Does the human soul have a gender?

[Mr. P]

Like I posted before, it's more than just "following the rules." It's believing in Jesus as God's Messiah - the one who died in substitution for you to atone for your sins. It has nothing to do with feelings and everything to do with a conscious decision to believe.

Good new thread for sure. Why did anyone have to die for my sin?

After all, we all die anyway. And according to some Christian denominations, all ya gotta do before death is ask for forgiveness and the slate is wiped clean.

Then sin is based on belief of right vs wrong, so sin for one is not for another I guess.

[darin]

After all, we all die anyway. And according to some Christian denominations, all ya gotta do before death is ask for forgiveness and the slate is wiped clean.

I've never heard that. Weird. Christianity believes one must be 'sincere' - not a courtesy 'I'm sorry prayer' but one must come to a realization of Christ's divinity. That 'can' happen seconds before death, though.

The WORST part about seconds-before-death conversion is this: One spends their entire life living as less-than they could be had they submitted to God's call on their heart earlier.

[Hagbard Celine]

Good new thread for sure. Why did anyone have to die for my sin?

After all, we all die anyway. And according to some Christian denominations, all ya gotta do before death is ask for forgiveness and the slate is wiped clean.

Then sin is based on belief of right vs wrong, so sin for one is not for another I guess.

This is kinda what my original thought for this thread was. The designation of "sin" is based solely on God's conferring this designation onto certain behaviors. Since we've established that we will not even have gender in the afterlife, my question is why do "sins" of the flesh have any bearing on our salvation? The answer is (taking the Bible's legitimacy as the word of God at face value) that they have bearing solely because God says they do. In my mind's eye, that makes their designation as "sins" very arbitrary--it's a hoop we have to jump through to get to heaven. For me, it throws a wrench into God's message of "love" for humanity. It seems mean spirited to torture someone's soul for eternity just because they failed to follow an arbitrary rule. :huh:

*I should say that I'm not gay. I'm just arguing on behalf of gays.

[Mr. P]

I've never heard that. Weird. Christianity believes one must be 'sincere' - not a courtesy 'I'm sorry prayer' but one must come to a realization of Christ's divinity. That 'can' happen seconds before death, though.

The WORST part about seconds-before-death conversion is this: One spends their entire life living as less-than they could be had they submitted to God's call on their heart earlier.

You should study more.

[Nienna]

This is kinda what my original thought for this thread was. The designation of "sin" is based solely on God's conferring this designation onto certain behaviors. Since we've established that we will not even have gender in the afterlife, my question is why do "sins" of the flesh have any bearing on our salvation?

It's kind of hard to distinguish "sins of the flesh" from "other sins." Sin is sin. Period. We commit ALL sins inside our bodies. In the Bible, the word "flesh" is used to describe a set of tendencies or repeated behaviors that we have.

The answer is (taking the Bible's legitimacy as the word of God at face value) that they have bearing solely because God says they do. In my mind's eye, that makes their designation as "sins" very arbitrary--it's a hoop we have to jump through to get to heaven. For me, it throws a wrench into God's message of "love" for humanity. It seems mean spirited to torture someone's soul for eternity just because they failed to follow an arbitrary rule.

Well, of course some things are arbitrary. God CREATED them to be how He wanted them. That is the benefit of being the Creator: He got to make things the way HE wanted them.

The message of love cannot be understood until we first understand our position as created beings. We were not made for ourselves. Suppose you were making a universe... would you make a bunch of creatures just to let them run around and do whatever they wanted? God made this universe to glorify Himself. We were made by Him and for His purposes. We don't DESERVE anything; He gets to decide our purpose, because He made us.

Once that is understood, the message of love can be seen. That even though He made us for His own purposes, even though every single one of us (except Jesus) has at one point or another rejected God's authority and done things our own way, even though we have tried to twist His plan to get what WE want, He still made a way for us to return to Him. He still LONGS for us to have a relationship with Him. He sent His perfect Son to die so that the just price for our sin would be payed. THAT is love.

If someone STILL rejects His authority, after all that, what should be done? After all, God is a JUST God. Should no punishment be given? It is a choice. God gave the gift of free will.

[Pale Rider]

Frankly, I think our souls will have a gender, because you will be yourself, either male or female. You may not have any use for said parts determining gender, but they could still be there.

And that is my opinion, just for the sake of debate. How will we ever know beyond our opinion?

[darin]

Frankly, I think our souls will have a gender, because you will be yourself, either male or female. You may not have any use for said parts determining gender, but they could still be there.

And that is my opinion, just for the sake of debate. How will we ever know beyond our opinion?

I think it boils down to this: Will we have NEED to poo or pee? To procreate? Not likely IMO - but not impossible I guess. As we won't be given into marriage, I can't see 'mating' happening.

[Nienna]

But, apart from the above, the original question is fascinating to me. I have actually been thinking a lot about it, lately. My gender is more than just my sex organs. Like Jeff said, it is written in every cell in my body. But even more than that, it shapes my personality, desires, and emotional needs.

God made humans, male and female. They complement each other, not just physically, but emotionally. The two halves are symbolic of the duality of God's nature: His justice and his love.

I wonder if, in Heaven, will we have a partner? The one person whom God created as our perfect complement, from sometime in history... not to procreate, but to PARTNER, for our work in Eternity...Is this where we get the idea of a "soul mate"? Or, will we not need that any more? Will God, Himself, be the completion of our souls? Will we interact with one another in Heaven, or will it just be us & God forever?

[Hagbard Celine]

But, apart from the above, the original question is fascinating to me. I have actually been thinking a lot about it, lately. My gender is more than just my sex organs. Like Jeff said, it is written in every cell in my body. But even more than that, it shapes my personality, desires, and emotional needs.

God made humans, male and female. They complement each other, not just physically, but emotionally. The two halves are symbolic of the duality of God's nature: His justice and his love.

I wonder if, in Heaven, will we have a partner? The one person whom God created as our perfect complement, from sometime in history... not to procreate, but to PARTNER, for our work in Eternity...Is this where we get the idea of a "soul mate"? Or, will we not need that any more? Will God, Himself, be the completion of our souls? Will we interact with one another in Heaven, or will it just be us & God forever?

I prefer to think of heaven as it is portrayed in popular culture--as a paradise where our every whim and desire is granted and everything is perfect. Your body is idyllic and never ages or gets damaged. I hope that God will walk and talk with us as he did with Adam in the garden. If eternity means kneeling at the foot of the throne, I don't think I like the sound of that.

[Nienna]

Well... I can't answer that from a Christian perspective, but I can answer if from mine. Kabbalah says that each of the attributes of G-d (sephirot) have to be in balance, kind of like yin and yang. In order for good to exist as good, there has to be evil to contrast it. We are given free will about the path we choose. Also, in Judaism, there is no hell. Satan is simply the most beautiful of angels who was cast out for his arrogance in thinking he was G-d's equal.

In Kabbalah, are there more attributes of God than just "good" and "evil"?

That's interesting. I always thought of "good" and "truth" and "light" standing alone. However, "evil" and "lies" and "darkness" do not exist except as the opposition of the first set of things.

[darin]

I prefer to think of heaven as it is portrayed in popular culture--as a paradise where our every whim and desire is granted and everything is perfect. Your body is idyllic and never ages or gets damaged. I hope that God will walk and talk with us as he did with Adam in the garden. If eternity means kneeling at the foot of the throne, I don't think I like the sound of that.

That's a fairly self-centered idea of heaven, brother...IF heaven is eternally kneeling at God's foot, I know it'll be more fulfilling that I could ever imagine. God does not give us bad things. That's how he rolls.

[Nienna]

I prefer to think of heaven as it is portrayed in popular culture--as a paradise where our every whim and desire is granted and everything is perfect. Your body is idyllic and never ages or gets damaged. I hope that God will walk and talk with us as he did with Adam in the garden. If eternity means kneeling at the foot of the throne, I don't think I like the sound of that.

LOL! Yeah... in my human nature, sometimes I'm not sure I like it too much either. But, I acknowledge that God is God. I bend to HIS will, not He to mine. Well... at least I TRY to. Well, sometimes, I stop trying. But then I start again.

I tend to think we will have perfect bodies, too, and that God will walk & talk with us as He did Adam & Eve. I also think we will be given a task, or many tasks, but it will be FUN and INTERESTING, not work. I remember when we were kids, and we had all these projects... once we had a buckeye "factory." The neighbor boy climbed the buckeye tree and shook it until a bunch of buckeyes fell down. My little sisters would gather them and bring them across the trail to me, my other sister, and the neighbor girl. With sharp, flat rocks, we would chop the spiny hulls off the buckeyes to get out the smooth round pit. We filled a five-gallon bucket full of buckeyes. My dad drilled holes in them, and we strung them together as necklaces. It was a lot of work, but we couldn't wait to get home from school to do it, because it was FUN. I think our work in Heaven will be like that--- discovering, exploring, building, growing. And we will all be able to work together in harmony without envy and destruction. And everything will be done for God's glory, with gratitude and awe at what He made possible. And everyone will do what he is best suited to do; everyone will play a necessary part in the tasks, so no one will be without purpose. And then, at very special times, we will be called into the city, into His throne room, to worship all together and give praise and to glorify the One who made us!

Or so I imagine.

[Gunny]

You mean you don't know what is right and wrong? I don't need a god to tell me what is right and wrong.

As to the original question - yet another logical reason not to believe. What do you do in heaven all day - play cribbage?

No you don't because you have somewhat learned what your Western, Judeo-Christian-based society has taught you is right and wrong.

[jillian]

In Kabbalah, are there more attributes of God than just "good" and "evil"?

That's interesting. I always thought of "good" and "truth" and "light" standing alone. However, "evil" and "lies" and "darkness" do not exist except as the opposition of the first set of things.

Kabbalah is very interesting, but this can probably describe it far better than I cout.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephirot

[Hagbard Celine]

LOL! Yeah... in my human nature, sometimes I'm not sure I like it too much either. But, I acknowledge that God is God. I bend to HIS will, not He to mine. Well... at least I TRY to. Well, sometimes, I stop trying. But then I start again.

I tend to think we will have perfect bodies, too, and that God will walk & talk with us as He did Adam & Eve. I also think we will be given a task, or many tasks, but it will be FUN and INTERESTING, not work. I remember when we were kids, and we had all these projects... once we had a buckeye "factory." The neighbor boy climbed the buckeye tree and shook it until a bunch of buckeyes fell down. My little sisters would gather them and bring them across the trail to me, my other sister, and the neighbor girl. With sharp, flat rocks, we would chop the spiny hulls off the buckeyes to get out the smooth round pit. We filled a five-gallon bucket full of buckeyes. My dad drilled holes in them, and we strung them together as necklaces. It was a lot of work, but we couldn't wait to get home from school to do it, because it was FUN. I think our work in Heaven will be like that--- discovering, exploring, building, growing. And we will all be able to work together in harmony without envy and destruction. And everything will be done for God's glory, with gratitude and awe at what He made possible. And everyone will do what he is best suited to do; everyone will play a necessary part in the tasks, so no one will be without purpose. And then, at very special times, we will be called into the city, into His throne room, to worship all together and give praise and to glorify the One who made us!

Or so I imagine.

I like your version. But you forgot the buffets! In heaven there will be a never-ending buffet! and all the drinks will be comped