Unit 2 Flashcards
(23 cards)
who is Allah
The God of Islam
what is anthropomorphic language
god in personal terms as though god has human qualities
attribute meaning
a quality or feature which is regarded as a characteristic or inherent part of someone or something
Brahma
hindu deity responsible for creative power
Brahman
the ultimate reality (God)from which everything comes and into which everything will return (Hinduism)
Immanent meaning
God is involved in the world and everywhere
impersonal meaning
god does not possess personal qualities and does not enter into personal relationships with individual
omnibenevolent
the quality of being all good/loving
omnipotent
being all powerful
omnipresent
the quality of being everywhere
omniscient
the quality of being all knowing
personal god
an individual/person with whom people are able to feel close to
Rama
a personification of righteousness and an avatar of vishnu
shiva
Hindu deity (the destroyer)
sustainer
god sustains the whole universe and ensures that it continues
vishnu
Hindu deity preserving order and harmony in the universe
is it possible to truly know and understand god?
-transcendent god could never be fully understood by humans
-we are finite, but god is infinite.
-God has showed himself thru revelation in nature,sacret text, religious leaders etc.
is it disrespectful to use personal language to describe god?
-some might say that common language is inadequate to describe god - it could be blasphemous
-reducing god to the level of humans is blasphemous , he is transcendent
-some might say that the idea of god being personal can bring comfort and connection
-if this was true all human language would be inadequate when describing beings that aren’t humans
can god be immanent and transcendent?
CHRISTIANITY
-the trinity helps christians think of god like this, god is the transcendent creator but also took human form as Jesus (immanent) he is also active in the world through the Holy Spirit (immanent)
ISLAM
- Qur’an teaches that god is transcendent, at the same time muslims pray 5x a day and believe that Allah hears and responds to their prayers (immanent)
the holy trinity
Christianity is monotheistic however christians believe that god has three persons. The father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. the three persons share the same godly substance.
God the father created the world, god the son is the part of god that became incarnate, god the Holy Spirit is the part of god that is on earth today.
worship
-prayer can reveal the personal nature of god
-no is still an answer
is It wrong to make statues or images of god
in some christian traditions eg catholic use statues to aid worship, however is islam making images for worship is condemned. this is set out in the Ten Commandments ‘do not worship idols’ (2nd commandment). some argue that making images of god reduces him to the human level of human imagination.
muslim understanding of god - TAWHID (oneness)
“there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah (shahadah). Allah is one. The Qur’an contains 99 names of God
