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Constructing God: From Ancient Text to Contemporary Film: CRITICAL CONCEPTS

Constructing God: From Ancient Text to Contemporary Film -- FYS 175-01, Spring 2015; (Dr. Michael O'Keeffe)

GOD ATTRIBUTES


Absolute
Ominpotent
Omniscient
Omnibenevolent
Immanent
Transcendent / Hidden 
Indivisible
Eternal
Unknowable --- Beyond human understanding

METAPHORS OF GOD

Family         |   Father
Occupation |   Shephard, Builder/Creator

Ruler           |   Master, Lord, King

 

CONCEPTIONS OF GOD


God the Creator
God the Father (Benevolent / Malevolent)
God the Law Giver and Judge
God the Son
God the Holy Spirit
God as Absolute
God as Trinity
Anthropomorphic God
Anthropocentric God

CONTRASTING IMAGES


"The biblical God has been regarded, in many quite different sociocultural contexts, as the ultimate reality and power, and thus the ultimate authority figure with which women and men have to do in life. There have always been, however, sharp disagreements about how God is to be conceived and understood, due at least in part to the great diversity of images and concepts that (as we have seen) are used to characterize God in the Bible, and the tensions of many sorts to which this diversity inevitably gives rise. Heretics were burned at the stake or drowned, and terrible wars were fought over such issues; so-called unbelievers were persecuted, tortured, killed; and campaigns of enslavement and genocide were undertaken—all in the name of the holy and righteous God of the Bible. The God who claimed to be the creator, sustainer, and savior of humans from all manner of evils to which they are subject has, on many occasions, been thought to have authorized utterly bloodthirsty crimes of humans against each other. This God has also, of course, frequently provided the inspiration for resistance to injustice and tyranny as well as movements toward more responsible and humane patterns of human life".


Fiorenza, Francis S., and Gordon D. Kaufman. "God." Critical Terms for Religious Studies. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1998. Credo Reference. Web. 18 Feb 2015.

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