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Forming God : divine anthropomorphism in the Pentateuch / Anne K. Knafl.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Siphrut ; 12.Publisher: Winona Lake, Indiana : Eisenbrauns, 2014Description: 1 online resource (xiii, 311 pages)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9781575068992
  • 1575068990
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Additional physical formats: Print version:: Forming GodDDC classification:
  • 222.1 23
LOC classification:
  • BS1192.6 .K53 2014eb
Other classification:
  • online - EBSCO
Online resources:
Contents:
Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; Chapter 1; Introduction; The Topic and History of Scholarship; The Relevance of a New Study; The Approach of This Study; Structure and Argument; Chapter 2; Methodology and a Test Case; Methodology; Creation and Divine Anthropomorphism: A Test Case (Genesis 1:1-2:4a); Anthropomorphic Features of God in Genesis 1:1-2:4a; A Preliminary Typology; Chapter 3; The Divine Body; Definition; God's Bodies: Full- and Small-Scale Manifestation; Mental Activity: Bodily Idiom and the Inner Life of the Deity; Chapter 4; Divine Location; Definition.
Theophany: Earthly PresenceDivine Mobility; Sustained Presence; Chapter 5; Divine Action and Interaction; Definition; A Survey of Divine Action in the Sources; Divine Action with Direct or Indirect Interaction; Chapter 6; Conclusion; A Typology of Divine Anthropomorphism in the Pentateuch; Divine Anthropomorphism in the Pentateuchal Sources; Implications of this Study and Future Avenues of Research; Bibliography; Index of Authors; Index of Scripture.
Summary: 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.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - EBSCO (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (ebsco)920444

Based on the author's thesis (doctoral - University of Chicago, 2011).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Print version record.

Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; Chapter 1; Introduction; The Topic and History of Scholarship; The Relevance of a New Study; The Approach of This Study; Structure and Argument; Chapter 2; Methodology and a Test Case; Methodology; Creation and Divine Anthropomorphism: A Test Case (Genesis 1:1-2:4a); Anthropomorphic Features of God in Genesis 1:1-2:4a; A Preliminary Typology; Chapter 3; The Divine Body; Definition; God's Bodies: Full- and Small-Scale Manifestation; Mental Activity: Bodily Idiom and the Inner Life of the Deity; Chapter 4; Divine Location; Definition.

Theophany: Earthly PresenceDivine Mobility; Sustained Presence; Chapter 5; Divine Action and Interaction; Definition; A Survey of Divine Action in the Sources; Divine Action with Direct or Indirect Interaction; Chapter 6; Conclusion; A Typology of Divine Anthropomorphism in the Pentateuch; Divine Anthropomorphism in the Pentateuchal Sources; Implications of this Study and Future Avenues of Research; Bibliography; Index of Authors; Index of Scripture.

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.