I have recently read in a book about some debate around the fact that God is considered a masculine figure (He/His) and that we should find gender neutral of expressing the same ideas. In my native language it is very hard to do this (God is a masculine noun and it is also derived from Domine Deus which also sounds masculine). However, English has the advantage of having "it". According to Wordnick , "it" usage guide is also: > Used of a **nonhuman entity**; an animate being whose sex is unspecified (..) It sounds like a good fit, but I am wondering if this is ever appropriate or even offensive. **Questions:** What are some of the mainstream theological views on this? Secondly, what about the Biblical basis for doing so, is it *specifically* forbidden? Do any denominations do this in practice?

In the United States, there is both religious freedom and academic freedom. In the world of academic freedom there seems to be an orthodoxy of non-sectariansim that invades thought and speech. Movies like God's Not Dead and... God's Not Dead 2 have documented this over and over again as issue. But has anything so minute as forcing Christian scholars to use the abbreviation BCE and CE instead of AD and BC on their published works occured? If so, what reasoning do irreligious people have for making such a request and what apologetic has (if any) said Christian scholars used for refuting them?

Often times I see political correctness as an excuse to remove references to God. The excuse is that it is an effort to not offend those of different faiths. For example instead of *Christmas* it is the *Holiday Season*. I often times find myself torn on this matter. I have friends of many faiths, and I do not want to offend them, but is being politically correct showing shame for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? > **Mark 8:38 (KJV)** Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. *Is there a middle ground were we can show respect for the faith of others where we are not softening the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?* Of course I am never offended to hear members of other faiths talk about or celebrate their beliefs. Is maybe the true political correctness to just accept the faith and beliefs of others? I wish my Jewish friends a Happy Hanukkah and they wish me a Merry Christmas.

In this age of “Political Correctness”, it seems that many people now frown upon the use of *he* as a gender-neutral pronoun with which to refer to the Christian God, though it was universally used for centuries before the women’s liberation movement of the 1960s. Julian of Norwich and Hildegard of Bingen both referred to “Mother God” in the Middle Ages, but there seem to be no other notable examples throughout history. Are there any traditions which avoid the wrath of those who object to male-dominated language and refer to the Christian God as *she, it* or *they*? Or is God always male and *he*?

Is there an official Christian statement for or against the use of AD & BC vs CE & BCE when it comes to the identification of the time before and after the birth of Christ? What is the preferred Christian method of indicating dates?