scholarly journals The human icon: Gregory of Nazianzus on being animago Dei

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-181
Author(s):  
Gabrielle Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Theological Anthropology ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Imago Dei

AbstractTheologians have long recognised the significance of theimago Deiin Christian theological anthropology, yet the question of how to construe theimagois not straightforward. This essay offers a fresh reading of Gregory Nazianzen's vision of theimago Dei. Hitherto, historical theologians have attributed to Gregory an essentialist interpretation of theimago, in which it is identified only with the rational soul. I argue that Gregory depicts theimago Deiquite literally as a visible icon of God by weaving together christology, pneumatology and beliefs about images and idols. If interpreted properly, Gregory's vision contributes significantly to contemporary interpretations of theimago Dei, which aim to account for christology, pneumatology and the inclusion of each human person in theimago.

The Image and Likeness of God

2020 ◽  
pp. 265-286
Author(s):  
John Arblaster
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Theological Anthropology ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Imago Dei ◽  
Central Theme ◽  
Mystical Tradition ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Subject ◽  
East And West ◽  
The Rich

This chapter examines the subject of humanity as created in the image and likeness of God, a central theme in the Christian mystical tradition. Indeed, the imago Dei forms the foundation of much if not all Christian theological anthropology, and questions of the ‘nature’ and ‘structure’ of the human person are evidently central to questions of the mystical encounter between human persons and God. This chapter first surveys the scriptural background of the imago Dei in both Genesis and the New Testament and then provides a brief survey of current systematic-theological and historical-theological approaches. After providing some background to patristic imago Dei theologies in both the East and West, the chapter focuses in-depth on three lesser-known medieval authors: John of Fécamp, William of St Thierry, and John of Ruusbroec, in an attempt to highlight the rich variation and theological sophistication of their mystical anthropologies.

Priests of creation, mediators of order: the human person as a cultural being in Thomas F. Torrance's theological anthropology

2005 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric G. Flett
Keyword(s):  
Theological Anthropology ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Imago Dei ◽  
Salient Features ◽  
Goals And Objectives

Salient features of Thomas F. Torrance's theological anthropology are presented in order to recommend that he be read as not only a scientific theologian, but also a theologian of culture. It will be shown that Torrance understands the imago Dei to imply a cluster of relations and dynamics that suggest the human person is essentially a socio-cultural being, created in a particular way in order to fulfil a particular task. An interpretative proposal is then made suggesting that this feature of his anthropological thought may be usefully applied in order to understand more fully the goals and objectives of his theological and scientific work.

Religion and Development

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 179-205
Author(s):  
John Klaasen
Keyword(s):  
Theological Anthropology ◽  
Imago Dei ◽  
Contextual Approach ◽  
Development Discourse ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
Spiritual Dimension ◽  
Post War ◽  
Role Of Religion

Abstract This article is a contribution to the discourse on religion and development. The contribution seeks to investigate the role of religious conceptualisations in development. Theological anthropology, and specifically the Christian doctrine of the imago Dei, is critically analysed from the historical-biblical approach, a feminist and postcolonial approach, and a contextual approach. Themes such as progression, responsibility, relationships, and the spiritual dimension of personhood are identified as contributing toward the role of religion in development. Drawing from theological concepts such as “vocation,” “rule,” “image,” and “likeness,” the specific connections between religion and development derives from the central theological anthropological doctrine of the imago Dei. The themes that are identified are not explored exhaustively but are nonetheless highlighted as markers that should be considered by both practitioners and academics in the broad-based development discourse and practices. The limitations of the modernisation and materialistic approaches of the post-war period are countered by the centrality of personhood.

scholarly journals The Image of God in Reformed Orthodoxy. Soundings in the Development of an Anthropological Key Concept

Perichoresis ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 81-96
Author(s):  
Gijsbert van den Brink ◽  
Aza Goudriaan
Keyword(s):  
Natural Law ◽  
Theological Anthropology ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Imago Dei ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
The Image Of God

Abstract One of the less well-researched areas in the recent renaissance of the study of Reformed orthodoxy is anthropology. In this contribution, we investigate a core topic of Reformed orthodox theological anthropology, viz. its treatment of the human being as created in the image of God. First, we analyze the locus of the imago Dei in the Leiden Synopsis Purioris Theologiae (1625). Second, we highlight some shifts of emphasis in Reformed orthodox treatments of this topic in response to the budding Cartesianism. In particular, the close proximity of the unfallen human being and God was carefully delineated as a result of Descartes’s positing of a univocal correspondence between God and man; and the Cartesian suggestion that original righteousness functioned as a barrier for certain natural impulses, was rejected. Third, we show how, in response to the denial of this connection, the image of God was explicitly related to the concept of natural law. Tying in with similar findings on other loci, we conclude that Reformed orthodox thought on the imago Dei exhibits a variegated pattern of extensions, qualifications, and adjustments of earlier accounts within a clearly discernable overall continuity.

scholarly journals Human Dignity or Social Contract as Normative Frameworks in Applied Ethics?

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-89
Author(s):  
Maureen Junker-Kenny
Keyword(s):  
Human Dignity ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Applied Ethics ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Imago Dei ◽  
Public Realm ◽  
Theological Ethics ◽  
The Public ◽  
Primary Location ◽  
History Of

Abstract The enquiry whether human dignity as the translation of the biblical designation of the human person as imago Dei should continue to be the framework used to ground human rights and specify their realisation, is developed in five parts. The first identifies two understandings of dignity in the public realm, one inherent-transcendental, the other empirically verifiable. The second section compares the use of “dignity” in three traditions of Catholic Theological Ethics: virtue, natural law, and autonomy. In view of doubts whether theological anthropology should still be the primary location for expounding the meaning of imago Dei, the third section discusses attempts to absorb anthropology into ecclesiology. The modern history of reception of this biblical term by J.G. Herder is outlined in section four, before drawing conclusions from the previous enquiries for the question which language theological ethics should use in public discourse, imago Dei or dignity.

scholarly journals THEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY IN THE THOUGHT OF JONATHAN EDWARDS

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-57
Author(s):  
Billy Kristanto
Keyword(s):  
Theological Anthropology ◽  
Imago Dei ◽  
Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards adalah salah seorang tokoh penting yang mewakili Puritanisme di Amerika. Artikel ini mengobservasi pemikiran anthropologis Edwards. Beberapa hal yang akan dibahas adalah titik berangkat yang digunakan oleh Edwards dalam berteologi, konsep manusia yang diciptakan dalam gambar-rupa Allah, bagian-bagian dari jiwa manusia, tempat pengetahuan dalam kehidupan Kristen dan relasinya dengan afeksi agamawi, relasi antara konsep imago dei dan bagian-bagian jiwa, dan akhirnya pemikiran tentang kebahagiaan dalam hidup manusia dalam kaitannya dengan visi akan kemuliaan Allah. Studi ini menunjukkan bahwa Edwards telah memberikan kontribusi yang signifikan dalam keaneka-ragaman pemikiran anthropologis dalam tradisi teologi reformatoris.?

scholarly journals The Subject of Conceptual Mapping: Theological Anthropology across Brain, Body, and World

Open Theology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-135
Author(s):  
Erin Kidd
Keyword(s):  
Theological Anthropology ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Conceptual Blending ◽  
Conceptual Mapping ◽  
Human Thought ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Research in conceptual metaphor and conceptual blending-referred to collectively as “conceptual mapping”-identifies human thought as a process of making connections across fields of meaning. Underlying the theory of conceptual mapping is a particular understanding of the mind as embodied. Over the past few decades, researchers in the cognitive sciences have been “putting brain, body, and world back together again.” The result is a picture of the human being as one who develops in transaction with her environment, and whose highest forms of intelligence and meaning-making are rooted in the body’s movement in the world. Conceptual mapping therefore not only gives us insight into how we think, but also into who we are. This calls for a revolution in theological anthropology. Our spirituality must be understood in light of the fact that we are embodied beings, embedded in our environment, whose identities are both material and discursive. Finally, using the example of white supremacy, I show how this revolution in understanding the human person can be useful for ethical reflection, and in thinking about sin and redemption.

Actual Human Persons Are Sexed, Unified Beings

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (10) ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Elliott Louis Bedford ◽  
Jason T. Eberl ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Gender Dysphoria ◽  
Theological Anthropology ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Care Ethics ◽  
Health Care Ethics ◽  
Metaphysical Explanation ◽  
Appropriate Care ◽  
Made In

Recently, Edward Furton commented on an article that we published in Health Care Ethics USA concerning the philosophical and theological anthropology informing the discussion of appropriate care for individuals with gender dysphoria and intersex conditions. We appreciate the opportunity to clarify the points we made in that article, particularly the metaphysical mechanics underlying our contention that, as part of a unified human person, the human rational soul is sexed. We hope this more in-depth metaphysical explanation shows that Furton’s concern, while valid insofar as our position may have needed clarifying, is nevertheless ill-founded with respect to our contention that actually existent human rational souls are sexed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document