Parental Image and the Concept of God: An Evangelical Protestant—Catholic Comparison

1976 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark D. Keyser ◽  
Gary R. Collins
Keyword(s):  
Christian Education ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Concept Of God ◽  
Evangelical Protestants ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
The Church ◽  
Parental Figure ◽  
Evangelical Protestant

The study investigated similarities between the concept of Cod and the image of the parents in evangelical Protestants. The results were then compared with a previous study done with Catholic subjects. The study found that among evangelicals the image of God was rated equally high on maternal and paternal items. This suggests that God is perceived as a well integrated parental image by evangelicals. When compared with Catholics, it was found that evangelicals perceived God as more maternal. The possible effects of the Mother Mary figure on the divine image as an explanation for this difference are considered. Furthermore, it was found that evangelicals also perceived God as more paternal than did Catholics. It is suggested that this indicates that evangelicals understand God as a parental figure while Catholics perceive Him as an institutional figure. Implications are drawn for Christian education in both the church and home.

scholarly journals The mercy of God as the foundation of charity of the Church

Diacovensia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 637-651
Author(s):  
Wiesław Przygoda
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Pope Francis ◽  
Pope Benedict Xvi ◽  
Benedict Xvi ◽  
The Bible ◽  
1 John ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
The Church

Charity diaconia of the Church is not an accidental involvement but belongs to its fundamental missions. This thesis can be supported in many ways. The author of this article finds the source of the obligation of Christians and the whole Church community to charity service in the nature of God. For Christians God is Love (1 John 4, 8.16). Even though some other names can be found, (Jahwe , Elohim, Adonai), his principal name that encapsulates all other ones is Love. Simultaneously, God which is Love showed his merciful nature (misericordiae vultus) in the course of salvation. He did it in a historical, visible and optimal way through his Son, Jesus Christ through the embodied God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who loved the mankind so much that he sacrificed his life for us, being tortured and killed at the cross. This selfless love laid the foundations for the Church, which, in essence, is a community of loving human and God’s beings. Those who do not love, even though they joined the Church through baptism, technically speaking, do not belong to the Church since love is a real not a formal sign of belonging to Christ’s disciples (cf. John 13, 35). Therefore, charitable activity is a significant dimension of the Church’s mission as it is through charity that the Church shows the merciful nature of its Saviour. A question that needs to be addressed may be expressed as follows: in what way the image of God, who is love, implies an involvement in charity of an individual and the Church? An answer may be found in the Bible, writings of the Church Fathers of and the documents of Magisterium Ecclesiae and especially the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

scholarly journals MAN AND HIS QUALITY AS AN IMAGE OF GOD IN PATRISTIC THINKING

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (14) ◽  
pp. 92-97
Author(s):  
Edvica POPA ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Patristic Literature ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The One ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
The Church

The notion of divine image is generously described by the patristic literature, each of the authors trying to identify the content of this special characteristic of human being, considered (in different positions) the defining element of the created rational being, indicating the possibility of opening to God not through something external, but from the inside of the human being. Since when they speak of God, the Church Fathers do not consider the reality of the one being, but that of the three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, as well as when the question of the image of God is raised, they emphasize that this the image by which human nature is conformed is the image of the Son, or the image of the Word. In this article I set out to draw some points on this patristic feature of the Eastern Fathers.

Patristic Divergences about the Image of God in Man

2007 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 69-79
Author(s):  
Stuart George Hall
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
The Church

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.

scholarly journals The Link Between the Type of Attachment and Religiosity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toader Alina Mădălina ◽  
Vasiliu Alexandra ◽  
Constantinescu-Coban Raisa ◽  
Trifu Simona
Keyword(s):  
Image Of God ◽  
Secure Attachment ◽  
Religious Activities ◽  
Attachment Figure ◽  
Behavioral Studies ◽  
Common Response ◽  
Theory Research ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
Parental Figure

Motivation: This paper aims to show the central role of the notion of attachment in human behavior, the image of God in the representation of the believer as a parental figure and as an oversized attachment figure in the personal relationships, social and religious behavior. Methods: Scientific and comparative studies of different concepts from psychology of religion, social psychology, psychoanalytic theory, cognitive psychology as well as theory, research and behavioral studies. Results: Attachment to God seems to develop in a coordinated way with the maturation of attachment to the primary figure but also with the development of cognitive processes involved. In addition, in case of danger, loss and separation are validate the human and common response to approach God as a substitute figure of attachment, the intensification of religious activities. Conclusions: The need for attachment and attachment for religion is one of the prerogatives of survival, development and growth and it is present in all-important areas of the life, culture and in all societies. People who develop a secure attachment are less prone to become religious over time.

scholarly journals ’n Kritiese evaluasie van die Godsbeeld van Sally McFague

1993 ◽  
Vol 49 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Steyn ◽  
J. H. Koekemoer
Keyword(s):  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Images Of God ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
The Church

Sally McFague’s image of God: A critical evaluation In the past decade, many feminist publications on the image of God have seen the light of day. This article concentrates on the viewpoint of Sally McFague in addressing the problem of God-language. It attempts to poin t ou t the positive and negative aspects of McFague’s images of God-as-Mother, God-as-Lover and God-as-Friend. Finally, it aims to pinpoint the value of the feminist viewpoint for theological discussion in general and the proclamation of the church today in particular.

Byzantine Visual Culture: Conditions of “Right” Belief and Some Platonic Outlooks

Numen ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 210-244
Author(s):  
Anne Karahan
Keyword(s):  
Visual Culture ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Culture Conditions ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Dionysius The Areopagite ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
Maximus The Confessor ◽  
The Church

Monumental picture programs of Byzantine churches exist within a spatial and liturgical setting of rituals that depend on circumstances that create a distinction from profane to sacred. The core theme is the epic narrative of the holy drama of the incarnated son, i.e., the image of God (eikon tou theou), acknowledged as indivisibly as much human as divine. In a Byzantine religious sense, images of Christ prove the incarnation, yet human salvation depends on faith in the incarnation but also in the transcendent unknowable God. From the perspective of visual culture, the dilemma is that divine nature is, in a religious sense, transcendent and unknowable, beyond words and categorizations, unintelligible, as opposed to human nature, which is intelligible. This article concerns the strategy of Byzantine visual culture to weave together expressible and inexpressible in order to acknowledge “right belief,” without trespassing the theology and mode of thought of the church fathers on the triune mystery of the Christian God and the incarnation. In a Byzantine religious sense, circumscribed by time and space, the human condition is inconsistent with cognition ofwhat God is. Nonetheless, salvation depends on faith inthat God is, a “fact” acknowledged through holy images. Particular theoretical and methodological focus will be on how the three fourth-century Cappadocian fathers and Dionysius the Areopagite, but also Maximus the Confessor discuss God’s unintelligibility but also intelligibility, with some comparative Platonic outlooks.

scholarly journals A EUCARISTIA E O CORPO FEMININO: (PRESENÇA REAL,TRANSUBSTANCIAÇÃO, COMUNHÃO)

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (127) ◽  
pp. 399
Author(s):  
Maria Clara Lucchetti Bingemer
Keyword(s):  
Female Body ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Northeastern Brazil ◽  
Close Affinity ◽  
Women's Identity ◽  
Simone Weil ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
The Church

A autora propõe uma leitura da Eucaristia a partir da perspectiva do corpo feminino, admitindo uma estreita afinidade simbólica entre ambos. Ela lembra que, enquanto sinal da identidade da mulher e objeto de discriminação, o corpo feminino constitui uma interpelação lançada à sociedade e à Igreja. Após passar em revista alguns textos-chave da tradição eclesial em que o corpo feminino esteve associado à imagem de Deus, a autora examina três exemplos desta afinidade simbólica: as mães da Plaza de Mayo na Argentina, uma mãe pobre no nordeste do Brasil e o itinerário existencial de Simone Weil. Ao final, a autora salienta a rica contribuição que o corpo feminino pode oferecer à compreensão da Eucaristia em âmbito não apenas teológico, mas também político.ABSTRACT: The author proposes a reading of the Eucharist from the perspective of the female body, admitting a close affinity between both items. She remembers that, as a sign of women’s identity and object of discrimination, the female body is a challenge projected to society and to the Church. After reviewing some key texts of the ecclesial tradition in which the female body was associated to the image of God, the author examines three examples of this symbolic affinity: the mothers of the Plaza Mayo in Argentina, a poor mother in northeastern Brazil and the existential itinerary of Simone Weil. In the end, the author stresses the rich contribution that the female body can provide in the understanding of the Eucharist in not only a theological scope, but also in a political scope. 

scholarly journals Komunikasi Kristiani: Melawan Desakralisasi Diri di Media Sosial

MELINTAS ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-218
Author(s):  
Yanuarius Muni
Keyword(s):  
Image Of God ◽  
The Self ◽  
Human Values ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Good Intention ◽  
Christian Understanding ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
The Church

Fake news spreads quickly and changes situations in the society. It has become a sort of linguistic violence circulating negative ideologies and perspectives that slowly destroy people both mentally and physically. The growing tendency of circulating fake news raises a serious problem in the society and moreover among Christians, for important human values, including religious values, are disregarded. Christian understanding of human beings as created in the image of God implies that they have the capacity to use good words to build a sacred society, that is, a society blessed by God. However, the tendency to retrieve and to disseminate information too quickly occurs almost automatically in this age of information, which ironically threatens every good intention of the self in building a trusting community. This article explores the elements of Christian communication based on the Church teachings on the subject matter, in order to counter the tendency of desacralisation of the self on social media and to promote truthful as well as deliberating communication in the society.

scholarly journals Nauczanie św. Grzegorza z Nyssy o wszechmocy Bożej na podstawie "In illud: tunc ipse filius"

Vox Patrum ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 511-525
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Kotkowska
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Typical Representative ◽  
Present Discussion ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
First Approximation ◽  
The One ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
The Church

Analyzing the work of St Gregory of Nyssa, in the first approximation we can say that he is a typical representative of his age. In the theology of the 4th century the power of God as the absolute ruler was emphasized more than his other attributes, so the image of God did not show him as the One who reigns through humility. In this regard, it is worthwhile to draw attention to a small, polemic treatise In illud: tunc ipse filius of St Gregory, in which his understanding of God's omnipotence receives a deeper dimension that appears to the modern man. In his work, this Father of the Church comments on one verse from the Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians: „And when everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself with be subject in his tum to the One who subjected alt things to him, so that God may be all in all" (1 Cor 15, 28; KJ). The problem which preoccupied Gregory of Nyssa, was the incorrect opinion or heresy of Arius and his followers. According to them, the Son is subjected to God, by the rule of creation, so He cannot be equal to God the Father and, in this way, He is not God. One from the crown arguments, which the Arians used were St. Paul’s words from his Letter to the Corinthians. However, the Bishop of Nyssa shows, that exactly this quotation, from the historical-salvific perspective, emphasizes the divinity of Christ. He portrays to us the Son who is subjected to God's vivifying power and the Father who receives the Son's subjection in His human nature. So, in this way, God is omnipotent on the cross, as a humble man. The image of God, which emerges from Gregory's theology, allows us to include his voice into present discussion of God's omnipotence and man's free will.

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