Originally published : Gottes Korper: judische, christliche und pagane Gottesvorstellungen in der Antike. Munchen: Verlag C.H. Beck, 2016. Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Contents:
The body of God after antiquity -- The body of God in the Judeo-Christian Bible and the early Christian theologians -- The body of God and divine statues in antiquity -- The bodies of gods and the bodies of souls in late antiquity -- The body of God and late antique Jewish mysticism -- The body of God in late antique Christian theology -- The body of God and antique Christology -- Conclusion: Settled conceptions of God?
Summary:
"In God’s Body Markschies traces the shape of the divine form in late antiquity. This exploration follows the development of ideas of God’s corporeality in Jewish and Greco-Roman traditions. In antiquity, gods were often like humans, which proved to be important for philosophical reflection and for worship. Markschies considers how a cultic environment nurtured, and transformed, Jewish and Christian descriptions of the divine, as well as how philosophical debates over the connection of body and soul in humanity provided a conceptual framework for imagining God. Markschies probes the connections between this lively culture of religious practice and philosophical speculation and the christological formulations of the church to discover how the dichotomy of an incarnate God and a fleshless God came to be. By studying the religious and cultural past, Markschies reveals a Jewish and Christian heritage alien to modern sensibilities, as well as a God who is less alien to the human experience than much of Western thought has imagined. Since the almighty God who made all creation has also lived in that creation, the biblical idea of humankind as image of God should be taken seriously and not restricted to the conceptual world but rather applied to the whole person."-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.