Forming God: Divine Anthropomorphism in Luke-Acts

Although biblical interpreters often frame divine anthropomorphism as a problem to be overcome, biblical texts themselves typically do not betray any embarrassment over divine anthropomorphism. Instead, biblical texts depict the God of Israel in deeply anthropomorphic terms, and in doing so they portray God as both like and unlike humans. To illustrate this claim, I turn to Luke-Acts as a test case. I begin by demonstrating the ways in which Luke does and does not depict divine anthropomorphism, and I then detail the degree to which Luke “forms” God as an anthropomorphic being. In describing Luke's anthropomorphic God, I rely in particular on Hebrew Bible scholar Anne Knafl's taxonomy of divine anthropomorphism, and I highlight how divine anthropomorphisms permeate Luke's narrative in ways often unnoticed. In the end, I argue that Luke's portrait of God is more reminiscent of the revelatory, corporeal God of Jewish Scripture than the unknowable, incorporeal God of modern-day classical theism.

Duke Scholars

Author Brittany Wilson Divinity School