The Incomprehensibility of God and the Image of God Male and Female

1984 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 441-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A Johnson
1977 ◽  
Vol 70 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 257-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Walker Bynum

A number of scholars in this century have noticed the image of God or Jesus as mother in the spiritual writings of the high Middle Ages. The image has in general been seen as part of a “feminine” or “affective” spirituality, and neither of these adjectives is incorrect. The idea of God as mother is part of a widespread use, in twelfth-century spiritual writing, of woman, mother, characteristics agreed to be “feminine,”and the sexual union of male and female as images to express spiritual truths; the most familiar manifestation of this interest in the “female” is the new emphasis on the Virgin in doctrinal discussions and especially spirituality. And the frequency of references to “mother Jesus” is also part of a new tendency in twelfth-century writing to use human relationships (friendship, fatherhood or motherhood, erotic love) in addition to metaphysical or psychological entities to explain doctrinal positions or exhort to spiritual growth.


Author(s):  
Alan L. Mittleman

Using the motif of the image of God as an organizing principle, this chapter shows how Jewish sources address such issues as mind/body dualism, body and soul, the relation of human nature to animal nature, sexuality, birth and death, vulnerability and dependence, and violence and evil as well as selfhood and the relations among rationality, emotion, desire, and imagination. Classical Jewish thought assumes and propagates dichotomies: human beings are bodies and souls, male and female; a little lower than the angels, but not much higher than the animals; descended from a common father and mother, yet divided into nations and races; biologically the same, though unique in their individuality; and a part of nature, yet possessing a power to remake both nature and themselves. Underlying the dichotomies is a basic Jewish commitment. Human beings are made in the image of God, and therefore possess intrinsic and undeniable worth. The idea of an image of God has an ethical function. It integrates human nature into personhood and gives persons an ethical orientation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-113
Author(s):  
Veydy Yanto Mangantibe ◽  
Olyvia Yusuf

This article discusses pastoral counseling for shemale groups. In the time of creation, Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them”. This verse provides clear evidence that in terms of sex or gender, there are actually contrasting differences between men and women. Men and women are two different individuals, there is no mixing of both or shemale. However, in reality, it was found that they were male but felt that they were women. In general, shemale experienced errors in identifying their gender. This mistake is caused by a psychological disorder called gender identity disorder. It appears that in society, shemale behavior is seen as abnormal or deviant behavior. They often experience rejection, mockery, insults and even become targets of various acts of violence. In the midst of the negative response from the general public to the existence of transgender women. Abstrak Artikel ini membahasa mengenai pembinaan pastoral konseling terhadap kelompok waria. Dalam masa penciptaan, Kejadian 1: 27 “menurut gambar Allah diciptakan-Nya dia; laki-laki dan perempuan diciptakakan-Nya mereka.” ayat tersebut, memberikan bukti nyata bahwa dari sisi seks atau jenis kelamin, sesungguhnya terdapat perbedaan yang kontras antara laki-laki dan perempuan. Baik laki-laki maupun perempuan adalah dua pribadi yang berdiri sendiri, tidak ada pencampuran dari keduanya atau Wanita pria, atau yang disingkat waria, namun pada kenyataannya didapati mereka yang berjenis kelamin laki-laki tetapi merasa dirinya adalah perempuan, Secara umum, waria mengalami kekeliruan dalam mengidentifikasi jenis kelaminnya. Kekeliruan tersebut disebabkan oleh gangguan psikologi yang disebut gender identity disorder, Nampak persoalan Dalam masyarakat umum, perilaku waria dipandang sebagai perilaku yang abnormal atau menyimpang. Mereka kerapkali mengalami penolakan, dijadikan bahan ejekan, hinaan bahkan sering menjadi sasaran berbagai tindakan kekerasan. persoalan ini juga tentunya menjadi tanggung jawab bagi kekristenan dalam pelayanan maka perlu adanya tindakan nyata untuk menyikapi persoalan kelompok waria.


2007 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 69-79
Author(s):  
Stuart George Hall

The pathologically pious heresy-hunter Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis from 365 to 403, might be reckoned a champion of uniformity in the Church. Notoriously he promoted the campaign against Origen in Palestine, and in his Panarion attacks Origen’s theology at length. Never the brightest of the Fathers, he was confused by the question of the image of God in man. He comes to it when considering the sect of Audians, who were anthropomorphites; that is, they held God to have a bodily form which the human body replicates. According to Genesis 1: 26–7, God made man, male and female, in (after, according to) the image and likeness of God When Epiphanius gets to the detail of the Audian argument, it is plain that they argued from the use in Scripture of bodily language about God’s eyes, hand, feet, and other organs, and from the Lord’s appearances to Moses and the prophets, to demonstrate his bodily shape. Epiphanius can refute this in detail, but is aware of other suggestions about wherein what is ‘in the image’ consists, and regards none as wholly coherent with orthodox faith and Scripture. He mentions the theories that it is the soul that is in the image, or that it is virtue, or that it is the grace received in baptism, or that it applied to Adam only before his sin.


1979 ◽  
Vol 72 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 175-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryanne Cline Horowitz

“Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind (adam) in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion….’ And God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Gen 1:26–27 clarifies that the Hebrew termadamstands for the generic species of humanity which is composed of men and women. If there is any doubt on this interpretation, Gen 5:2–3 declares and defines again: “When God created humankind, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them humankind when they were created.”The “image of God in man and woman” opens us to transcend both the masculine and feminine metaphors for God which abound in the Bible and to transcend our historical selves and social institutions in recognition of the Holy One. It would appear that whatever one's interpretation of the “image” and “likeness” of God, one would have to recognize that the biblical text makes explicit that in our resemblance to the Divinity and in our dominion over the earth and animals, men and women share a common human dignity.


Diogenes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ventsislav Georgiev ◽  
◽  
◽  

The Christian image of man stands at the heart of the Christiandemocratic political ideology of Germany: „So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.” (Genesis 1:27). According to the Germany’s Christian-democrats each person has the same inalienable dignity, since men are created in the image and likeness of God. This is the fundamental Christian democratic thought, which forms the basic Christian democratic principles: freedom, solidarity and justice. Based on the Christian image of man, gender equality policy also finds its place in the principles of justice and freedom. One of the main goals of this report is to examine whether the principles of gender equality are respected from the Christian democrats in Germany and how effective they are.


Author(s):  
Alan L. Mittleman

This chapter moves into the political and economic aspects of human nature. Given scarcity and interdependence, what sense has Judaism made of the material well-being necessary for human flourishing? What are Jewish attitudes toward prosperity, market relations, labor, and leisure? What has Judaism had to say about the political dimensions of human nature? If all humans are made in the image of God, what does that original equality imply for political order, authority, and justice? In what kinds of systems can human beings best flourish? It argues that Jewish tradition shows that we act in conformity with our nature when we elevate, improve, and sanctify it. As co-creators of the world with God, we are not just the sport of our biochemistry. We are persons who can select and choose among the traits that comprise our very own natures, cultivating some and weeding out others.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. P. K. Kar

Gandhiji’s method of conflict resolution was based on truth and non-violence. Truth was for him the image of God. He did not believe in personal God. For Gandhi truth is God and God is truth. Life is a laboratory where experiments are carried on. That is why he named his autobiography “My Experiment with Truth”, without these experiments truth cannot be achieved. According to Gandhi, the sayings of a pure soul which possesses nonviolence, non-stealing, true speech, celibacy and non-possession is truth. The truth of Gandhiji was not confined to any country or community. In other words , his religion had no geographical limits. His patriotism was not different from the service of human beings but was its part and parcel(Mishra:102). Gandhiji developed an integral approach and perspective to the concept of life itself on the basis of experience and experiments. His ideas ,which came to be known to be his philosophy, were a part of his relentless search for truth(Iyer:270). The realization of this truth is possible only with the help of non-violence The negative concept of Ahimsa presupposes the absence of selfishness, jealousy and anger, but the positive conception of ahimsa demands the qualities of love ,liberalism, patience, resistance of injustice, and brutal force.


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