Anthropomorphic Language about God

Anthropomorphic and Gender Specific Language about God

In this course, Dr Rebekah Dyer (University of St Andrews) explores debates around anthropomorphic and gender specific language about God. In the first module we focus on anthropomorphic language in the Bible and the Christian tradition, and how this shapes our understanding of God. In the second module, we examine three key images of God: God as father, God as king, and God as love. In the third module, we consider some criticisms of gender specific language attributed to God, before turning our attention to the gender specific language debate more broadly in the fourth module. In the fifth and final module we examine some ongoing developments in language about God in Christianity.

Anthropomorphic Language about God

In this module, we examine the anthropomorphic language used in the Bible and the Christian tradition, focusing in particular on (i) the nature of anthropomorphic language (ii) descriptions of human physical characteristics attributed to God in scripture (iii) human action attributed to God in scripture (iv) emotional language attributed to God in scripture (v) human roles used to describe God in the Bible and Christian tradition (vi) the tension between anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic language to describe God in the Bible (vii) how to understand language about God in the Christian tradition.