trinitarianism (god the father, god the son, holy spirit)

I understand the concept of God existing in three persons, but how did this tenet arise in Christianity? Why is it necessary? I guess the Father/Son distinction is pretty obvious, but I guess I'm still kinda shaky on the whole holy ghost thing.

the ghost is christianity's concession to female deity, as it is of uncertain gender

The Roman Catholic church did pretty much everything in its power *not* to concede to a female deity. Even to the point of putting in this functionless "spirit" instead of the obvious feminine bit of a family-based triad.

but the Catholic church didn't invent the idea of the Holy Spirit, did it? And isn't the obvious feminine bit of this family based triad the Virgin Mary?

it's ok crut'n'kate i was just postin' the first smart-ass comment that came into my head

Yes, the obvious person to make the third deity is totally Mary Mother of God. But noooo, they couldn't do that. They SAAAAAY it's because it would f*ck up the god/human dichotomy, but really we know it's cause Christianity hates women.

OK, holy ghost doctrine is pre-Schism so I guess it would be common or garden catholic rather than Roman Catholic. The trinity is really old and pretty universal throughout Christianity. (Except Unitarians, natch.)

It's all based around Pentecost - which is in the Acts of the Apostles, isn't it?

there's nothing particularly feminine about the ref's to the holy spirit in the bible. they are mostly about something active, god as a force, inspiration etc.

Yes, because the feminine is totally incapable of being active, inspiring etc. Sheesh.

that's not what i said

Kate the bible wasn't written by Oprah

How does Roman Catholic "mama"-worship--particularly in Latin-American countries, where the Virgin Mary is often revered at least as much as Jesus(?), I suppose--fit into this? Perhaps Dom can shed some light on this crucial subject.

I was criticising Goole's interpretation of descriptions of aspects of inanimate objects as "feminine".

Mary-worshipped peaked in the high middle ages. At which point the church said, nu-uh, never gonna make her divine.

Her official status is a bit weird. She's obvious more than a Saint, but less than a divinity. I think she's viewed more as some kind of "special intercessor" - at least in Roman Catholicism. Protestant and Orthodox theology may vary.

Yeah, maybe according to official church doctrine, sure. But Mary seems to be viewed as something of a divinity in her own right among many Latin-American communities/households, at the very least. Hell (no pun intended), my own Greek Orthodox mom is far more likely to invoke Mary's name rather than Jesus'/God's in times of difficulty. The people's, they wants their Goddess, yes they does!

Traditional churches in out of touch with people's needs and practices shocker!

HONORABLE BIRD