Does changing the metaphor liberate? On the 'fatherhood' of God
The paper seeks to investigate the metaphoric expressions of God's 'fatherhood' in the Old Testament. It is done against the background of the obvious patriarchal cultural context of the Biblical text. The question whether the metaphor should be rejected, replaced or changed, can only...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2002
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| In: |
Old Testament essays
Year: 2002, Volume: 15, Issue: 1, Pages: 131-148 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | The paper seeks to investigate the metaphoric expressions of God's 'fatherhood' in the Old Testament. It is done against the background of the obvious patriarchal cultural context of the Biblical text. The question whether the metaphor should be rejected, replaced or changed, can only be answered once the semantic references of the metaphor have been gleaned from the concrete textual contexts. It is suggested that the metaphor should be translated in terms of the specific semantic bearing of the metaphoric expression in a particular context, amply justified further by the loss of meaning of this metaphor. The semantic reference of the metaphor transcends the perception of any biological or physical fatherhood and presupposes no essential masculinity of God. The adaptations suggested, allow a less androcentric God-talk. |
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| ISSN: | 2312-3621 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Old Testament essays
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| Persistent identifiers: | HDL: 10520/EJC85448 |