. That is no what I meant at all. I meant we are the ones who have to change and follow the way of Christ. He ate with tax collectors, stopped people from stoning prostitutes, and saw all of us as being children of God. Because we are we are called to work to be like Him we have to be careful that we don’t try to make God have our prejudices. I have recently seen info about the Westboro Baptist Church and their protesting at the graves of soldiers. I don’t want to be like them.

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  4. The term of putting God inside of a box seems rather wrongly used here.
    He made the box, so of course we shouldn’t put Him in it.
    But, as He made the box and everything else, He also gave us instructions and laws, truth, so that we know how He created everything to be. Without the Bible, the evil, sinful world is a web of lies mixed with bits of truth, that ultimately destroys us.
    Why do we live? If we live for Him, why look and do as WE think best. Our Creator knows more than we do.
    I just see no truth in the fact that He is inclusive and wants us to go our own ways. Instead, I see that the opposite is true.
    Sorry, but I don’t understand what you are saying.

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