he, him

 

he, him

The Course uses masculine pronouns for all beings: God and His creations (Christ, the Sons of God and the Holy Spirit). Traditionally, masculine pronouns have been used for both the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit—all “He”) and the collectivity of humanity (mankind). This has expressed the preeminence of masculinity, the victory of the male in the war of the sexes. The Course, as with so many of its terms, has taken this traditional terminology and filled it with radically new meaning. In the Course, “he” does not refer to the male, nor to specifically male qualities and values. It refers to a spirit that is neither male nor female, neither human, animal, plant or mineral, that is beyond all biology and personality and transcends space and time. Thus, rather than favoring one side of the gender gap and affirming the male victory in the war of the sexes, this new meaning does not even acknowledge gender as real. For the split between male and female is one of the most fundamental separations, and separation is an illusion. This new meaning further does not regard beings as defined in any way by their bodies, whether those bodies be male, female, human or non-human. Thus, the Course has filled terms which assumed the reality of gender and the preeminence of masculinity with meaning that radically redefines beings as non-physical and gender-free. In so doing, the Course marches the new meaning right into the old term, so that the old meaning, with all of its associated scars and aggression, can be brought to light and replaced. See brother, God, Son of God.