Monday, February 6, 2012


Anthropomorphism

This word is not found in the bible. It comes from two Greek words, ανθρωπος (anth’-ro-pos) and μορφη (mor-fay’). These two words when put together they mean a figure of speech that describes God as having human form with such things as feet, hands, mouth, and heart. It can also include such things as human attributes or emotions.

These anthropomorphisms help us to understand God in a broader sense by using such things in order to relate to the world in which we live and know. For example, when Scripture says “…so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear the LORD God forever.” (Joshua 4:24, ESV)

We know God is a non-corporeal spirit being with no form or shape. We as human beings know that the “hand of a man” represents strength. When Joshua, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, assures Israel that God is strong or powerful, powerful enough to give them cause to fear their God by using the anthropomorphic expression “the hand of the Lord.”

5 comments:

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Thank goodness you explained what the word meant.
Most informative and interesting to know.

Thanks for coming by and support.
Much appreciated.
Yvonne.

Anonymous said...

I've always like the God-breathed concept of how the Bible came into being. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, or theo pneustos, God-breathed!

Scott said...

Gregg,

I new word I learned in the last year or so is Anthropopathy. Picked this up studying the LBCF and trying to understand what was meant in the chapter OF THE HOLY TRINITY whent it says God "is without body, parts or passions." It was that word "passions" which led me to the discovery of this word, anthropopathy. Evidently, there was a time when anthopomorphism did not include "emotions" and instead this word was used to describe that type of speech. Have a great day brother.

Anonymous said...

Anthropomorphism is one of my all time favorite words.

Hahaha! I didn't even know what it meant until you explained it. ~Thanks :-)

Anonymous said...

Great explanation Gregg. I'm always looking for a better way to describe this word. Thx!