wir sind g"ottlichen Geschlechts
over
wir sind g"ottlicher Natur
asked "I'm not quite sure what the difference between 'Natur' and
'Geschlecht' is supposed to be" .
Dedekind refers to the Acts, 17, 28-29, which in English translation read
28 `For in him we live and move and haveour being.' As some of your
own poets havesaid, `We are his offspring.'
29 "Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that
the divine being is like gold or silver or stone--an image made by
man's design and skill.
But Dedekind, of course, used the German version which is
28 Denn in ihm leben, weben und sind wir; wie auch einige Dichter bei
euch gesagt haben: Wir sind seines Geschlechts.
29 Da wir nun (a) g"ottlichen Geschlechts sind, sollen wir nicht
meinen, (b) die Gottheit sei gleich den goldenen, silbernen und
steinernen Bildern, durch menschliche Kunst und Gedanken gemacht.
The German word "Geschlecht" has the meanings (1) sex, (2) (grammatical)
gender, (3) family . The third meaning occurs in literary language, and
"vom Geschlecht X sein" is used in the sense to come from and be a member
of the family named X .
So "Y ist von g"ottlicher Natur" means that Y is of divine nature: there
are parts at least of his 'nature' which are divine. Leaving the Christian
tradition, Y then will at least be a demi-god.
Whereas "Y ist von g"ottlichem Geschlecht" means that Y is the member
of a family said to be divine. The the text of the Acts makes clear that
this means to be human, belonging to Adam's family.
My grandfather, for instance, still worked on a farm as did all his
forefathers. So I may well say that I am from a farmer's Geschlecht, but
even though I can use a scythe, there is nothing in my 'nature' from
which I could claim to have a farmer's nature.
W.F.