Mediators Between Human and Divine

Mediators Between Human and Divine
Author: John Macquarrie
Publisher: Burns & Oates
Total Pages: 186
Release: 1996
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

Nine founders of the world religions: Moses, Zoroaster, Lao-zu, the Buddha, Confucius, Socrates, Krishna, Jesus, and Muhammad.

Mediators of the Divine

Mediators of the Divine
Author: Robert M. Berchman
Publisher: University of South Florida
Total Pages: 296
Release: 1998
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN:

Rather than trying to explain concepts and practices, the nine essays survey the wide-ranging scope of the occult arts and their importance during ancient times. They look at the sets of rules that defined legitimate divine communication in order to delineate its boundaries, and at the values and mechanisms ascribed to its various forms within the cultural system. The focus is on the Platonists, Rabbis, Church fathers, and Gnostics who inherited and interpreted such foundation literature as Homer, Hesiod, Greek tragedy, and the Bible. No index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Yahoel and Metatron

Yahoel and Metatron
Author: Andrei A. Orlov
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2017-08-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9783161554476

"In this work, Andrei A. Orlov examines the apocalyptic profile of the angel Yahoel as the mediator of the divine Name, demonstrating its formative influence not only on rabbinic and Hekhalot beliefs concerning the supreme angel Metatron, but also on the unique aural ideology of early Jewish mystical accounts."--Back of dust jacket.

The Christology of John Macquarrie

The Christology of John Macquarrie
Author: Vernon L. Purdy
Publisher: Peter Lang
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2009
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9781433103896

The Christology of John Macquarrie comprehensively scrutinizes the life and writings of Scottish-born systematic theologian and philosopher John Macquarrie (1919-2007) in an attempt to comprehend and evaluate his Christology. The author examines the people (e.g. Heidegger, Schleiermacher), the philosophical and theological positions, and the writings that formed Macquarrie's thinking. One major influence was his commitment to modern critical theology including the premise that, in the modern world, the only acceptable Christological tenets are those that can stand up to the scrutiny of modern critical reasoning. The work concludes that this commitment profoundly shaped Macquarrie's theology, especially his Christology. The book also discusses Macquarrie's evaluation and criticisms of the Christology of other theologians (e.g. Kierkegaard, Moltmann, Pannenberg, and others), concluding that Macquarrie's understanding of the Christian faith and the person of Jesus Christ is consonant with modern liberal Anglo-Catholicism. This idea furthers the argument that Macquarrie's reluctance to accept traditional incarnational categories suggests that his Christology is a modern form of Adoptionism.

The Enoch-Metatron Tradition

The Enoch-Metatron Tradition
Author: Andrei A. Orlov
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
Total Pages: 404
Release: 2005
Genre: Angels
ISBN: 9783161485442

Andrei A. Orlov examines the tradition about the seventh antediluvian patriarch Enoch, tracing its development from its roots in the Mesopotamian lore to the Second Temple apocalyptic texts and later rabbinic and Hekhalot materials where Enoch is often identified as the supreme angel Metatron. The first part of the book explores the imagery of the celestial roles and titles of the seventh antediluvian hero in Mesopotamian, Enochic and Hekhalot materials. The analysis of the celestial roles and titles shows that the transition from the figure of patriarch Enoch to the figure of angel Metatron occurred already in the Second Temple Enochic materials, namely, in 2 (Slavonic) Enoch, a Jewish work, traditionally dated to the first century CE. The second part of the book demonstrates that mediatorial polemics with the traditions of the exalted patriarchs and prophets played an important role in facilitating the transition from Enoch to Metatron in the Second Temple period.

God Becoming Human

God Becoming Human
Author: Reinhard Feldmeier
Publisher:
Total Pages: 460
Release: 2021
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781481313872

The incarnation--the act of God assuming mortal flesh through Jesus Christ--reveals God's radical love for a world marked by the rebellion of the created against their creator. God becomes human to create life and restore the disrupted divine-human relationship. This doctrine is thus the theme of the Christian faith par excellence. However, the incarnation does not begin with its ultimate realization in Jesus Christ; that single event is preceded by a long history of a God who continually reunites with his people to lead them from death to life, from bondage to freedom. God Becoming Human pursues the astonishing arc of the incarnation, chronicling the varying ways Scripture recounts the divide between God and the creatures of his likeness as well as the diverse expressions the text gives regarding the desire for reconciliation. As the expectations of an existing intermediary that can somehow bridge this gap between God and humans dwindle throughout the Old Testament, hope is increasingly placed on new forms of closeness to God. The closeness made possible by Jesus Christ receives a wide range of interpretations by New Testament witnesses and is continued by a rich chorus that culminates in the early church with the theology of the incarnation. Reinhard Feldmeier and Hermann Spieckermann invite readers to see that the doctrine of the incarnation, the pinnacle of the scriptural saga of redemption, reveals that God's ultimate purpose in dealing with creation was to become human. As narrated in the story of the fall, if paradise was lost because humanity wanted to emulate God, the one reconciled with God through Christ is now given the opportunity--and challenge--to become a child of God. In accordance with the One who descended from the heavenly throne, one must precisely lower oneself and thus fully embrace one's created humanness. It is through the flesh that the created and their creator are joined; there is no other path to unity.

Moses among the Idols

Moses among the Idols
Author: Amy L. Balogh
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2018-09-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1978700318

In Moses among the Idols: Mediators of the Divine in the Ancient Near East, Balogh simultaneously redefines one of the greatest figures in the history of religion and challenges the historically popular understanding of ancient Mesopotamian idols as the idle objects of antiquated faiths. Drawing on interdisciplinary research and methods of comparison, Balogh not only offers new insight into the lives of idols as active mediators between humanity and divinity, she also makes the case that when it comes to understanding the figure of Moses, Mesopotamian idols are the best analogy that the ancient Near East provides. This new understanding of Moses, idols, and the interplay between the two on the stage of history and within the biblical text has been made possible only with the recent publication of pertinent texts from ancient Mesopotamia. Drawing from the fields of Assyriology, biblical studies, comparative religion, and archaeology, Balogh identifies a problem with Moses’s status, and offers an unexpected solution to that problem. Moses among the Idols centers on the question: What is it that transforms Moses from an inadequate representative of Yahweh who is “uncircumcised of lips” to “god to Pharaoh” (Exodus 6:28-7:1)? In this moment, Moses undergoes a status change best understood through comparison with the induction ritual for ancient Mesopotamian idols as described in the texts of the Mīs Pȋ, “Washing” or “Purification of the Mouth.” This solution to the problem of Moses’s status explains not only his status change, but also why Moses radiates light after speaking with YHWH (Exod 34:29-35), and his peculiar relationship with YHWH and people of Israel. The comparative, interdisciplinary perspective provided by Balogh allows one to read these and other millennia-old interpretive issues anew, and to do so in a way that underscores the contribution of in-depth comparison to our understanding of ancient civilizations, texts, and intellectual frameworks.

The Fifth Dimension

The Fifth Dimension
Author: John Hick
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2013-04-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1780741820

The case for a bigger, more complete picture of reality in which a fifth, spiritual dimension plays a central role Many of us today are all too willing to accept a humanist and scientific account of the universe which considers human existence as a fleeting accident. The triumph of John Hick’s gripping work is his exposure of the radical insufficiency of this view. Drawing on mystical and religious traditions ancient and modern, and spiritual thinkers as diverse as Julian of Norwich and Mahatma Ghandi, he has produced a tightly argued and thoroughly readable case for a bigger, more complete, picture of reality in which a fifth, spiritual dimension, plays a central role. ‘Essential reading for anyone concerned with spirituality in the modern world’ Professor Keith Ward, University of Oxford Erudite, provocative and deeply moving, Hick’s persuasive narrative will prompt all curious readers to re-examine their own spiritual horizons.‘This stimulating book opens up many fundamental issues that must concern everyone. It deserves to be widely read. ‘ Expository Times ‘Learned, lucid and engaging, easy to read and easy to applaud for its sheer clarity of style and its breadth of interest, even when one disagrees with it!’ Anvil