An Embodied God: Recent Research Highlights

Last week’s blog introduced the topic of an embodied God. I noted a dichotomy between anthropomorphic descriptions of the divine, which can be found in the Talmud and the Midrash, and later interpretations that insisted that the divine was transcendent. It is precisely this tension that gives the God of the Hebrew Bible a vibrant persona, oscillating between human likeness and intangibility. I argued that if the writers and compilers of the Torah did not remove all anthropomorphic depictions of the divine, then perhaps we too can embrace the various caricatures that the text portrays. 

God and a physical body is something I began contemplating several years ago after reading three separate books, “When Gods Were Men”: The Embodied God in Biblical and Near Eastern Literature (Esther J. Hamori, 2008), The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel (Benjamin Sommers, 2009), and Where the Gods Are: Spacial Dimensions of Anthropomorphism in the Biblical World (Mark S. Smith, 2016). 

Esther Hamori distinguishes between several different types of anthropomorphic portrayals of the divine. Some of these anthropomorphic depictions include: concrete anthropomorphism, envisioned anthropomorphism, immanent anthropomorphism, transcendent anthropomorphism, and figurative anthropomorphism. Benjamin Sommers argues for a fluidity model in regard to the divine, which acts as a bridge, enabling God to be both present and divine at the same time. According to Sommers, God’s unique qualities are not diminished in any way by being accessible. He can maintain his transcendence; yet establish human connection as well. Finally, Mark Smith expands on these ideas. He does not agree completely with Sommer’s fluidity model. Smith maintains that God is never in two places at once in the biblical stories, yet he does manifest himself in different forms, so there is a fluidity to his presence.

Fast forward several years and we have two new releases on this topic, which build upon these earlier authors, but also expand this discussion in unique ways: 

1. God: An Anatomy (Francesca Stavrakopoulou, 2022)

Stavrakopoulou’s recent release is an impressive dissection of God’s body beginning with the feet and working upwards toward the head. Her study is thorough (608 pages!), but readers also get to enjoy the latest research in ancient Israel and its surrounding cultures. For example, while you are reading about God’s feet, you are also learning about the Ain Dara temple in Syria where large feet are engraved into the stone, indicating the custom that gods physically walked into and resided in their respective temples. Stavrakopoulou’s talent for storytelling allows her to disseminate a lot of pertinent information with ease and even humor. I would highly recommend her book if you are interested in not only this topic, but also the broader history of ancient south- west Asia. 

2. A Human-Shaped God (Charles Halton, 2021)

 Charles Halton acknowledges that he worked on this book for over 10 years and he too was inspired by Sommer’s 2009 book. Halton spends one chapter on God’s body, but then also explores biblical passages depicting God’s mind, emotions, and character. One of his aims is to examine what God would look like if we started with the humanlike passages depicting God instead of relying on traditional theological approaches to expand our vocabulary and experience of the divine. He argues that this will require us to shift how we “do” theology because theology is not necessarily something we do, but rather something we “act out and embody” (p. 193). As we go about our lives, our thoughts and perceptions often change. According to Halton, “the humanlike picture of God in the Hebrew Scriptures also present underappreciated stories of God that can help us consider our theology from new perspectives. These accounts can also help us understand more deeply what it means to be human and, concomitantly, what it means to be God, since humans are created in God’s image” (p. 192-93). Halton’s work broadened my view of the divine and my perspective shifted, which is my hallmark sign of a good book. 

Does God have a body? A matrix of biblical passages written at various time periods depict the divine as humanlike. An embodied God is more tangible, more akin to the human experience, which is something that I can relate to in my day-to-day life. Perhaps, studying more about this topic will also expand your theology of the divine as well.

                                                                               Jennifer Metten Pantoja