The Notion of the Image in the Teachings of Christian and Muslim Thinkers

Lubomira Stefanova

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ellc.20190402.13

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The Notion of the Image in the Teachings of Christian and Muslim Thinkers

Lubomira Stefanova

Published in English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 4, Issue 2)

Received: 6 March 2019 Accepted: 20 June 2019 Published: 1 July 2019

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Abstract

Notwithstanding the difference in historical periods of creativity, in the treatises of some of the most famous thinkers both in Islamic culture and in the Christian world, ideas and understandings of the image are found as a notion that does not exhaust the perception of God, but is relevant to the pursuit of God's knowledge. The brief historical distance between the emergence of the Pseudo-Dionysian treatises and those of Islamic philosophy allows us to make a comparison between the two religious worldviews. The two monotheistic concepts of the manifestations of God in the visible world have common foundations in the Geek philosophy and the views of the Neoplatonists. The rich and tangled language in the Pseudo-Dionysian treatises reveals the two-sided process of the interrelation between the divine and human realities. In the texts of the Muslim thinker Muhammad al- Ghazālī, the image of the contemplative man's ascension to the Almighty and indescribable God is also revealed. This article attempts to compare the patterns of thought through which these two philosophers, with different religious beliefs, express their understanding of the image of God and the path of contemplative rising to Him. The image of the One, from where the entire immanent world originates, occupies the first place for both wise men. But while for the Muslim philosopher the manifestations of God in the world are a direct realization of His gentle mind, the Christian thinker focuses on the image of the incarnation of God in the person of Christ.

Published in	English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 4, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.ellc.20190402.13
Page(s)	44-53
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Image, Religion, Philosophy

References

[1]	Athanase d’Alexandrie, Sur l’Incarnation du Verbe, Paris, Ed. par Ch. Kannengiesser (Sources Chrétiennes, 199), 1973: 458.
[2]	Plato, Parmenid, Ed. Est-West, 2018: 18.
[3]	Sheppard Anne, Proclus' Attitude to Theurgy, The Classical Quarterly, New Series, Vol. 32, No. 1, Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association, pp. 212-224 Accessed: 17/07/2018/ 12:12. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/638759, 1982: 215-217+221.
[4]	Procle, Diadoch., Elements of Theology, Sofia, Lik, 1995: 28, §29.
[5]	Plotin, Eneads. Sofia, Est-West, 2005: 502-503.
[6]	Christov, Ivan, Πρόνοια and Σοφία in the disscurs about the energies according the Greek Scholias to the Areopagite’s Corpus, Zivo predanie (Живо предание), https://dveri.bg/component/com_content/Itemid,100521/catid,280/id,68303/view,article/ (05.03, 22:20), 2019; Project Corpus Areopagiticum: Index Verborum Potiorum in Greek Scholia. In: Archiv für mittelalterliche Philosophie und Kultur, Heft. IV, Sofia: Lik. 2000;
[7]	Aristotle, Naturophilosophical and natural sciences. Part IV. Vol. II. For the soul. Parva naturalia, Sofia: 2018: 33.
[8]	Areopagite, Pseudo-Dionisyus,(1) The Celesty Hierarchy. The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, Sofia, Lik, 2002: 23; 77-79; 83; 285; 36; (2) The Divine Names. Sofia, Gal-Iko, 1999: 152.
[9]	Albertini, Tamara. 1997, “Islamic Philosophy. An Overview”. A Compagnion to World Philosophies, Blakwell, 99-108.
[10]	Meyendorff, John., Christ in Eastern Christian Thought, Crestood, N. Y.: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1975 in: Blog about Protopresviter John Meyendorff, Accsessed February 03, 2019, https://johnmeyendorff.wordpress.com 02/14/2016/.
[11]	Al-Ghazālī, Abū Hāimid Muhammad, Deliverence from Error (Annotated Translstion of Al-Munquidh and other Relevant works) By Richard Joseph McCarthy, S. J., Lousville, Fons Vitae: 1980: 55; 81-82; 84;
[12]	Rippin, Andrew. “The Function of “ Asbāb al Nuzūl in Qur’ānic Exegesis” In: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Univercity of London, Vol.51/1,. 1988: 1-20.
[13]	Shivarov, Nikolai & Slavcho Valchanov, Eternal in the Two Biblical Covenants, Veliko Tarnovo, Slovo, 1994: 18.
[14]	Damascen, Ioan. Exact Presentation of the Orthodox Faith, Month Athos, Saint Georges Zograph Monastery, 2008: 115; 99; 82; 14.
[15]	Losski, Vladimir, Videnie Boga v Vyzantyiskom Bogoslovii, Bogoslovskie trudi, Moskovskaja Patriarhia, Moskva, 1972: 188; 115; 83.
[16]	Stamatova, Klara., The Islam’s Vision about Jesus Christ, Sofia: Artgraph. 2001: 78.

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Lubomira Stefanova. (2019). The Notion of the Image in the Teachings of Christian and Muslim Thinkers. English Language, Literature & Culture, 4(2), 44-53. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20190402.13

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Lubomira Stefanova. The Notion of the Image in the Teachings of Christian and Muslim Thinkers. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2019, 4(2), 44-53. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20190402.13

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Lubomira Stefanova. The Notion of the Image in the Teachings of Christian and Muslim Thinkers. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2019;4(2):44-53. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20190402.13

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@article{10.11648/j.ellc.20190402.13,
  author = {Lubomira Stefanova},
  title = {The Notion of the Image in the Teachings of Christian and Muslim Thinkers},
  journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
  volume = {4},
  number = {2},
  pages = {44-53},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20190402.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20190402.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20190402.13},
  abstract = {Notwithstanding the difference in historical periods of creativity, in the treatises of some of the most famous thinkers both in Islamic culture and in the Christian world, ideas and understandings of the image are found as a notion that does not exhaust the perception of God, but is relevant to the pursuit of God's knowledge. The brief historical distance between the emergence of the Pseudo-Dionysian treatises and those of Islamic philosophy allows us to make a comparison between the two religious worldviews. The two monotheistic concepts of the manifestations of God in the visible world have common foundations in the Geek philosophy and the views of the Neoplatonists. The rich and tangled language in the Pseudo-Dionysian treatises reveals the two-sided process of the interrelation between the divine and human realities. In the texts of the Muslim thinker Muhammad al- Ghazālī, the image of the contemplative man's ascension to the Almighty and indescribable God is also revealed. This article attempts to compare the patterns of thought through which these two philosophers, with different religious beliefs, express their understanding of the image of God and the path of contemplative rising to Him. The image of the One, from where the entire immanent world originates, occupies the first place for both wise men. But while for the Muslim philosopher the manifestations of God in the world are a direct realization of His gentle mind, the Christian thinker focuses on the image of the incarnation of God in the person of Christ.},
 year = {2019}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - The Notion of the Image in the Teachings of Christian and Muslim Thinkers
AU  - Lubomira Stefanova
Y1  - 2019/07/01
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20190402.13
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PB  - Science Publishing Group
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AB  - Notwithstanding the difference in historical periods of creativity, in the treatises of some of the most famous thinkers both in Islamic culture and in the Christian world, ideas and understandings of the image are found as a notion that does not exhaust the perception of God, but is relevant to the pursuit of God's knowledge. The brief historical distance between the emergence of the Pseudo-Dionysian treatises and those of Islamic philosophy allows us to make a comparison between the two religious worldviews. The two monotheistic concepts of the manifestations of God in the visible world have common foundations in the Geek philosophy and the views of the Neoplatonists. The rich and tangled language in the Pseudo-Dionysian treatises reveals the two-sided process of the interrelation between the divine and human realities. In the texts of the Muslim thinker Muhammad al- Ghazālī, the image of the contemplative man's ascension to the Almighty and indescribable God is also revealed. This article attempts to compare the patterns of thought through which these two philosophers, with different religious beliefs, express their understanding of the image of God and the path of contemplative rising to Him. The image of the One, from where the entire immanent world originates, occupies the first place for both wise men. But while for the Muslim philosopher the manifestations of God in the world are a direct realization of His gentle mind, the Christian thinker focuses on the image of the incarnation of God in the person of Christ.
VL  - 4
IS  - 2
ER  -

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Author Information

Lubomira Stefanova

Department of Theology, Saint Kliment Ohridski University, Sofia, Bulgaria

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APA Style

Lubomira Stefanova. (2019). The Notion of the Image in the Teachings of Christian and Muslim Thinkers. English Language, Literature & Culture, 4(2), 44-53. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20190402.13

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ACS Style

Lubomira Stefanova. The Notion of the Image in the Teachings of Christian and Muslim Thinkers. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2019, 4(2), 44-53. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20190402.13

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AMA Style

Lubomira Stefanova. The Notion of the Image in the Teachings of Christian and Muslim Thinkers. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2019;4(2):44-53. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20190402.13

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ellc.20190402.13,
  author = {Lubomira Stefanova},
  title = {The Notion of the Image in the Teachings of Christian and Muslim Thinkers},
  journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
  volume = {4},
  number = {2},
  pages = {44-53},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20190402.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20190402.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20190402.13},
  abstract = {Notwithstanding the difference in historical periods of creativity, in the treatises of some of the most famous thinkers both in Islamic culture and in the Christian world, ideas and understandings of the image are found as a notion that does not exhaust the perception of God, but is relevant to the pursuit of God's knowledge. The brief historical distance between the emergence of the Pseudo-Dionysian treatises and those of Islamic philosophy allows us to make a comparison between the two religious worldviews. The two monotheistic concepts of the manifestations of God in the visible world have common foundations in the Geek philosophy and the views of the Neoplatonists. The rich and tangled language in the Pseudo-Dionysian treatises reveals the two-sided process of the interrelation between the divine and human realities. In the texts of the Muslim thinker Muhammad al- Ghazālī, the image of the contemplative man's ascension to the Almighty and indescribable God is also revealed. This article attempts to compare the patterns of thought through which these two philosophers, with different religious beliefs, express their understanding of the image of God and the path of contemplative rising to Him. The image of the One, from where the entire immanent world originates, occupies the first place for both wise men. But while for the Muslim philosopher the manifestations of God in the world are a direct realization of His gentle mind, the Christian thinker focuses on the image of the incarnation of God in the person of Christ.},
 year = {2019}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - The Notion of the Image in the Teachings of Christian and Muslim Thinkers
AU  - Lubomira Stefanova
Y1  - 2019/07/01
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20190402.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ellc.20190402.13
T2  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JF  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JO  - English Language, Literature & Culture
SP  - 44
EP  - 53
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-2413
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20190402.13
AB  - Notwithstanding the difference in historical periods of creativity, in the treatises of some of the most famous thinkers both in Islamic culture and in the Christian world, ideas and understandings of the image are found as a notion that does not exhaust the perception of God, but is relevant to the pursuit of God's knowledge. The brief historical distance between the emergence of the Pseudo-Dionysian treatises and those of Islamic philosophy allows us to make a comparison between the two religious worldviews. The two monotheistic concepts of the manifestations of God in the visible world have common foundations in the Geek philosophy and the views of the Neoplatonists. The rich and tangled language in the Pseudo-Dionysian treatises reveals the two-sided process of the interrelation between the divine and human realities. In the texts of the Muslim thinker Muhammad al- Ghazālī, the image of the contemplative man's ascension to the Almighty and indescribable God is also revealed. This article attempts to compare the patterns of thought through which these two philosophers, with different religious beliefs, express their understanding of the image of God and the path of contemplative rising to Him. The image of the One, from where the entire immanent world originates, occupies the first place for both wise men. But while for the Muslim philosopher the manifestations of God in the world are a direct realization of His gentle mind, the Christian thinker focuses on the image of the incarnation of God in the person of Christ.
VL  - 4
IS  - 2
ER  -

Copy | Download