Imago Dei

In order to better cope with the pressures and stresses of the current day, modern psychology is anxiously seeking to find new therapies to address the increasing disorders within the human psyche. In the process new fields of research, such as humanistic and transpersonal psychology, curiously appear to borrow more and more from the wisdom of the ages. This volume, containing eighteen articles by noteworthy expositors of the perennial philosophy such as Huston Smith, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and Frithjof Schuon, presents the spiritual psychology of the wisdom traditions as a much-needed antidote to the current impasse in modern psychology.

Some Endorsements for Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy:

“[Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy] is more than an anthology. It is a wisely crafted collection of classic and contemporary scholarship noting that what many are seeking is what has always been, a perennial philosophy, that remains foundational. As one of the authors, Tage Lindbom, properly notes, ‘Secularization is a fish in troubled waters.’ This book claims the waters and is essential reading for all those who may have forgotten or are simply ignorant of the rich foundation provided by the perennial philosophy.”
—Ralph W. Hood, Professor of Psychology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, past president of the Psychology of Religion division of the American Psychological Association, co-founder of The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion and co-author of The Psychology of Religion

“A necessary and bracing critique of the assumptions and limitations of contemporary Western psychology, this generous volume is also a passionate call and learned guide towards a truer perspective that embraces man's spiritual nature.”
—Gabor Maté, M.D., and author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

“Knowing the nature of the mind is perhaps the most difficult undertaking, especially in today’s world. To comprehend the nature of mind one needs to turn to the domain of religion and spirituality. Yet the truth of the mind and its complexity cannot explicitly be defined in words. Inner or transcendent wisdom sees the mind’s own nature without the duality of the seer. Suchness (tathatā) of mind is only experiential and not expressible. The words used to describe thought are themselves a product of thought, which is conditioned and limited. Thus, differences and contradictions are unavoidable. Therefore, a comparative study of different viewpoints and commentaries is immensely important to awaken the inner intelligence to see the mind as it is. Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy: Studies in Comparative Religion edited by Samuel Bendeck Sotillos is an outstanding effort in this direction.”
—Samdhong Rinpoche, former Prime Minister (Kalon Tripa) of the Tibetan Government-in-exile, author of Uncompromising Truth for a Compromised World: Tibetan Buddhism and Today’s World

“The rise of psychology has impacted the study and practice of spirituality, the experiences and attitudes relevant to ultimate human values that transcend ordinary behavior. Each chapter of this remarkable book demonstrates this interaction in a unique and provocative way. But rather than using psychology to reduce and ‘psychologize’ spiritual topics, its authors demonstrate how directives from the spiritual traditions can enhance and even illuminate the enduring importance of psychology in the 21st century.”
—Stanley Krippner, Saybrook University, co-author of Spiritual Dimensions of Healing

“The work at hand is a thinking and debating man’s delight. If you have any interest at all in attempting to include an educated and enlightened view of man’s higher functions in your purview of the world, you will learn from and enjoy this collection of essays. If you already have some knowledge in this area, brace yourself: you may see some of your favorites sharply criticized. A thought-provoking work.”
—Bruce W. Scotton, University of California, San Francisco, co-editor of Textbook of Transpersonal Psychiatry and Psychology

“This book, superbly edited by Samuel Bendeck Sotillos, is a masterful critique of the field of psychology and its loss of the sacred ground in which it once was rooted. It offers depth psychologists an opportunity to contemplate timeless truths echoed through the centuries by perennial philosophers who have always claimed psyche is subordinate to Spirit. Although ignored in depth psychology’s early years due to prejudice and lack of understanding, this is a message today’s psychotherapists must take seriously. Human beings need a deeper and wider transpersonal vision of who and what we are, which the saints and sages of the world’s spiritual traditions have always pointed to. In psychotherapy with a therapist committed to such a vision, patients penetrate into their unconscious depths and not infrequently awaken to the Ground of all Being. Their suffering itself occurred because they had turned away from Spirit. Above all, this volume passionately calls upon depth psychology to remember its origin in the perennial wisdom at the core of the great religions. There is something of a polemic in these pages. It deserves to be considered by depth psychologists of all persuasions.”
—Bryan Wittine, Transpersonal psychologist and Jungian psychoanalyst

“This anthology from Samuel Bendeck Sotillos is a must reference for anyone who is interested in psychology and its relationship to spirituality, and in developing an inclusive dialogue between disciplines that favor an integral outlook on the person and his or her potential. Selections in this anthology will inspire us to reexamine the metaphysical underpinnings of psychology, and remind us how important it is to rise above science’s attempt to reduce the human being to an epistemic object.”
—Sangeetha Menon, National Institute of Advanced Studies (Bangalore, India), Board Member of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA), author of The Beyond Experience: Consciousness in Bhagavad Gita

“This anthology has some of the most discerning essays and reviews on spirituality and psychology, which provide much-needed care and caution to all those engaged in bringing them together or who wish to do so in future. Therefore, it is a must-read for all those who teach, research, consult, or study in such frontier areas as transpersonal psychology, states of consciousness, mind-body relation, holistic health, Indian psychology, and so on. It will be an invaluable textbook for courses in these and other related areas. I congratulate the editor of the book.”
—Kiran Kumar K. Salagame, University of Mysore (India), Board Member of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA), author of The Psychology of Meditation: A Contextual Approach

“One of the finest collections of essays on the Perennial Philosophy—a must-read for all psychologists who are engaged with spirituality and transpersonal psychology. The essays which critique modern psychology (including transpersonal psychology, and the framework of Carl Jung), in the light of the Perennial Philosophy are a revelation and make compelling reading. The book serves as a corrective to the excesses of modern psychology, and to this end Sotillos has done a commendable job. I for one will include the book in some of the graduate courses that I teach.”
—Suneet Varma, University of Delhi, co-editor of Foundations of Indian Psychology

“To its credit modern science by-and-large is becoming more cognizant of the essential connection between spirituality and psychological health and well-being and most of all its positive implications within the field of psychology. While there is ample data to document this in a plethora of academic journals and books, this new book Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy adds a novel contribution to the dialogue between psychology and spirituality, which captures many nuances that for the most part go unnoticed within these discussions, and last but not least, it provides a keen eye of discernment to understand this intricate relationship on a deeper level that is crucially needed. This work will be a valuable asset to students and long term mental health practitioners and professors alike who seek to better understand the relationship between psychology and spirituality.”
—Harold G. Koenig, Duke University, Director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health, co-author of The Handbook of Religion and Health

Viewing the imago Dei as an act of God’s historical election whereby the human lineage is functionally designated as priests of creation, I propose that the neurobiological capacities for mirroring and mental simulation—if and when such capacities are clearly shown to exist within humans—can be viewed as key substantive preconditions that are required for any beings who would be called and elected to fulfill the vocation of the imago Dei. In this way the capacity for mirroring and neuro-simulation would be necessary requirements for election as the imago Dei but not sufficient in and of themselves to establish their possessor as the imago Dei. It is God’s election alone that establishes human beings as God’s living reflections and imitators, but without certain capacities (such as the ability to mirror and/or simulate the minds of others) the calling of the imago Dei could not be fulfilled.

According to the newest report issued by the Guttmacher Institute, 926,200 abortions were performed in the US in 2014. A holistic approach which accounts for biblical, biological, and philosophical truths must conclude that these unborn represent human beings with full personhood. Biblically, God the Almighty Creator establishes the worth and value of humanity by making all people in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27). From Scripture, a progression can be given which traces this image from adults, to the unborn, to conception. Biologically, it is an undisputed fact that a new, complete, genetically-distinct, individual human being is present at conception. Although attempts to redefine conception have been made, embryologists have consistently defined conception as the moment of fertilization for over 100 years. Abortion also cannot be justified philosophically. Some of the most common philosophical arguments for abortion are evaluated and discussed: (1) embryos lack consciousness, (2) abortion prevents children from being born into poverty, (3) monozygotic twinning proves personhood cannot begin at conception, (4) rape justifies abortion, (5) incest warrants abortion, and (6) abortion is often necessary to save the life of the mother.

Il modulo è dedicato a Meister Eckhart, il cui pensiero riassume ed innalza a livelli mai più raggiunti la cosiddetta “mistica speculativa”, patrimonio indiscusso della scuola domenicana tedesca del XIV secolo. La teologia dell’imago dei eckhartiana è strettamente connessa alla sua teologia dell’unione: immagine di Dio è il Figlio, immagine di Dio sarà l’anima, nel preciso senso paolino della transformatio in eandem imaginem (2Cor 3, 18) la quale corrisponde al Figlio stesso.

According to the newest report issued by the Guttmacher Institute, 926,200 abortions were performed in the US in 2014. A holistic approach which accounts for biblical, biological, and philosophical truths must conclude that these unborn represent human beings with full personhood. Biblically, God the Almighty Creator establishes the worth and value of humanity by making all people in His own image (Genesis 1:26–27). From Scripture, a progression can be given which traces this image from adults, to the unborn, to conception. Biologically, it is an undisputed fact that a new, complete, genetically-distinct, individual human being is present at conception. Although attempts to redefine conception have been made, embryologists have consistently defined conception as the moment of fertilization for over 100 years. Abortion also cannot be justified philosophically. Some of the most common philosophical arguments for abortion are evaluated and discussed: (1) embryos lack consciousness, (2)...

This thesis loactes a Christian rationale for human well-being in relation to the doctrine of the triune God. Specifically, this theological inquiry examines the triune God’s work in, and for, creation with a view to identifying the characteristics and dynamics of divine well-being through the intra-trinitarian movement of gift and receipt. This gifting and receiving within the Godhead is identified as ‘Divine self-enrichment’ — defined as God enriching God in the perfection and fullness of God. The mode through which Divine self-enrichment occurs is essentially kenotic. The thesis provides an extended inquiry into the theological logic of kenotic-enrichment, and its implications for human well-being. In particular, the thesis argues that the pattern of kenotic-enrichment is to be discerned in the dynamic economy of God in creation and human life. When humanity exhibits characteristics of kenotic-enrichment identified in the economic Trinity, there we see intimations of the work of God. In this sense, the archetype of divine enrichment is antecedently operative in the creation; where kenotic-enrichment conditions created well-being. The thesis, therefore, argues that a theology of triune self-enrichment provides an alternate, and complementary, theological paradigm for Christian rationale and praxis of international development and humanitarian aid.

Though the Bible never mentions ecology or the environmental crisis, Christians have developed a number of different understandings of a biblical approach to the issue. This paper examines the relations God built into the created order and how humans fit into his design from the original creation to the new creation.

Throughout the church age, theologians and casual readers of the Genesis text have interpreted “the image of God” amidst diverse traditions. The phrase which so seldom surfaces in the Scripture has become a major discussion of the theological community. Yet the historical context of the Imago Dei along with its ancient usage in Mesopotamian and Egyptian literature remains neglected in many of these studies. For many years this context was merely unknown, but the twentieth century uncovered other texts which use similar phraseology and bear weight upon the discussion of the Imago Dei. This ancient historical context supports the idea that man has been appointed as God’s representative on earth.

The issue most certainly remains complex and calls for careful exegesis not only of Genesis 1, but also of the many other OT and NT parallel passages. The discussion spreads out into hermeneutics, source criticism, and also involves the dating and authorship of Genesis. The issues grow thicker as one wanders further into the tangled web.

The aim of this paper, however, is to consider the biblical terminology of the Imago Dei in the context of similar phraseology from the ancient historical context. Attention will be given to the lexical meaning of the noun, image, and its related term, likeness. Secondly, similar phraseology from Mesopotamian and Egyptian literature will be surveyed in order to demonstrate whether or not a similar understanding of mankind as God’s representative may have been held in the Israelite community. Historical interpretations of the Imago Dei will then be surveyed providing an outline of Christian interpretation over the centuries. Finally, a definition of the Imago Dei will be suggested and the representative view will be evaluated as to whether it merits further research and exegesis for the student of God’s word.

This blueprint for a constructive public theology assumes that Christian theology already includes public discourse. Following David Tracy's delineation of three publics--church, academy, culture--further constructive work leads to a public theology conceived in the church, reflected on critically in the academy, and meshed with the wider culture. Public  reflection on classic Christian doctrines in a post-secular pluralistic context takes the form of pastoral illumination,  apologetic reason, theology of nature, political theology, and prophetic critique.

Ancient creation stories define humanity in relation to the gods. In the Atraḫasīs Epic, for example, humans were created as a labor force to relieve the lower caste of deities from their toil. In Gen 1-2 humanity was also created to serve God, but the commands to rule and subdue the earth, and to care and cultivate the garden of Eden, are framed by the preceding statement in Gen 1:26-27 that humanity was created in God’s image and likeness, that is, as his children. To appreciate Genesis’s claim, we must consider it in light of its ancient Near Eastern environment. For Gen 1-2 this includes a set of ritual texts from Mesopotamia, the "Washing and Opening of the Mouth," which describe the process by which divine images, or statues of the gods, were created. Genesis 2 seems to draw from these rituals, or at least the ideas they represent, in order to elaborate on the meaning of בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים in Gen 1:26-28. If our aim is to understand how Genesis 1-2 redefines human identity and purpose, we must consider the prevailing views on human creation and the birth of the gods (in their statues) with which it interacted.

More than 20 years after presenting his first interpretation of the mosaic from the House of Aion in a paper entitled “Uwagi na temat mozaiki z Domu Aiona w Nea Paphos (Cypr)” (Meander 9/10, 1987, p. 421-438, in Polish, and translated to English: « The Immortality of the Human Soul and the Dionysiac Mysteries in the 4th Century Allegory [in Connection with the Interpretation of the Mosaic from the “House of Aion” at Paphos in Cyprus]»), where he proposed reading the five mythological panels (1. Leda and Zeus; 2. Dionysus on Mount Nysa; 3. The Dionysian thiasos; 4. Apollo and Marsyas; 5. The Apotheosis of Cassiopeia) as an allegory of the destiny of the human soul and body, starting with conception and ending with the liberation of the soul and its apotheosis, the author now enhances his initial interpretation with numerous reflections concerning the historical context of this work of art, created in the years 320-360.
If, according to the author, the mosaic is a “Hymn” in honour of the pagan gods, Man (his soul) and his place in the (pagan) universe, then at the same time it polemicises with the Christian faith and its God, Jesus Christ.
The author puts forward numerous new solutions relating to the mosaic’s iconography and iconology. Analysis of the mosaic also leads him to propose a solution to the as-yet unanswered question regarding the absence of images of the crucified Christ in Christian art of the 3rd and 4th centuries, up until 420/430, when the first images of Christ on the cross appear.
CONTENTS:
Introduction
1. Research to-date (recap)
2. Description of mosaic (recap)
2.1. Composition of five mythological scenes
2.2. Brief iconographic description of mythological panels
2.3. Outline of individual iconographic elements and their respective roles
2.4. The pagan gods’ air of majesty and dignity as an expression of piety
3. A few words about the pagan reaction
4. An apology of pious human life according to pagan principles and a polemic on the Christian model of Man and his theological idol, Jesus Christ
4.1. Divine intervention in the act of human conception (allusion to/polemic on the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary)
4.2. The Epiphany of Dionysus (an allusion to the Epiphany of Christ – Theou Pais)
4.3. The procession and dissemination of Dionysian order (allusion to/polemic on Christ’s entry into Jerusalem)
4.4. The error of Marsyas (polemic on/allusion to the error of Jesus the Messiah): arrest, sentencing for arrogance and lack of piety (asebeia) and condemnation to a martyr’s death
4.5. The anabasis (or anagoge psyches) of a ‘beautiful soul’ (allusion to/polemic on the Ascension of Christ)
5. A few words on the mosaic programme prior to final conclusions
Final conclusions

This article aims to examine how the concept of Imago Dei can serve as a symbol for the broadly understood idea of religious inclusion and human dignity. The article explores the concept of Imago Dei primarily from a protologi-cal perspective, analyzing its usage in biblical writings, theological tradition and modern philosophy. The substantial, relational and functional-which three usages of the concept can be found in the inclusive theology of Gregory of Nyssa-are analyzed in this article. Arguably, in the context of religious inclusion, the rela-tional angle of Imago Dei seems to be the most important. Similarly contemporary Protestant theologian, Jürgen Moltmann states in his book, God in the Creation, that the "relational" concept of Imago Dei underscores the fundamental dignity of every person. In his book, God for Secular Society, Moltmann states that properly understood human rights should include democratic relationships between people, cooperation between societies, concern for the environment in which people live, and responsibility for future generations. From these perspectives, the concept of Imago Dei can be utilized as a symbol indicating the dignity of every person and human community, but also a symbol against any types of racism, nationalism or xenophobia.

"Traditionally the central trope in Christian theological
anthropology, “the image of God” tends to function more as a noun than a verb. While that has grounded significant interplay between specific Christian formulations and the concepts of nontheological disciplines and cultural constructs, it facilitates the withdrawal of the image and of theological anthropology more broadly from the context of active relation with God. Rather than a static rendering of the image a more interactionist, dynamic, and relational view of “imaging God” is commended as a key anthropological term. Engaging with Psalm 8 suggests that, biblically, asking the anthropological question “What is humanity?” is tied to the answer to the theological question:
who is God? This locates theological anthropology securely within
the interactive context of being related to by God and suggests that theological anthropology might be a matter of performance rather than definition: actively imaging God."

Drawing from Irenaeus, the Gospel of John, and various other sources, this paper presents a theological interpretation of the imago Dei as a dramatic role whose mission is to mediate God's blessing to the world through embodied communicative action. The paper was presented at the Society for the Study of Theology Postgraduate Conference in January 2014 at Oxford, England. A preliminary version of the paper was also presented at the Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies Seminar, University of Birmingham, December 2013.

Si l’on en croit la Genèse, l’homme et la femme ont été créés « à l’image de Dieu ». Cette affirmation, malgré son apparente simplicité, est parmi les plus débattues, les plus ambiguës aussi de la tradition judéo-chrétienne. Que peut-elle signifier pour les êtres finis, limités et souvent égarés que nous sommes ?
Christof Betschart vient combler un blanc de la théologie française en s’appuyant sur une étude approfondie des textes bibliques. Dans la ligne de l’interprétation christologique de l’image de Dieu qui découvre dans le Christ à la fois le prototype et le modèle de tous les humains, il questionne la notion de filiation divine. L’image de Dieu est en fin de compte filiale, marquée par le sceau de la filiation divine. Cette thèse est développée à la fois pour rendre le concept d’image plus concret ainsi que pour revisiter certaines questions majeures de l’anthropologie théologique postconciliaire (nature et grâce, la médiation christologique de l’anthropologie et vice versa).
Une analyse lumineuse du genre humain au regard de l’image divine.

This study concentrates on the divine image traditions found in biblical and Jewish pseudepigraphical accounts by exploring the function of the imago Dei as the personified divine knowledge. It demonstrates that in the Hebrew Bible, the divine image was intended to be a visual revelation of the deity’s nature, attributes, and shape. Often, in these traditions the divine image is understood as a cultic divine statue. The study argues that although idolatry was discouraged in the Jewish religious milieu, the idea of the cultic statue as a manifestation of the divine presence and a deposit of the iconic divine knowledge was paradoxically perpetuated in Israelite traditions about the imago Dei. This study then closely explores Adam's role as the imago Dei. It shows that in the earliest Jewish accounts, Adam’s role as the deity’s icon was closely related to the symbolism of the divine Glory or Kavod. In this epistemological setting Adam is often understood as a hypostasis or a personification of the iconic divine knowledge, through which the concealed God is revealed to creation. The study demonstrates that the tradition of the divine image as the personified divine knowledge became developed further in the stories of Enoch, Jacob, and Moses.

More than 20 years after presenting his first interpretation of the mosaic from the House of Aion in a paper entitled “Uwagi na temat mozaiki z Domu Aiona w Nea Paphos (Cypr)” (Meander 9/10, 1987, p. 421-438, in Polish, and translated to English: « The Immortality of the Human Soul and the Dionysiac Mysteries in the 4th Century Allegory [in Connection with the Interpretation of the Mosaic from the “House of Aion” at Paphos in Cyprus]»), where he proposed reading the five mythological panels (1. Leda and Zeus; 2. Dionysus on Mount Nysa; 3. The Dionysian thiasos; 4. Apollo and Marsyas; 5. The Apotheosis of Cassiopeia) as an allegory of the destiny of the human soul and body, starting with conception and ending with the liberation of the soul and its apotheosis, the author now enhances his initial interpretation with numerous reflections concerning the historical context of this work of art, created in the years 320-360.
If, according to the author, the mosaic is a “Hymn” in honour of the pagan gods, Man (his soul) and his place in the (pagan) universe, then at the same time it polemicises with the Christian faith and its God, Jesus Christ.
The author puts forward numerous new solutions relating to the mosaic’s iconography and iconology. Analysis of the mosaic also leads him to propose a solution to the as-yet unanswered question regarding the absence of images of the crucified Christ in Christian art of the 3rd and 4th centuries, up until 420/430, when the first images of Christ on the cross appear.
CONTENTS:
Introduction
1. Research to-date (recap)
2. Description of mosaic (recap)
2.1. Composition of five mythological scenes
2.2. Brief iconographic description of mythological panels
2.3. Outline of individual iconographic elements and their respective roles
2.4. The pagan gods’ air of majesty and dignity as an expression of piety
3. A few words about the pagan reaction
4. An apology of pious human life according to pagan principles and a polemic on the Christian model of Man and his theological idol, Jesus Christ
4.1. Divine intervention in the act of human conception (allusion to/polemic on the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary)
4.2. The Epiphany of Dionysus (an allusion to the Epiphany of Christ – Theou Pais)
4.3. The procession and dissemination of Dionysian order (allusion to/polemic on Christ’s entry into Jerusalem)
4.4. The error of Marsyas (polemic on/allusion to the error of Jesus the Messiah): arrest, sentencing for arrogance and lack of piety (asebeia) and condemnation to a martyr’s death
4.5. The anabasis (or anagoge psyches) of a ‘beautiful soul’ (allusion to/polemic on the Ascension of Christ)
5. A few words on the mosaic programme prior to final conclusions
Final conclusions
Key words: mythological mosaic, House of Aion, Nea Paphos, Late Antiquity, Roman art, allegorical narrative, allusive language of mythological pictures, wordplay (Marsyas-Messias), Jesus Christ, anti-Christian polemic, Dionysos, Cassiopeia, Apollon, Nereides, Abstract Personifications, Greek Mythology, ΚΥΠΡΟΣ

This article is an introductory approach to the theology of St Gregory Palamas on the imago Dei (κατ᾿ εἰκόνα). In particular, after sketching its biblical and patristic background, the issues that are examined are the precise location of the imago, its Christological dimension, and how the transition towards the likeness to God (καθ᾿ ὁμοίωσιν) is achieved. Finally, reference is made to those elements that need to be considered in a future thorough study, so that the theology of Palamas on the imago be sufficiently analysed.

[Τό ἄρθρο ἀποτελεῖ εἰσαγωγική προσέγγιση στή θεολογία τοῦ ἁγίου Γρηγορίου Παλαμᾶ γιά τό κατ᾿ εἰκόνα. Συγκεκριμένα, μετά τή σκιαγράφηση τοῦ βιβλικοῦ και πατερικοῦ ὑπόβαθρού του, εξετάζονται τά θέματα: ποῦ ἀκριβῶς ἐντοπίζεται τό κατ᾿ εἰκόνα, ποιά εἶναι ἡ χριστολογική του διάσταση καί πῶς γίνεται ἡ μετάβαση πρός τό καθ᾿ ὁμοίωσιν. Τέλος γίνεται ἀναφορά στά σημεῖα πού πρέπει νά ἐρευνηθοῦν σέ μία μελλοντική ἐνδελεχῆ μελέτη, ὥστε νά ἀναλυθεῖ ἐπαρκῶς ἡ θεολογία τοῦ Παλαμᾶ γιά τό κατ᾿ εἰκόνα.]

*This is an author's proof that preceded the published version. The published work includes some changes in pagination, foot notes, and content. Please contact me if you'd like the published version of the paper. You can purchase the full work here: https://vernonpress.com/book/1154

The Japanese vocaloid (vocal android) named Hatsune Miku
stands out as one of the most notable expressions of the spread and
acceptance of vocaloids and hologram culture. This peculiar sensation of
Hatsune Miku raises two questions: first, why is Hatsune so popular, and what
values does she reflect? Second, how should Christians respond to the recent
developments of the vocaloid phenomenon? To answer these questions, I
begin by applying cultural hermeneutics on the Hatsune Miku phenomenon,
in order to identify what social and cultural realities Hatsune embodies and
reflects. I then offer a biblical and theological response to the rise of digital
hologram culture exemplified by Hatsune Miku and her followers. I contend
that the widespread popularity and acceptance of Hatsune Miku reflects
humanity’s relational nature of being created in the Image of God, which
includes the human desire for community with people and with God, but ends up idolatry.

The concept of imago Dei plays a fundamental role in the christian conception of human being. Saint Augustine’s conception of the mind, held in De Trinitate was determinant to the theorization of this subject throughout the Middle Ages. Indeed, this work exerted a capital influence on the way in which Thomas Aquinas understood this same topic. In this article, we explain the interpretation of the fundamental Augustinian concepts that intervene in Aquinas’ explanation of the mind as the image of God, such as those of likeness and image, those of mind, knowledge and love, those of memory, intelligence and will, as well as those of “dicens”, word and love. Through them, the human mind and its operations are conceived as a privileged reference to speak of God as Trinity, from the application of analogy. Just as in the human mind there is habitual presence to oneself (memory/dicense), from which comes, by intellectual means, a word in which one expresses one's own nature, and, through this one, a love of self proceeds by way of will, which is a new way of affective presence of oneself, in God, from the Father, perfect as a subsisting being, the Word and Love proceed.

Using the work of Bernard Lonergan and Hans Urs von Balthasar to enhance our understanding of the individual within the community, I argue that the African notion of Ubuntu enriches our understanding of humanity through recognizing the role and importance of community. I use Lonergan to show that awareness of another’s humanity leads to a deeper awareness of one’s own and that the ultimate form of being-in-relationship is a being-in-love which requires authenticity and self-transcendence. I argue that Ubuntu is another way of naming self-transcendence from an African perspective. Drawing on the works of Balthasar, theologically this recognition of community not only enhances our understanding of humanity but alludes to the profound theological recognition that the Imago Dei in the other is most profoundly an Imago Trinitatis. Since God cannot be God out of relationship with God, human persons require community, and the ecclesial community to be most fully human persons.

The image of God has carried with it a special designation for humanity within the panoply of life on earth. This project attempts to reorient and expand theological anthropology to include the ecological dimension in Christian perspective to cultivate an understanding of the ecological self. This project will place traditional interpretations of what it means to be human into conversation with twentieth-century ecological philosophies and Native American spirituality in order to broaden the Christian imagination for understanding ourselves within creation. Vine Deloria’s analyses of Western temporal thinking and spatial thinking demonstrated by Native worldviews provides perspective for necessary theological shifts to support a Christian ecotheological anthropology.

While the contemporary world has been heralded as being “post-racial”, we can look all-around to see evidence that this assertion is not only flawed but false. Religion is generally blamed as the key culprit for the escalating conflicts igniting the world over which threatens peace. Yet, rarely is secularism and the void created in its midst carefully analyzed in this context. The historical roots of this problem are more remote than postmodernism and modernism. However, secularism has fractured the way that human identity has been understood throughout time which eclipses the integral relationship between human diversity and religious pluralism.

The present chapter traces how the rabbis in the tractate of Hagigah developed the biblical commands concerning cultic pilgrimage into laws for a bygone Jerusalem temple pilgrimage to see and be seen by God. Our investigation points to how the desire for, and loss of, the sight of God’s face punctuates and centers the Babylonian Talmud tractate of Hagigah. The biblical commandment to "see the face of God three times a year" allowed the rabbis to conjure forms and narratives of pilgrimage in an age of Greek and Roman "visual piety" but without the Jerusalem temple. The chapter shows how in varying ways earlier and later rabbis construct a pilgrimage of reciprocal vision (in which pilgrim and god mutually behold and are beheld), particularly in the Babylonian Talmud which emphasizes "homovisuality."

The article focuses on the author's research on the chronographical background of the Zodiac Mosaic Calendar in Synagogue at Hammath-Tiberias. He researched to find the origin of mosaic decoration, the twelve zodiac sign, the four seasons, and Helios, which was found in synagogues in two parts of Palestine, Galilee and Judah. The chronograph of the mosaic art was extensively debated. The author further studied the history of Palestine Jews in the 4th century. Most of the work was done during the period of Hillel II.
The author concludes that the mosaic from the Stratum IIa synagogue with the Zodiac Calendar was executed in the time of Hillel II, who said to have died around 365 CE. He proposes the new date of the execution of the Zodiac Mosaic from Hammat-Tiberia (Stratum IIa) after the earthquake in 363, that is, in 364 or 365.

In this paper I manifest how St. Thomas’s understanding of the imago Dei developed over his career, how he had a more static understanding of the image of God early on that focused on the threefold powers of memory, intellect, and will as being the subject of the image by which man imitates the Trinity, but that later on he held to a more dynamic understanding of the imago Dei, seeing it as pertaining properly to the actions themselves of the mind, namely remembering, knowing, and loving, according to which knowledge, word, and love are produced in the soul. My mode of procedure is that of exposition, commenting on the main texts of St. Thomas in chronological order, making comparisons between them with regard to developments, changes, or regressions, as well analyzing his authoritative sources.

For Bavinck is it not enough that “grace restores nature,” but rather that “grace repairs and perfects nature,” and this concept of the latent perfectibility of nature is what holds Bavinck’s whole nature/grace relationship together. As Brian Mattson highlights, for Bavinck included in the notion of imago Dei is not simply what humanity is at their creation, but also what they must become.  Such a destiny of humanity detailed in the covenant of works serves as a limiting principle for how one is to understand the nature of redemption: grace in restoring and perfecting nature does not return creation to the pristine conditions of its beginning, but rather leads it into the beatitudinal perfection for which it was designed. Therefore, nature and grace are united in a singular telos of God.

St Gregory Palamas (ca. 1296-1357), in considering the image of God in man, finds, like many before him, reflections of the Holy Trinity in the human soul. In particular he posits a number of analogies between the three Divine Persons and the human intellect, reason, and spirit (νοῦς, λόγος, πνεῦμα). Palamas’ sources for such analogies are a matter of scholarly discussion. The most plausible include Gregory Nazianzen, Augustine, Maximos the Confessor, John Damascene and, more immediately in Palamas’ case, Gregory the Sinaite and Theoleptos of Philadelpheia. However, in recent scholarship, two other sources have been suggested as being more likely: Symeon the New Theologian and his disciple Niketas Stethatos (10th-11th century). This article tests this hypothesis, which, at first glance, would seem successfully to resolve the question of Palamas’ sources. Thus, the article examines this potentially promising suggestion by analyzing the theological presuppositions and approaches of Symeon and Stethatos and comparing them with those of Palamas. In conclusion, it will be shown that, despite sharing certain points of commonality, the differences regarding this issue between Symeon and Niketas on the one hand, and Gregory Palamas on the other preclude any definitive argument for dependence. Finally, the article discusses in brief a very crucial question, which is closely related to the aforementioned subject: Did Palamas really have a direct knowledge of Symeon’s and Niketas’ corpus?

L'Uomo Perfetto (al-Insan al-kamil), in quanto Imago dei, diviene nel pensiero di Ibn 'Arabi la Sintesi suprema dei due aspetti della Necessità e della Possibilità, della totalità dei Nomi divini e delle realtà del cosmo, ma soprattutto è il "Luogo teofanico" in cui Dio si specchia per conoscersi ad extra.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the Russian Philosopher Nikolaj A. Berdjaev’s main works during his time in Berlin from 1922 to 1924. Different editions, translations and articles of Berdjaev’s researches were examined in order to understand his conception of personalism and the human being as made in the image of God. Particular attention was paid to the essays of Berdjaev that were later collected as a book called „Das neue Mittelalter“. International literature from scholars who have written about Berdjaev was consulted in order to form an objective assessment of his theories and expose his central idea of the person being free also in matters of faith as created in the image of God. As a conclusion, this paper indicates that his concepts and ideas can be found and seen later on in the Declaration Dignitatis Humanae, approved by the Second Vatican Council 50 years ago.