In A Word, Anthropomorphism – Man has the propensity for giving form to anything of unknown origin.
Gerald Eisman
August 29, 2006
Anthropomorphism: Attribution of human motivation, characteristics, or behavior to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena.
The bible says that God made man in his image and likeness. By today’s linguistic understanding, that would mean exactly what the average man thinks, that God looks like us. But the language of several thousand years ago has meanings entirely different from today and the meaning of image and likeness certainly fit the mold.
Since God is spirit, man’s image, his inner self, must be spirit as is God. And if that is true, might we not simply be spiritual beings taking a trip through this stage we call life, wearing a human shell? Is it not possible living as we know it is merely another stop in our soul’s journey in a quest for knowledge? If, as the mystic writers of the bible insist, humans truly represent the image of God as they knew it, then the question is moot and the answer obvious – we are Godlike, kindred spirits wearing a human exterior.
Man’s likeness to God is even more difficult for the average person to conceive. It isn’t his human form that constitutes a likeness, but man’s imitative attributes of the deity. Man emulates spirit in many ways. He has beauty, knowledge, wisdom, love, abundance and all other Godly virtues, only to a lesser degree. But those are likenesses to God. So the phrase “image and likeness” doesn’t necessarily mean that God looks like us at all, nor do we look like God. It can be interpreted as, we are spiritual beings bearing the attributes of God.
Man, on the other hand, finds it difficult to separate spirit from flesh so he tends to give God a body like himself in order to better grasp the concept. When searching through the bible one can find no passage where God is described in any way. The appearance of the Almighty is simply a voice that speaks through the minds of men, or appears as a burning, but never consumed, bush. The mystics who wrote and compiled the old testament never once mentioned his appearing to any of the many to whom God spoke. It is said that were anyone to view God, the brilliance of its being would instantly blind the viewer.
It doesn’t take a mystic to see how this idea plays out against the Middle East backdrop today. Wrongs purportedly done to the forerunners of the Arabs by the people called Hebrews have not only not been forgotten, they are perpetuated, expanded upon, and diligently taught through the millennia. The “image and likeness” of God as depicted by today’s radial Imams teaching of Islam is that of a warlike and angry one who promises great rewards in heaven for martyrdom.
According to those Imams, there are three options offered to the unbelievers (Infidels.) One is to convert to Islam and become believers of the faith, the most opportune choice. Another is to submit to rule by the Imams as inferiors, subject to the whims and fancy of the rulers and a hostile populace, and the third option is death. There is no option called peaceful coexistence. Still, according to the Quran, God is merciful, just, and bears all virtues forever. That being true, how is it the Imams preach death and destruction? There is absolutely no instance of anthropomorphic activity in Islam as exemplified in the following description.
Islam rejects characterizing God in any human form or depicting Him as favoring certain individuals or nations on the basis of wealth, power or race. He created the human beings as equals. They may distinguish themselves and get His favor through virtue and piety only. The concept that God rested in the seventh day of creation, that God wrestled with one of His soldiers, that God is an envious plotter against mankind, or that God is incarnate in any human being are considered blasphemy from the Islamic point of view.
Everything boils down, therefore to two very disturbing thoughts. The first is that Our search for peace is being centered in all the wrong places. Rather than war against each other, killing thousands and costing small fortunes daily, man should be seeking the common good found in all religions. He should reject the notions of “Your God” and “my God” and seek that one deity, “our God.”
The other disturbing thought, even more ugly than the varied picture religious zealots have of the deity, is that man’s greatest enemy is himself and his visions. That being the case, war and its aftermaths will always be inevitable. God help us!
The bible says that God made man in his image and likeness. By today’s linguistic understanding, that would mean exactly what the average man thinks, that God looks like us. But the language of several thousand years ago has meanings entirely different from today and the meaning of image and likeness certainly fit the mold.
Since God is spirit, man’s image, his inner self, must be spirit as is God. And if that is true, might we not simply be spiritual beings taking a trip through this stage we call life, wearing a human shell? Is it not possible living as we know it is merely another stop in our soul’s journey in a quest for knowledge? If, as the mystic writers of the bible insist, humans truly represent the image of God as they knew it, then the question is moot and the answer obvious – we are Godlike, kindred spirits wearing a human exterior.
Man’s likeness to God is even more difficult for the average person to conceive. It isn’t his human form that constitutes a likeness, but man’s imitative attributes of the deity. Man emulates spirit in many ways. He has beauty, knowledge, wisdom, love, abundance and all other Godly virtues, only to a lesser degree. But those are likenesses to God. So the phrase “image and likeness” doesn’t necessarily mean that God looks like us at all, nor do we look like God. It can be interpreted as, we are spiritual beings bearing the attributes of God.
Man, on the other hand, finds it difficult to separate spirit from flesh so he tends to give God a body like himself in order to better grasp the concept. When searching through the bible one can find no passage where God is described in any way. The appearance of the Almighty is simply a voice that speaks through the minds of men, or appears as a burning, but never consumed, bush. The mystics who wrote and compiled the old testament never once mentioned his appearing to any of the many to whom God spoke. It is said that were anyone to view God, the brilliance of its being would instantly blind the viewer.
It doesn’t take a mystic to see how this idea plays out against the Middle East backdrop today. Wrongs purportedly done to the forerunners of the Arabs by the people called Hebrews have not only not been forgotten, they are perpetuated, expanded upon, and diligently taught through the millennia. The “image and likeness” of God as depicted by today’s radial Imams teaching of Islam is that of a warlike and angry one who promises great rewards in heaven for martyrdom.
According to those Imams, there are three options offered to the unbelievers (Infidels.) One is to convert to Islam and become believers of the faith, the most opportune choice. Another is to submit to rule by the Imams as inferiors, subject to the whims and fancy of the rulers and a hostile populace, and the third option is death. There is no option called peaceful coexistence. Still, according to the Quran, God is merciful, just, and bears all virtues forever. That being true, how is it the Imams preach death and destruction? There is absolutely no instance of anthropomorphic activity in Islam as exemplified in the following description.
Islam rejects characterizing God in any human form or depicting Him as favoring certain individuals or nations on the basis of wealth, power or race. He created the human beings as equals. They may distinguish themselves and get His favor through virtue and piety only. The concept that God rested in the seventh day of creation, that God wrestled with one of His soldiers, that God is an envious plotter against mankind, or that God is incarnate in any human being are considered blasphemy from the Islamic point of view.
Everything boils down, therefore to two very disturbing thoughts. The first is that Our search for peace is being centered in all the wrong places. Rather than war against each other, killing thousands and costing small fortunes daily, man should be seeking the common good found in all religions. He should reject the notions of “Your God” and “my God” and seek that one deity, “our God.”
The other disturbing thought, even more ugly than the varied picture religious zealots have of the deity, is that man’s greatest enemy is himself and his visions. That being the case, war and its aftermaths will always be inevitable. God help us!
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