Article
Theopathic or Anthropopathic? A Suggested Approach to Imagery of Divine Emotion in the Hebrew Bible
Perspectives in Religious Studies
(2015)
Abstract
This article critically examines the view that figurative anatomical expressions of divine emotion should be dismissed as non-descriptive of God and suggests an alternative approach. First, since all available language is human language, the dismissal of figurative language for this reason is self-defeating. Second, the interpreter should not presume what God is like independent of the biblical data. Third, attention to the idiomatic usage of figurative anatomical expressions demonstrates that such idioms are not dependent upon the anatomical referent. Therefore, the interpreter should maintain the well-known meaning of an idiom as an analogical reference to God’s emotions (theopathism).
Publication Date
2015
Citation Information
John C Peckham. "Theopathic or Anthropopathic? A Suggested Approach to Imagery of Divine Emotion in the Hebrew Bible" Perspectives in Religious Studies Vol. 42 Iss. 4 (2015) p. 87 - 101 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/john_peckham/14/