Anthropopathism

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Anthropopathism (from Greek ἄνθρωπος anthropos, "human" and πάθος pathos, "suffering") is the attribution of human emotions, or the ascription of human feelings or passions to a non-human being, generally to a deity.^[1]

By comparison, the term anthropomorphism originally referred to the attribution of human form to a non-human being, but in modern usage anthropomorphism has come to encompass both meanings.

Religion

This is a technique prevalent in religious writings, where, for instance, human emotion is attributed to God, where he would not normally experience emotion in this sense.^[2] Anthropopathism existed in the ancient Semitic religion and early Islam.^[3] This technique is also used in the book of Genesis,^[4]^: 58 as an example of the theme of God as a personal god.^[4]^: 60^{[verification needed]}

See also

References

^ "Definition of ANTHROPOPATHISM". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
^ Gavrilyuk, Paul L. (2004-03-12). The Suffering of the Impassible God: The Dialectics of Patristic Thought. Oxford University Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-19-153354-9.
^ Williams, Wesley (2009). "A Body Unlike Bodies: Transcendent Anthropomorphism in Ancient Semitic Tradition and Early Islam". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 129 (1): 19–44. ISSN 0003-0279. JSTOR 40593866.
^ ^a ^b Knafl, Anne K. (2014-10-23). Forming God: Divine Anthropomorphism in the Pentateuch. Penn State Press. ISBN 978-1-57506-899-2.

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