It’s easy to forget that the God of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)/Christian Old Testament — who continues as God the Father for Trinitarian Christians in the New Testament — has a literal corporeal body. Fundamentalist versions of both Judaism and Christianity of course bury this deeply. For a more complete discussion of the embodiment of God in the earliest stages of the Restoration, see DavidL. Paulsen, “ The Doctrine of Divine Embodiment: Restoration, Judeo-Christian, and Philosophical Perspectives,” BYU Studies Quarterly35, no. 4 (1995–1996): 9–39. See also TerrylL. Givens, Wrestling the Angel: The Foundations of Mormon Thought—Cosmos, God, Humanity(New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2015), 89–95. On what Joseph would have known about God’s body after the First Vision, see JohnW. Welch, “ When Did Joseph Smith Know that the Father and the Son Have Bodies as Tangible as Man’s?,” BYU Studies Quarterly59 no. 2 (2020): 298–310. Stavrakopoulou, a professor of ancient religion and the Hebrew Bible at the University of Exeter, argues that Judaism and, later, Christianity spiritualized the God of ancient Israel through the centuries. In so doing, once clearly anthropomorphic passages of Scripture were given completely allegorical meanings. As the author notes in the conclusion, “the real God of the Bible was an ancient Levantine deity whose footsteps shook the earth, whose voice thundered through the skies and whose beauty and radiance dazzled his worshippers.” The author presents a lengthy and well-researched tome that draws on multiple ancient sources and archaeological findings to rediscover the physicality of ancient gods and especially the bodily nature of the God of Israel. Stavrakopoulou explores this God one part at a time: feet and legs, genitals, torso, arms and hands, and, finally, head. She explores a remarkable range of Scripture in which Israel’s God is described in fully anthropomorphic terms—and often with attributes of character and action more akin to a god of Olympus than the God of modern Abrahamic religions. The God Stavrakopoulou reveals is a warrior and a lover who lives in close proximity to his people. At times, the author’s rejection of allegorical interpretations of this God is unyielding—e.g., her treatment of scriptural descriptions of God fathering his believers through his lover. Nonetheless, Stavrakopoulou provides a refreshing look at ancient Scripture and the people behind it, reminding readers that the concept of “God” in the 21st century is a world away from that of the earliest people of Israel. Genesis 5:1–3 echoes Genesis 1:26–27, stating “that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; male and female created he them,” and then adding that Adam had “a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth.” In the book of Moses, this is revised to explicitly refer to the bodilyimage of God: Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount.

Granting for the moment that the translations just cited are accurate, we may well ask nonetheless whether they are good translations. There are times, in other words, when the plain sense is humanly, artistically, psychologically or emotionally just off. Can you imagine a mother exulting over her newborn baby boy with the words, “I have procreated”? Can you imagine a lover swooning poetically over her sweetheart’s gorgeous “genitalia”? I have poetic reservations but Stavrakopoulou has nonetheless written a stunning book. What the judges said: “Intelligent, illuminating and thoroughly enjoyable. A well-researched book that uses carefully chosen case studies to shed light on a topic of contemporary debate.”Stavrakopoulou claims that Job knows Yahweh is assaulting him. Actually, let's not call the verbal challenges an assault, but just an interrogation. On the HistoryExtra podcast | Francesca Stavrakopoulou explores what ancient biblical texts tell us about the anatomy of God What the judges said: “An engaging and often moving account of how religious life was woven into people’s everyday experiences from Anglo-Saxon times to the Reformation. A sparkling book.” For two very recent treatments of the subject, see Charles Halton, A Human-Shaped God: Theology of an Embodied God(Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2021); Francesca Stavrakopoulou, God: An Anatomy(New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2022). See also Esther J. Hamori, “When Gods Were Men”: The Embodied God in Biblical and Near Eastern Literature(New York, NY: Walter de Gruyter, 2008); BenjaminD. Sommer, The Bodies of God in the World of Ancient Israel(New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2009); MarkS. Smith, Where the Gods Are: Spatial Dimensions of the Anthropomorphism in the Biblical World(New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2016); Andreas Wagner, God’s Body: The Anthropomorphic God in the Old Testament(New York: T&T Clark, 2019). For an earlier treatment of this topic, which is more philosophical/theological rather than historical-critical, see E. LaB. Cherbonnier, “The Logic of Biblical Anthropomorphism,” Harvard Theological Review55, no. 3 (1962): 187–206. Chebonnier later discussed the biblical view of an anthropomorphic (human-like) God in light of Latter-day Saint teachings on this subject. See Edmond LaB. Cherbonnier, “ In Defense of Anthropomorphism,” in Reflections on Mormonism: Judaeo-Christian Parallels, ed. TrumanG. Madsen (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1978), 155–171.

The first of these will explore History and Science and History, Empires and Global Histories, with panellists including historians Olivette Otele and Sanjoy Bhattacharya, previous Wolfson History Prize winner Sudhir Hazareesingh, shortlisted authors Toby Green and Lindsey Fitzharris, and chair of judges David Cannadine. Paulsen, “ Doctrine of Divine Embodiment,” 41–79, which is a significant expansion of Paulsen, “Early Christian Belief in a Corporeal Deity.” Paulsen also critiques the philosophical arguments against an embodied God in Paulsen, “ Doctrine of Divine Embodiment,” 81–94, an adaptation of David Paulsen, “Must God Be Incorporeal?,” Faith and Philosophy6, no. 1 (1989): 76–87.

If you are exploring topics connected to sexual ethics, particularly going beyond a focus on heterosexuality, the work of Dr Susanna Cornwell and Marcella Althaus-Reid are both eminently relevant. Dr Hannah Critchlow, in her book, The Science of Fate, provides insights for discussions surrounding whether we are truly free. She shows how biological factors or the way the brain processes information can unconsciously shape our choices.