Nature Of God Research Articles

Cancer, Theodicy, and Theology

Theodicy wrestles with suffering and pain, while seeking to understand God’s engagement with these realities. Cancer raises similar questions, while focusing on specific aspects of those questions. Cancer appears to challenge many aspects of Christian doctrine, in particular issues regarding the origin of sin, Christology, and ultimately one’s doctrine of God. This article explores how my own personal diagnosis of colon cancer has led to an exploration and re-evaluation of these traditional doctrines and their relevance for my own faith journey. The realities of cancer, and random cell mutation as an evolutionary driver, appear to call into question traditional understandings of the origin of suffering and sin, and, I would argue, the very role of Jesus. A process theology that redefines core features of the nature of God is proposed as one way of addressing these doctrines and their impact for faith. These features will note the limited nature of God with regard to power and knowledge as well as the nature of a God who truly risks.

Creation rest: Genesis 2:1-3 and the first creation account

In this article, the nature of God’s rest in the first creation account is examined, describing what “rest” entailed for God. It suggests that God’s “rest” is from the creational activity of the first six days, that it continues into the present time, and serves as a counterpoint to the notions of rest presented by other cultures of the ANE. It also argues that, while God rests on the seventh day, humanity is busy about its appointed tasks of subduing the earth, exercising dominion, and expanding the borders of the garden as they multiply and fill the earth.

Continuous or Discrete

In this paper, I attempt to answer the philosophical problem of is the Universe Continuous or Discrete. The answer is that it both ant the same time. It is the tension between these that create the phenomena that the human mind perceives as reality. The method used to decipher this perplexing and complex problem is solved by using Astrotheology Mathematics. It has wider implications in the very nature of God and light.

Diodore the Theologian: Πρόνοια in his Commentary on Psalms 1–50 by Benjamin Wayman

Reviewed by: Diodore the Theologian: Πρόνοια in his Commentary on Psalms 1–50 by Benjamin Wayman Dylan M. Burns Benjamin Wayman Diodore the Theologian: Πρόνοια in his Commentary on Psalms 1–50 Turnhout: Brepols, 2014 Pp. xx + 267. €70.00. In Diodore the Theologian, Benjamin Wayman explores the theology of divine providence (πρόνοια) in Diodore of Tarsus’s (d. 394 c.e.) Commentary on Psalms 1–50. Wayman’s overarching goal is to rehabilitate Diodore and the Psalms Commentary in particular for modern theological reflection, by underlining the prominent role of divine providence—and so of sophisticated, Christian reflection on salvation-history—in Diodore’s reading of the Psalms. More specifically, Wayman argues that “the nature of God’s πρόνοια is for Diodore the main doctrinal question posted by the Psalter, to which his exegesis of the Psalms provides the answer . . . A view of πρόνοια that I describe as cooperative in that it preserves divine and human agency in the created order, reciprocal in that its specific benefits are contingent upon human action, and immanent in that God’s care can be observed and expected in the events and affairs of history” (2, author’s emphasis). This view of providence led Diodore to read the Psalms carefully with respect to both a “historical” or “literal” sense and a deeper, “spiritual” sense, rather than with recourse to allegory (3). In other words, “πρόνοια constitutes what Diodore regards as the meaning both of the ἱστορία (the narrative meaning) and of the θεωρία (the spiritual or Christian meaning)” (12). Chapter One surveys scholarship on the Psalms Commentary, ably demonstrating that modern readers of Diodore have myopically focused on the categories of θεωρία and the “grammatical-rhetorical character” of the “Antiochene School” of exegesis in order to make sense of Diodore’s hermeneutical strategies, to their own detriment; rather, Diodore himself opens the Commentary by stating that his concern is to discuss πρόνοια. Chapter Two surveys evidence regarding πρόνοια in ancient philosophical sources, reviewing Platonic, Aristotelian, Stoic, and Epicurean doctrines. In Chapter Three, Wayman situates Diodore in the context of Christian ecclesiastical and Hellenic philosophical discourse about πρόνοια, providing brief overviews of ideas about providence in Philo, Didymus the Blind, [End Page 158] Bardaisan, Eusebius of Emesa, and Nemesius of Emesa. Chapter Four tackles how Diodore uses the language of πρόνοια to explicate the inspired nature of the Psalms; Chapter Five, the Psalms’ “moral” nature; and Chapter Six, their “historical” nature. Wayman terms these the “cooperative, reciprocal, and immanent” senses of πρόνοια in Diodore’s commentary, wherein God inspires the Psalms for both David and his modern readers, assists individual beings who freely choose to cooperate with Him, and has laid out in the Psalms, via David, a historical account of Israelite history and human salvation-history alike. Wayman’s study is convincing and enlightening. The early move (17) of tackling Diodore’s exegesis with reference to fourth-century philosophical and ecclesiastical contexts, rather than fifth-century Christological controversies, is quickly proven to be a wise one. Conversely, Wayman’s framing of the investigation as a response to modern readings that attempt to shoehorn Diodore as a grammarian slavishly devoted to caricatures of ἱστορία and θεωρία succeeds in justifying the greater enterprise. The book’s focus on the activity of πρόνοια in the enterprise of prophetic inspiration and literary production is thus an ingenious way to cull a greater Christian salvific-historical message from a commentary that is, as Wayman admits, hardly dedicated to Christology, and, ultimately, to exonerate Diodore from some of his modern criticisms (see esp. 242–43). The argument is clearly structured, presented, and argued, if written in a somewhat pedantic manner (116–18, for instance, is nothing but signposting). Typos are uncommon and usually not howlers. The book’s weaknesses are apparent, but not crippling. Above all, Wayman indeed leans heavily on secondary literature. In general, primary sources other than Diodore’s Commentary are not engaged directly. A good example is the treatment of von Arnim’s 1924 apparatus of Stoic fragments (SVF), which is referred to as “a key source for ancient Stoic teachings,” opening its possible misconstrual as an ancient source rather than a modern collection. The matter is exacerbated insofar as Wayman gives block quotes of Dragona-Monachou’s (handy) summaries of SVF’s...

Examining Earth

Examining Earth Robert Kramer (bio) What The Dust Doesn't Know Richard Schiffman Salmon Poetry www.salmonpoetry.com 100 Pages; Print, $12.00 The B PMoems Simon Perchik Poets Wear Prada www.pwpbooks.blogspot.com 76 Pages; Print, $15.00 Richard Schiffman's first published poetry collection bristles with dazzling metaphors and effervescent language, but the author shows little concern for traditional sound effects, for rhythmic patterns or rhymes. A number of "poems" are written in prose, with no particular poetic element, although often clever and witty. Humor predominates in the middle section of the book, while puns enliven the entire collection. But Schiffman's poems usually contain a serious point; many are clearly philosophical or even theological in intent, and always concrete and precise. A kind of earthy, skeptical, ironic, and limited optimism about divinity, life, and an afterlife prevails. Thus the author expounds an unconventional theology, often playful and subversive, and calls upon Christian, and Jewish, as well as Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim voices. Many of the poems mention God and several refer to Jesus. But nature represents Schiffman's central concern. In fact, part of the dedication reads: "for this sane and sacred earth which sustains us all." Such an attitude explains the presence of several vigorous environmental poems. For Schiffman, life may be obscure, uncertain, unpredictable, constantly in flux, often ridiculous, filled with difficulties, pain, suffering, loneliness, folly, and human self-damage, and yet it is not meaningless, absurd, purposeless, or futile. There exists a sort of cosmic order with a god, but it does not seem to be rigid or static. It includes paradox, mystery, and humor. Repeatedly, the poems mock or downplay rationality, technology, and modern western civilization, in favor of feeling, imagination, nature, and spontaneity. Imperfection and incompleteness are accepted and embraced. Schiffman's god is very different from that of most traditional theologies. His existence (or "its") seems to be generally assumed throughout the book. But his nature is distinctive. For example, in the poem "My Theology in a Nutshell," the speaker is attending an exhibition of modern art. Above his head an artwork in the form of an electric fan is "careening in cockeyed arcs like a birdcage from hell." This inspires him to a series of speculations about the nature of God. Is he a kind of cosmic curator, or a theater director scripting the course of history, or a "wacked out artist" who "pulls stunts for the fun of it," or "the fan of the wall," or "the primal electricity that sets the fan to reeling." The narrator rejects all of these, but when he notices a child running after the flying fan and shrieking with delight, he decides that this is an apt image: God is the child. Again the poet's preference for the innocent, spontaneous, and joyful over the natural, scientific, or technological becomes apparent. This God is not fragrant, celestial, and sensually appealing. In the playful theology of "Sermon to the Pooches," the speaker claims that "a gamy stench will be His sign." In "Heaven's Back Door," the speaker alludes to the custom of oriental carpet makers intentionally knotting a flaw into the carpet, thus eschewing perfection as a sign of respect for God, the perfect maker. For the poet this also symbolizes humanity's progress through error and indirection: "Arriving at heaven's back door / by our flawless indirection." This world is not only imperfect, but it is also incomplete, and always beginning anew. In a lovely poem about Turner's unfinished paintings, entitled "Unfinished," the speaker affirms: "surely he knew that finishing would be a lie / in a world where the waxing waning moon / is unfinished, the river ends but does not finish." In "A Bird Disagrees," the city is first portrayed as apparently very rational, rigid, and orderly. But the bird, with its loftier vision, rejects this interpretation and implies that the cosmic reality is something very different. This idea is further developed in "Sky Spun," which begins: "The world seems fixed like the grid of a city." The narrator describes the reality as one in which even the regulated city is voyaging like a...

Some thoughts around developing missional South African congregations based upon the church rediscovering its identity in the grace of God

The UPCSA have established the development of missional congregations as the overarching goal of the denomination. The UPCSA is a reformed church and as such attaches great importance to theology, especially that which originates in the character and nature of God. It is therefore suggested that a contextual practical theology based upon the perfection of the grace of God may enable missional congregations to be developed, as they rediscover their identity in that grace. This then will be the basis for building congregations that are truly missional at heart and not just superficially so. The study will be contextualized to the South African scene and applied to local congregations in order to try to help them rediscover their true identify in Christ, and to provide a basis for understanding “missional” and thus what transformation may entail.

The Town Chronicle of Johannes Hass: History Writing and Divine Intervention in the Early Sixteenth Century

The council annals of Johannes Hass, the last Catholic mayor of the West Bohemian town of Gorlitz, are a fascinating document. In a single source we can see the author’s changing interpretation of divine intervention between c.1509 and 1542. After the introduction of the Reformation, Hass steadily decreased the importance of God, whilst the Devil became increasingly important. Regardless of Hass’s staunch Catholicism, Martin Luther’s impact can be felt in his vision of the divine and the demonic as he subconsciously incorporated minor elements of Lutheranism and commented positively on small changes brought about by the Reformation. Hass shows how receptive Catholics were towards Lutheran theology, without necessarily acknowledging it, as long as the new religion did not challenge the urban order. In rich and colourful language, Hass changed the very nature of God, the Devil and the saints. In this way he was responding to the slow but steady introduction of the Reformation in Gorlitz. Only by gradually turning God into a passive observer and giving greater agency to human actors could Hass make sense of the absence of a clear sign in favour of the Catholics in Gorlitz.

Nilai Kesempurnaan Kristen dalam Kitab Ibrani

Christian perfection is not just an expression that contains expectations for Christians, but rather a standard of living that is commanded and required for every Christian. The book of Hebrews teaches that the values ​​of Christian Perfection are closely related to holiness, with Perfection being the nature of God and the result of his work. Christian perfection is perfection that originates from Holiness of life, of love and of motivation , from and understanding and recognition that Christ’s saving work completely resolves the problem of sin, and is valid for ever. Perfection is seen and birthedin the figure of Jesus Christ our High Priestas well as the perfect sin offering, who completed his work of attonement in the more perfect heavenly Tablernacl, not made by human hands.Christian perfection is inseparable from the meaning of Holiness, demanded of all Christians.

The Image of Paganism in the Age of Reason: From Idolatry towards a Secular Concept of Polytheism

This article argues that the concept of “paganism,” though originally theological in nature, came to be used in the Enlightenment and its secular thought as a term for non-Abrahamic religions. Discussions on paganism were conducted in an environment where concerns about religious plurality had become central. As such, these discussions, and their subject—paganism, also served as a means to find solutions for concerns about religious plurality. This article will focus on three components of the discussion on paganism: (i) the origin of idolatry, (ii) the nature of gods, and (iii) the nature of pagan worship. This article argues that purportedly secular concerns regarding paganism expressed by Deist and Enlightenment scholars were in fact rooted in Christian theology. This article is divided into four sections. The first section gives a general account of relevant discussions taking place in the seventeenth century. The second section discusses the father of English deism, Herbert of Cherbury, and his notion of paganism. The third section discusses Herbert’s successors. The fourth section discusses David Hume and his work on paganism. The article argues that internal theological concerns in the seventeenth and eighteenth century gave rise to a specific conceptual language used in thinking about and discussing paganism. This language was later adopted by contemporary Pagans in the twentieth and twenty first century. As such, the article argues, in any study of the phenomenon referred to as “paganism” the present framework inevitably leads one to theological questions and answers. As a result, while the discussion on paganism continues to be a theological one, the phenomenon being studied remains inaccessible.

“Let the Waters Be Gathered Together, and Let the Dry Land Appear”: Sixteenth-Century Exegeses of Genesis 1.9–10 in Context

Building on both Christian scriptures and Aristotelian notions of the four elements, many patristic, medieval, and sixteenth-century Christians held that water could and perhaps should cover the whole earth. Christian and Jewish exegetes from Basil the Great and into the sixteenth century discussed the dry land’s existence in their commentaries on Genesis 1.9–10, arguing that its existence was either natural, preternatural, or a supernatural act of God. Analyzing patristic, medieval and sixteenth-century exegeses of these biblical verses, this article explores how these Christian and Jewish exegetes categorized water’s failure to flood the earth. It argues that the possibilities for characterizing water’s behavior expanded greatly in the sixteenth century. Whereas patristic and medieval authors tended to claim that the natural order God had established during the process of creation could account for water’s failure to submerge the earth, sixteenth-century exegetes offered a wide variety of categorizations, arguing that water’s behavior was natural, preternatural, supernatural, a wonder, or even a miracle. Drawing on contemporary scholarship on sixteenth-century cosmographical models, this paper argues that fifteenth- and sixteenth-century sea voyages and encounters with people living in the Southern Hemisphere might have led these sixteenth-century exegetes to reexamine the categories as they did.

So that We Might Become the Righteousness and Justice of God: Re-examining the Gospel in 2 Cor 5:21 for the Church's Contribution to a Better World

This article interprets Paul's summary of the gospel in 2 Cor 5:21 as saying that Christ died so that believers might be transformed into God's righteousness (not only deemed as righteous by God). The article explains the powerfully generative nature of God's righteousness and then demonstrates that dikaiosunē also means justice. The interpretation of 2 Cor 5:21 clarifies that the gospel Christians believe for salvation is also a basis of holistic transformation to embody God's righteousness and justice. This enlarged perspective on the gospel supports seamless invitations to put faith in Jesus Christ and to become a force for justice in the world.

A novel survey of the ethno medicinal knowledge of dental problems in Manoor Valley (Northern Himalaya), Pakistan

Ethnopharmacological relevanceIn the study area, the traditional knowledge and cultural practices of utilizing medicinal plants in the human healthcare is primarily restricted to the old age members of the community, while younger generation is mostly unaware of the natural wealth usage. Aim of the studyWe provide the first ever ethno medicinal insights into the management of dental disorders in Pakistan. The prime objective of the study was to explore novel knowledge of these local and remote community members and share it with rest of the world in documented form. Materials and methodsField surveys were arranged for collection and documentation of medicinal plants of Manoor valley during 2015. Total 71 local inhabitants were interviewed randomly through questionnaire. The data obtained were quantitatively analyzed using the use value (UVi), relative frequency citations (RFCs), fidelity level index (FL%) and consensus index (CI%). For novel uses all plants were thoroughly checked with previously published articles on the same disorder and analyzed through Jaccard index (JI) and Sorensen's similarity index (QS). The collected specimens after confirmation were submitted to the Herbarium, Department of Botany, Hazara University, Mansehra, Pakistan (HUP). ResultsIn present study 25 plants belonging to 17 families are reported, these plants were used commonly as ethno medicine. There were herbs (64%), shrubs (20%) and trees (16%) whereas, Lamiaceae with 4 species was the leading family. Majority of medicinal plant species were used in treatment of toothache (38%), wound healing (19%), gum infections (16%) whereas and lowest percentage of species were used for mouth ulcer as well as teeth powder (3%). Leaves were the most widely part used plant part in the treatment of different diseases (36%). Dominated medicinal plants with high used values were Juglans regia (UVi=0.94), Rumex dentatus (0.89) and Indigofera heterantha (0.88). Based on the RFC values, the most valuable and cited medicinal plant species used by the traditional drivers are Juglans regia having (RFCs=0.69) and Rumex dentatus (0.58). CI results show that most respondents percentage was for Juglans regia having CI%=69%, followed by Rumex dentatus (57.7%). Medicinal plants with high fidelity level and reported for one dental disorder were Berberis lycium, Geranium wallichianum, Lathyrus aphaca, Platanus orientalis, Sedum spp. and Urtica dioica for toothache. Further, new medicinal uses of Abies pindrow, Ajuga integrifolia, Berberis lycium, Urtica dioica, Indigofera heterantha were recorded for the first time from Pakistan and Astragalus grahamianus, Corydalis cornuta, Prunella vulgaris, Ranunculus muricatus, Rumex hastatus, Stellaria media, Tagetes minuta, Taraxacum officinale and Lathyrus aphaca, across the world for the current reported medicinal uses. All mentioned plant species are reported for the first time ever for dental disorders from Manoor Valley. Nonetheless, this is a novel study as no single ethno medicinal study on dental disorder up-till now has been reported from Pakistan. ConclusionThe present study is the first ever documentation of ethno medicinal practices aiming at the dental disorders in Pakistan, which resulted in 64% of medicinal uses new claims. So, the reported species of remote valley should be further evaluated for proper experimentation and pharmacological activities to authenticate their current traditional usage. Field observation revealed vegetation of the area was generally threatened due to its unwise use by the local communities. Trends like deforestation, over grazing, habitat fragmentation and introduction of the exotic taxa were the visible threats. So conservation of such an important natural God gifted treasure is mandatory.

KESADARAN GENDER YANG ISLAMI

Biological differences between men and women have in the implementation of social and cultural life. There has been a gender gap due to the multiplicity of interpretations of the notion of gender itself. In-depth research is needed to determine the cause of the gap, let alone Islam declared the doctrine that leads to gender bias. Based on the discussion in this paper is declared Gender division of roles and responsibilities between women and men as a result of socio-cultural construction of society, which can be changed according to the demands of the changing times. While sex (gender: male and female) are not changed and the nature of God. In the teachings of Islam there is no difference between women and men in all its aspects, distinguishing only charity and piety

Ślady Boga w przyrodzie w pismach świętego Franciszka z Asyżu, świętego Bonawentury i świętego Jana Pawła II

Święty Franciszek z Asyżu, święty Bonawentura z Bagnoreggio i święty Jan Paweł II to grono osób, które łączy świętość życia oraz umiłowanie przyrody. Odczytywali ją jako księgę Boga, odkrywając w niej Jego wielkość i piękno. Wierni Pismu Świętemu, proponowali uznanie przyrody, by „z wielkości i piękna stworzeń poznać przez podobieństwo ich Stwórcę” (Mdr 13, 5) oraz uwielbiać Go za to dzieło. Dla wierzących i niewierzących piękno wyciśnięte przez Boga w naturze dowodzi Jego istnienia i pozwala patrzeć na świat w perspektywie wieczności.Odczytanie śladów Boga w przyrodzie adresowane jest dla wszystkich ludzi, gdyż razem tworzą rodzinę, bratersko­‑siostrzaną wspólnotę z Ojcem i dalszymi krewnymi, braćmi kosmicznymi. Ślady Boga pozostawione w przyrodzie pozwalają dostrzec bezinteresowną miłość, a w konsekwencji zachwycić się nad tajemnicą istnienia i pozostawionego piękna. Rzecz w tym, by umieć usłyszeć, czyli mieć umiejętność rozpoznawania znaków i ukrytych w nich sensów.

Performing, Representing, and Archiving Belief: Religious Expressions among Jazz Musicians

The archives of African American jazz musicians demonstrate rich sites for studying expressions of religious belief and daily religious practice in public and private arenas, in professional and personal capacities. Highlighting print material from the archives of Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (1899–1974) and Mary Lou Williams (1910–1981), this article examines the ways that these musicians worked to articulate their beliefs in print and to make meaning of their routine practices. Ellington and Williams produced written records of their aspirations for non-clerical religious authority and leadership, novel notions of religious community, and conceptions of quotidian writing tasks as practices with devotional value in the middle decades of the twentieth century. In preparation for his Sacred Concert tours of American and Western European religious congregations, Ellington theologized about the nature of God and the proper language to address God through private hotel stationery. Following her conversion to Roman Catholicism, Williams managed a Harlem thrift shop and worked to create the Bel Canto Foundation for musicians struggling with substance abuse and unemployment. This study of the religious subjectivity of African Americans with status as race representatives employs archival historical methods in the effort to vividly approximate complex religious interiority.

Science and Technology in Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam

This article explores the centrality of science and technology to religious thought and practice in Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam from the 1950s through the 1970s. Tracing the dynamic meanings of scientific knowledge in the context of the postwar United States, the article’s central argument is that like other UFO and extraterrestrial religions, the Nation of Islam emphasized scientific, material, and empirical over spiritual and supernatural understandings of religion. It also suggests how members of this new religious movement studied and attempted to live according to the scientific and mathematical principles derived from their prophet’s cosmological, ontological, and eschatological teachings on the nature of God, the origins and destiny of the black race, and the beginning and end of white supremacy.

God at work: An exploration of the dynamic inter-relationship between the reign of God and the people of God

In this article, it is argued that we must take seriously the missional invitation of the Triune God to communion and fellowship. Further, it is argued that it is this invitation which informs, shapes and forms the nature of our understanding of the missio Dei. The expression of the missio Dei is most clearly and visibly demonstrated in terms of the metaphor of the kingdom, the reign of God. It is the reality of the reign, the kingdom of God that creates a community, the ecclesia, the church. If we are to take seriously the link between the nature of God and the missio Dei and the link between the missio Dei and the kingdom, and the link between the kingdom and the community that the kingdom calls into being, then we must ask ourselves what the nature of that community should be. Ultimately, the community that derives its nature from the Trinitarian nature of God should have a specific shape and form and act in a certain way and it can be expected that those who act as leaders in this community should act in a certain way.

Introduction: Divine Attributes

An earthworm feels the pleasant warmth of the African sun when a herd of elephants passes by. All of a sudden, it feels vibrations in the ground, a shadow falls upon it, and the temperature decreases notably. One of the elephants stopped close to the earthworm. Does the worm have any clear conception of what is going on? Can it perceive the elephant and create a mental representation of it, given its sensory apparatus and brain performance? Most probably not. As far as we know, the earthworm’s sensory apparatus is not capable of perceiving an elephant, and its brain is unable to produce a mental image of it. There are a fair number of theologians and philosophers who claim that our situation is analogous to the one described above when it comes to acquiring reliable knowledge about God. We are like earthworms—incapable of producing any adequate sensory perception or mental representation of God. All that we can do is cautiously approach the mystery of God by being aware that all our images, reflections, and teachings about it are ultimately inadequate attempts to grasp a reality far beyond our cognitive grasp. According to such a view, any philosophical and theological reflection about the divine nature and the divine attributes amounts to mere academic quibble or, even worse, pseudo-discussions. There is no doubt that the motivation for holding such a view is noble and also points to something religiously important. ‘‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image of God,’’ says the first of the Ten Commandments. This commandment reminds us that any attempt to grasp God in a determinate and precise way is hubris that will inevitably end in idolatry. This reminder, however, does not mean that any attempt to systematically reflect on the nature of God is religiously misleading. On the contrary, a closer look shows that, among the different roads leading to a reflection about the nature of God, there are at least two that are intrinsically motivated by religious life itself. The first road is scriptural evidence. Various passages in the Bible ascribe properties to God that are taken to be part of the divine nature. Gen. 17:1 and Ps. 91:1, for instance, describe God as almighty; Ps. 139 says that God has unlimited knowledge; and Ps. 51:1 declares that God’s love and faithfulness will never cease. If these passages are not taken as purely metaphorical expressions but are read with a literal kernel, then one natural question to ask is in what sense we shall attribute these properties to God. The second road is the religious praxis of worship. Reflection upon what kind of being is worthy of worship This special issue is in part the product of the project ‘‘Analytic Theology and the Nature of God’’ generously sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation (Project ID #57397).

Patrystyczna interpretacja Rdz 2, 7: „Pan Bóg ulepił człowieka z prochu ziemi i tchnął w jego nozdrza tchnienie życia”

The article aims at the presentation of the exegesis of Gen 2:7 made by some early Christian writers. Their interpretation contains three essential elements. Fathers start with pointing out the matter as a material from which God created man. Although the human body undergoes natural decomposition, it is not be­cause of the material from which it is built, but because of its frailty due to sin. Fathers also pay attention to the soul, which has its source in what Genesis calls the breath of God. However, it did not exist before the creation of the material body, as proclaimed by Origen, but was created along with the body. The soul animates the body putting it in motion. Although man was formed from the dust of the earth by the hands of God, he should be seen as a spiritual being. Whereas the soul is created, the body has been formed and this clearly differentiates the two. Due to the greatness and grandeur of man, he cannot be reduced to animal being, as it has a rational soul that animates his body. Finally, the third thread in connec­tion with the exegesis of the Gen 2:7 indicates the union of the body and the soul at the moment of creation. It occurred at the time when God breathed into man’s nostrils and put in some part of his grace. This does not mean, however, that the nature of God has changed into the soul of man. Not only did the first man receive the breath of God – everyone gets a second breath, the Holy Spirit, which leads to the creation of a new humanity.

Shi‘i Islam

In this detailed study of Shi‘i Islam, Najam Haider provides a uniquely newapproach, one that excels all other scholarly works available to date on the subject.This book is not just a description of differences between the two majorbranches of Islam, concluding with the natural outcome of the split within thecommunity – Sunnis (roughly 80 percent) and Shi‘is (20 percent) – as the historicalconclusion of two interpretations of Islam. The Sunni interpretation isthat immediately after the Prophet’s death the Muslims elected his father-inlawand elderly Companion Abu Bakr as the community’s political leader, followedby Umar, Uthman, and Ali. The Shi‘i interpretation argues the Prophet’sintention had always been for his son-in-law Ali to succeed him and that thiswas the wish of the Divine. This, they said, was their strongest claim maintainedBook Reviews 131through various interpretations of the Qur’anic verses and through several incidentsfrom the Prophet’s actions and sermons. In this regard, they prove theirclaim through the theological tenets proving the necessity of the Imamate,namely, the divinely appointed leadership of the community.Keeping all of this in mind, the author shows that the study of Shi‘i Islamdoes not stop with this early controversy, but has in fact been a dynamic andevolving stream of thought down to our our own time. Within this evolutionhe includes the Twelver Shi‘is, the Isma‘ilis, and the Zaydis. The author doesnot dwell upon the minor differences between Shi‘is and Sunnis; rather, hedemonstrates a more detailed critical thinking and comprehensive look at theformer’s belief and the prophetic narrations (aḥādīth) concerning Ali’s appointmentas not just the community’s political head, but also as the legitimateauthority who would have complete leadership in political as well asreligious issues. In that sense, the book reveals the clear dichotomy betweenthe political authority possessed by Abu Bakr against the total legitimacypossessed by Ali.Unlike other books on the subject, Haider does not end his thesis by maintainingthat Abu Bakr’s election was the main reason for the split and the ensuingintra-community violence. The author looks at Islam’s completehistorical record and shows that the main difference was a gradual development.The Shi‘ah were influenced by the theological beliefs of groups like theMu‘tazilah, which engendered discussions and debates about the nature ofGod and where legitimate authority lies. Based on this new approach, one thatincludes the Shi‘i renaissance in the Middle East in the aftermath of 9/11, hisbook opens up a new dimension in the scholarship that is only now beginningto learn about the Shi‘i history of Islam not only from the traditional Sunnisources. The book enables scholars and political leaders to look at Islam’scomplete history through Shi‘i sources ...