tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2818703174963694504.post2971300003787150668..comments2024-03-09T04:00:18.309-06:00Comments on Know Thyself: Heaven: A spectrum of Meanings? Keith Reichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10679244684706964812noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2818703174963694504.post-50274591514890316012015-11-13T12:59:28.805-06:002015-11-13T12:59:28.805-06:00Sorry for the delay in replying. I'm going to ...Sorry for the delay in replying. I'm going to post something about this on my blog. My inclination is to think that heaven was literally thought to be the place where God dwells, although God is so great that neither heaven nor earth can contain him, according to other authors. But if that language is not literal, it isn't clear to me what it would mean as a metaphor. James F. McGrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02561146722461747647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2818703174963694504.post-58810600367226949582015-11-09T07:47:43.716-06:002015-11-09T07:47:43.716-06:00That is a great question, and one which I am not s...That is a great question, and one which I am not sure I have a good answer for. Even as I wrote the word "metaphorical" I was sure it was not the word I was looking for. That is why I added "figurative" later, but even then I knew I did not have the right word. I think what I was thinking of was the developing conception of God in the Hebrew Bible that tended to distance god from creation. I am thinking of things like the prohibition of making images of God. There seems to be a movement in Hebrew literature from seeing God as one god among many, alongside other tribal deities, to later the one god over all other deities, to even later, the only god who is substantively different than the created order (you are much more the expert on Jewish monotheism than I am). In this latest phase I think that using "heaven" as God's abode might have to take on a more metaphorical tone. Yet, I am not highly confident of this view. One specific place come to mind and that is Isaiah 66:1 "Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool." I find it hard to take either heaven or earth here as anything but figurative along with the anthropomorphic description of God. Or is God here just described as really big? Any thoughts? I appreciate the thought provoking question. Keith Reichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10679244684706964812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2818703174963694504.post-80430798429431704562015-11-06T20:43:09.505-06:002015-11-06T20:43:09.505-06:00What makes you think that the second meaning is me...What makes you think that the second meaning is metaphorical, rather than the sky being where God was literally thought to be enthroned?James F. McGrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02561146722461747647noreply@blogger.com