Anthropomorphism in Christian Theology

Anthropomorphism in Christian Theology
Author: William C. Hackett
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2023-12-28
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1350359130

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William C. Hackett provides a renewed reading of Christian theology by evaluating the role of anthropomorphism in shaping negative theology. Through this theological history, he addresses the fear of anthropomorphism that prompted early philosophers and theologians to adopt abstract understandings of God. Hackett charts the wide-ranging importance of anthropomorphism to theology through figures including Balthasar, Bultmann, Dionysius the Areopagite, and Cyril of Alexandria. He argues that anthropomorphism highlights the unique conceptual problem between divine presence and absence. By exploring the turn away from practical and embodied views of God in Scripture, this book focuses on anthropomorphic views of God in symbols, images, and narratives. Emphasising these forms promotes an intellectual vision of Christianity that challenges theoretical and conceptual abstraction. Anthropomorphism in Christian Theology further traces the nuances between human and angelic intellect, modern philosophy and theology, negative theology and the concept of transcendence.

Books-in-Brief: Anthropomorphic Depictions of God

Books-in-Brief: Anthropomorphic Depictions of God
Author: Zulfiqar Ali Shah
Publisher: International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT)
Total Pages: 82
Release: 2012-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1565645839

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This monumental study examines issues of anthropomorphism in the three Abrahamic Faiths, as viewed through the texts of the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Qur’an. Throughout history Christianity and Judaism have tried to make sense of God. While juxtaposing the Islamic position against this, the author addresses the Judeo-Christian worldview and how each has chosen to framework its encounter with God, to what extent this has been the result of actual scripture and to what extent the product of theological debate, or church decrees of later centuries and absorption of Hellenistic philosophy. Shah also examines Islam’s heavily anti-anthropomorphic stance and Islamic theological discourse on Tawhid as well as the Ninety-Nine Names of God and what these have meant in relation to Muslim understanding of God and His attributes. Describing how these became the touchstone of Muslim discourse with Judaism and Christianity he critiques theological statements and perspectives that came to dilute if not counter strict monotheism. As secularism debates whether God is dead, the issue of anthropomorphism has become of immense importance. The quest for God, especially in this day and age, is partly one of intellectual longing. To Shah, anthropomorphic concepts and corporeal depictions of the Divine are perhaps among the leading factors of modern atheism. As such he ultimately draws the conclusion that the postmodern longing for God will not be quenched by pre-modern anthropomorphic and corporeal concepts of the Divine which have simply brought God down to this cosmos, with a precise historical function and a specified location, reducing the intellectual and spiritual force of what God is and represents, causing the soul to detract from a sense of the sacred and thereby belief in Him.

Language for God in Patristic Tradition

Language for God in Patristic Tradition
Author: Mark Sheridan
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2014-12-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830840648

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Mark Sheridan, an expert in early Christianity, explores how ancient Christian theologians interpreted Scripture in order to address the problem of attributing human characteristics and emotions to God.

Books-In-Brief: Anthropomorphic Depictions of God (German Language)

Books-In-Brief: Anthropomorphic Depictions of God (German Language)
Author: Zulfiqar Ali Shah‎
Publisher: International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT)
Total Pages: 94
Release: 2014-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1642054437

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This monumental study examines issues of anthropomorphism in the three Abrahamic Faiths, as viewed through the texts of the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Qur’an. Throughout history Christianity and Judaism have tried to make sense of God. While juxtaposing the Islamic position against this, the author addresses the Judeo-Christian worldview and how each has chosen to framework its encounter with God, to what extent this has been the result of actual scripture and to what extent the product of theological debate, or church decrees of later centuries and absorption of Hellenistic philosophy. Shah also examines Islam’s heavily anti-anthropomorphic stance and Islamic theological discourse on Tawhid as well as the Ninety-Nine Names of God and what these have meant in relation to Muslim understanding of God and His attributes. Describing how these became the touchstone of Muslim discourse with Judaism and Christianity he critiques theological statements and perspectives that came to dilute if not counter strict monotheism. As secularism debates whether God is dead, the issue of anthropomorphism has become of immense importance. The quest for God, especially in this day and age, is partly one of intellectual longing. To Shah, anthropomorphic concepts and corporeal depictions of the Divine are perhaps among the leading factors of modern atheism. As such he ultimately draws the conclusion that the postmodern longing for God will not be quenched by pre-modern anthropomorphic and corporeal concepts of the Divine which have simply brought God down to this cosmos, with a precise historical function and a specified location, reducing the intellectual and spiritual force of what God is and represents, causing the soul to detract from a sense of the sacred and thereby belief in Him.

In the Eyes of God

In the Eyes of God
Author: Brian C Howell
Publisher: James Clarke & Company
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2014-07-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0227902254

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Throughout the Bible, divine interaction with humanity is portrayed in almost embarrassingly human terms. God sees, hears, thinks, feels, runs, rides chariots, laughs, wields weapons, gives birth, and even repents. Many of these descriptions, taken at face value, seem to run afoul of classical thought about God's qualities of divine simplicity, transcendence, omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, and, especially, immutability. Traditionally, such representations have been seen as accommodations to human intellectual and moral limitations. They allowed God to be more comprehensible but did not actually describe any real part of His character, being, or interaction with humanity. References to God seeing or hearing, for example, are not deemed to represent real acts, as God is all-knowing. This view is largely based on the Aristotelian conception of metaphors: they are rhetorical devices and should not be taken literally. Since the 1970s, our understanding of the ways in which metaphors convey meaning has become much more sophisticated. We are better able to unlock the function of human acts of God within the Bible. This book aims to explore the biblical metaphor of divine sight in Genesis and how current conceptions of metaphorical function can enrich our reading of the text and its theology.

Albanian: Books-In-Brief: Anthropomorphic Depictions of God

Albanian: Books-In-Brief: Anthropomorphic Depictions of God
Author: Zulfiqar Ali Shah
Publisher: International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT)
Total Pages: 147
Release: 2021-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 164205576X

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This monumental study examines issues of anthropomorphism in the three Abrahamic Faiths, as viewed through the texts of the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Qur’an. Throughout history Christianity and Judaism have tried to make sense of God. While juxtaposing the Islamic position against this, the author addresses the Judeo-Christian worldview and how each has chosen to framework its encounter with God, to what extent this has been the result of actual scripture and to what extent the product of theological debate, or church decrees of later centuries and absorption of Hellenistic philosophy. Shah also examines Islam’s heavily anti-anthropomorphic stance and Islamic theological discourse on Tawhid as well as the Ninety-Nine Names of God and what these have meant in relation to Muslim understanding of God and His attributes. Describing how these became the touchstone of Muslim discourse with Judaism and Christianity he critiques theological statements and perspectives that came to dilute if not counter strict monotheism. As secularism debates whether God is dead, the issue of anthropomorphism has become of immense importance. The quest for God, especially in this day and age, is partly one of intellectual longing. To Shah, anthropomorphic concepts and corporeal depictions of the Divine are perhaps among the leading factors of modern atheism. As such he ultimately draws the conclusion that the postmodern longing for God will not be quenched by pre-modern anthropomorphic and corporeal concepts of the Divine which have simply brought God down to this cosmos, with a precise historical function and a specified location, reducing the intellectual and spiritual force of what God is and represents, causing the soul to detract from a sense of the sacred and thereby belief in Him.

Anthropomorphism in Christian Theology

Anthropomorphism in Christian Theology
Author: William C. Hackett
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2023-12-28
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1350359122

Download Anthropomorphism in Christian Theology Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

William C. Hackett provides a renewed reading of Christian theology by evaluating the role of anthropomorphism in shaping negative theology. Through this theological history, he addresses the fear of anthropomorphism that prompted early philosophers and theologians to adopt abstract understandings of God. Hackett charts the wide-ranging importance of anthropomorphism to theology through figures including Balthasar, Bultmann, Dionysius the Areopagite, and Cyril of Alexandria. He argues that anthropomorphism highlights the unique conceptual problem between divine presence and absence. By exploring the turn away from practical and embodied views of God in Scripture, this book focuses on anthropomorphic views of God in symbols, images, and narratives. Emphasising these forms promotes an intellectual vision of Christianity that challenges theoretical and conceptual abstraction. Anthropomorphism in Christian Theology further traces the nuances between human and angelic intellect, modern philosophy and theology, negative theology and the concept of transcendence.

Visions of Christ

Visions of Christ
Author: Paul A. Patterson
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2012
Genre: Anthropomorphism
ISBN: 9783161520402

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In the late fourth century, tales began to circulate of 'anthropomorphites' dwelling in the Egyptian desert-uneducated monks who crudely believed God to have a body. This characterization was accepted until the nineteenth-century discovery of "The Life of Apa Aphou of Pemdje". Although clearly defending the 'anthropomorphites,' this text does not promote any sort of anthropomorphism. Further analysis led many scholars to conclude that what the anthropomorphites were actually defending was the legitimacy of forming images of the Incarnate Christ in prayer. However, this view fails to fully explain numerous anti-anthropomorphite writings (those of Theophilus, Jerome, Cassian, Cyril and Augustine). Taking these into account, as well as certain Nag Hammadi texts and the works of Philo, Paul A. Patterson shows that the anthropomorphites were bearers of an ancient tradition, seeking in prayer the vision of the eternal, divine body of Chris

Forming God

Forming God
Author: Anne K. Knafl
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 327
Release: 2014-10-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 1575068990

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This volume examines divine anthropomorphism in the Hebrew Bible, a study characterized by disagreement and contradiction. Discussions of anthropomorphism in the Hebrew Bible are typically found in three areas of inquiry: ancient Israelite religion, as reflected by the compositions of the Pentateuch; comparisons with ancient Near Eastern religions; and comparison with ancient translation and interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. Contradictory arguments exist, both within each area of study and between them, about the intent of biblical writers, with respect to a theology of anthropomorphism. In this work, Knafl asserts that biblical studies has reached this impasse, largely due to its approach to the study of the phenomenon. The prevailing method has been to study divine anthropomorphism within an assumed framework of polemic and by associating it with a theological system. By contrast, Knafl analyzes divine anthropomorphism as a literary-contextual phenomenon and seeks to build a typology, from which secondary arguments regarding theology or history of religion may be built. This typology will provide scholars of biblical studies, history of religion, and (systematic) theology with a means of evaluating divine anthropomorphisms and their relation to human-divine interactions, as a biblical phenomenon.

A Peculiar Glory

A Peculiar Glory
Author: John Piper
Publisher: Crossway
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2016-03-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1433552663

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God has provided a way for all people, not just scholars, to know that the Bible is the Word of God. John Piper has devoted his life to showing us that the glory of God is object of the soul’s happiness. Now, his burden in this book is to demonstrate that this same glory is the ground of the mind’s certainty. God’s peculiar glory shines through his Word. The Spirit of God enlightens the eyes of our hearts. And in one self-authenticating sight, our minds are sure and our hearts are satisfied. Justified certainty and solid joy meet in the peculiar glory of God.