Imaging the Divine: Idolatry and God's Body in the Book of Acts
This article problematises the widespread assumption that the God of early Christianity is an invisible God. This assumption is found in both popular and academic discourse and often appeals to biblical critiques of divine images to make its case. Yet while Hebrew Bible scholars have recently questi...
| Published in: | New Testament studies |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
[2019]
|
| In: |
New Testament studies
|
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
God
/ Invisibility
/ Picture
/ Acts of the Apostles
/ Classical antiquity
|
| IxTheo Classification: | BC Ancient Orient; religion HC New Testament |
| Further subjects: | B
Invisibility
B Idol B divine embodiment B Image B New Testament B Sight |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article problematises the widespread assumption that the God of early Christianity is an invisible God. This assumption is found in both popular and academic discourse and often appeals to biblical critiques of divine images to make its case. Yet while Hebrew Bible scholars have recently questioned this axiomatic belief, New Testament scholars have yet to do the same. To address this oversight, this article first looks at divine images and idol polemic in the ancient world and then turns to Luke's depiction of divine images in the book of Acts as a test case. Here I demonstrate how Acts depicts God as a visible - and even embodied - being, while at the same time critiquing visual representations of the divine. With Acts, we find that not all Christians 'imaged' God as invisible. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1469-8145 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: New Testament studies
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0028688519000109 |