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Monotheists hold a belief in one '' God '' as a fundamental religious principle.
GOD IN THE HEBREW BIBLE In the first book of the , God states "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness....And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Exactly what Genesis means by the word "image" is not clear, but there is an analogy being made between God and humans. In some ways this passage is anthropomorphic; it is attributing human characteristics to God. However, less recognized is that the viewpoint of the Israelite biblical writers was theomorphic: humans are seen as having Godly characteristics. The Hebrew Bible often refers to God as a father. In one case, God is compared to the bridegroom and his people to the bride. :For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. ( Isaiah 62:5) If the feminine is used in connection with the divine nurturing, it is usually ascribed to an intermediary entity personified as feminine – for example, the City of Jerusalem. :Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: :That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. :For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. :As one whom his mother comforts, so I (God) will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. ( Isaiah 66:10-13) God promised to provide comfort as a mother, but indirectly through the blessings that would flow from Jerusalem. Zion is another example of a mother metaphor. ( Isaiah 1:27) The Biblical Hebrew word for spirit is ''ruah'', meaning wind, breath, inspiration; the noun is grammatically feminine. JEWISH VIEWS OF GOD AND GENDER In regard to translating Hebrew names of God into English, most Orthodox Jews and many Conservative Jews hold that it is wrong to use English female pronouns for God; their reason is not because God is of the male gender, but because doing so among English speakers tends to draw attention to God as having gender. Another reason is that the Hebrew Bible usually uses names of God that are grammatically masculine. Among many Reconstructionist Jews and Reform Jews there has been an increasing tendency to stress feminine characteristics of God. In these communities God is sometimes spoken of as a "She". Classical Hebrew names for God such as ''HaQadosh Baruch Hu'' ("The Holy One, praised be He") are sometimes being rewritten in both Hebrew and English as ''HaQ'dosha B'rucha He'' ("The Holy One, praised be She"). However, those in Reform Judaism who hold more closely to traditional Jewish belief (as well as Conservative Jews and Orthodox Jews) hold that this rewriting of Hebrew names for God is both a theological and linguistic error; it presupposes the belief that grammatical gender implies sexual gender, which it does not. As such, people who make these translations imply that other Jews worship a male God, which they do not. Some Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis have experimented with incorporating explicit anthropomorphic characteristics into their prayers. Reform Rabbi Rebecca Alpert (''Reform Judaism'', Winter 1991) writes about a feminist Siddur (Jewish prayerbook) she used: :The experience of praying with ''Siddur Nashim'' ... transformed my relationship with God. For the first time, I understood what it meant to be made in God's image. To think of God as a woman like myself, to see Her as both powerful and nurturing, to see Her imaged with a woman's body, with womb, with breasts-this was an experience of ultimate significance. Was this the relationship that men have had with God for all these millennia? How wonderful to gain access to those feelings and perceptions. Most Jews reject this theology as unacceptable; a separate criticism is that it misrepresents what other Jews actually believe. Classical rabbinic Jews in the past, and Orthodox Jews today, would vehemently dispute the claim that they imagine that God has male sexual characteristics, and that they use these beliefs to create a close relationship to God. Many traditional rabbinic commentators, such as Maimonides , viewed any such beliefs as Avodah Zarah , "idolatry". While primary male sexual characteristics are absent from Jewish descriptions of God, secondary male sexual characteristics occur in some ''piyuttim'' (religious poems.) Some of these poems incorporate allegorical male images of God, such as a description of the beard of God ''Shir Hakavod'', "The Hymn of Glory", and similar poetic imagery in the Midrash ''Song of the Seas Rabbah''. Traditional Meforshim (rabbinic commentators) hold that this is valid imagery, but purely metaphorical, and warn readers not to imagine that this describes God as being male. Some traditional Jewish prayers refer to God as ''Avinu Malkeinu'', "Our Father, Our King". Feminine forms of this phrase "Our Mother, Our Queen" have traditionally never been used in Jewish prayers. Some hold that there is no ''a priori'' reason why such terminology is not used, but nonetheless most Jews today do not use this terminology, as they see these terms as being associated with polytheism. CHRISTIAN VIEWS OF GOD AND GENDER
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