Does God Have a Gender?

We usually think of the number one as a unit; a unit that can be multiplied to make something bigger and greater. However, we could also think of the number one rather as a great, all-inclusive unity out of which all numbers are derived: one divided becomes two; divided again, three four and so on.

The creator said, Let us create the earthly human being in our image, according to our likeness. (Genesis 1:26) Out of the One-ness of God a unified archetype of the androgynous human being is created. God first creates an archetype for the human being, imaged after God, imaged after the One-ness out of Whom all else is derived. This human archetype is at first both male and female – androgynous – since God contains all.

Then in Genesis there follows:

….So God created humankind [the archetypal human being] in his image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1: 27)

Thus comes the first division of the unity; the androgynous whole is divided into male and female.

God is the great unity that encompasses all genders. To the question of whether God is male or female, the answer is Yes!

One can think of Christ as the human being who has perfectly integrated the divided masculine and feminine sides of human nature. In order to fulfill His mission (including His crucifixion), He had to incarnate in a male-gendered body, but His relations with women were exemplary, neither chauvinistic nor submissive. This is an indication of a man who has integrated himself well with the inner feminine side of his own soul. Perhaps this is one of our truly Christian tasks – for men to integrate into themselves the feminine side of their own soul, and for women to integrate in a healthy way the masculine aspects of their soul. Thus, we will ultimately re-unite in love, on a higher level, what was divided in the beginning.