In the eyes of God
Subtitle: a metaphorical approach to biblical anthropomorphic language
By: Brian C. Howell
Series: Princeton theological monograph series -- v. 192; Princeton theological monograph series -- v.192.
Publisher: Pickwick Publications
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Eugene, Or
Language: eng
Number of pages: 299
ISBN-13: 9781620323137
Subjects: Criticism, interpretation; Metaphor; Christianity; God; Attributes; Biblical teaching; Anthropomorphismus; Gottesvorstellung; Kontext; Metapher; Bible; Genesis
Other titles: Contextual approach to biblical anthropomorphic metaphors
Description: Throughout the Bible, divine interaction with humanity is portrayed in almost embarrassingly human terms. He sees, hears, thinks, feels, runs, rides chariots, laughs, wields weapons, gives birth, and even repents. Many of these expressions, taken at face value, seem to run afoul of much classical theology, including divine simplicity, transcendence, omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, and especially immutability. Traditionally, these texts have been seen as "accommodations" to human intellectual and moral limitations. That is, they were deemed as giving God a more approachable feel, but not as representing any "real" part of his character, being, or interaction with humanity. For example, references to God seeing or hearing are not deemed to represent real acts, as God already knows everything. However, this view is largely based on an Aristotelian conception of metaphors as rhetorical devices, not vehicles that carry any truth content. Since the 1970s, the understanding of how metaphors convey meaning has taken great strides. These advances can help unlock how divine actionoften inadvertently flattened under theological presuppositionsfunctions within a text. This book aims to explore the biblical metaphor of divine sight and how current understandings of metaphorical function can enrich our reading of the text and its theology.
Notes: Based on the author's thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Bristol, 2009.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 273-279) and indexes.
Table of contents: title: Approaching biblical anthropomorphic language; title: Approaching divine metaphors; title: Theomorphism; title: Seeing good and evil: Genesis 1-3; title: God, the sons of God, and the man of God; title: A view to judgment: Genesis 11:5; title: Status and blessing in the sight of God: Genesis 16; title: A second look at Sodom: Genesis 18:1-19:29; title: The mountain with a view: Genesis 22.