Images of God and Man: An Exploratory Study
Belief in God, Feuerbach has argued, contributes to self-alienation. In this research we tested the thesis proposed by Feuerbach that religion disunites man from himself. He proposes that when people give God a reality they do so by endowing the deity with human attributes. The consequence of this a...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
1987
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| In: |
Review of religious research
Year: 1987, Volume: 28, Issue: 3, Pages: 224-235 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | Belief in God, Feuerbach has argued, contributes to self-alienation. In this research we tested the thesis proposed by Feuerbach that religion disunites man from himself. He proposes that when people give God a reality they do so by endowing the deity with human attributes. The consequence of this act is self-alienation; that is, they perceive people to possess qualities which are diametrically opposite to God. The data show that contrary to Feuerbach's claim, people by and large endow both man and God with similar qualities. There are some exceptions. Man, unlike God, is also seen to be egocentric and not quite as powerful as God. Our findings, however, overwhelmingly refute Feuerbach's claim that God is a source of self- alienation. Feuerbach's assumption that the inevitability of attribute divestiture associated with the act of giving the deity a reality is not substantiated. These findings also hold true regardless of the ubiquity and salience of the attributes we endow the deity. |
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| ISSN: | 2211-4866 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Review of religious research
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/3511377 |