A fascinating exploration of the many faces
of God and what they reveal
about our own humanity
about our own humanity
He was a whole pantheon in Himself….
He constantly appeared in many and ever-changing roles lest He
be frozen and converted into the dumb idols He Himself
despised. God was a polyvalent personality who, by mirroring to
man His many faces, provided the models that man so needed to
survive and flourish. This is the true humanity of God.
—from the Introduction
In scholarly but accessible terms, with
many startling and controversial insights, renowned Bible
scholar Dr. Yochanan Muffs examines the anthropomorphic
evolution of the Divine Image—from creator of the cosmos
to God the father, God the husband, God the king, God the
“chess-player,” God the ultimate master—and
how these different images of God have shaped our faith and
world view. Muffs also examines how expressions of divine
power, divine will and divine love throughout the Bible have
helped develop the contemporary human condition and our
enriching dialectic between faith and doubt.
“Muffs’s fascinating
thesis—that the genius of the Jewish religion is the idea
of God’s ‘personhood’—is skillfully
executed and given its scholarly due. Readers of all faiths
will find this book insightful and
thought-provoking.”
—Elyse
Goldstein, author of ReVisions: Seeing Torah through a Feminist Lens and editor of The
Women’s Torah Commentary and The Women’s Haftarah
Commentary
“Embraces unashamedly the ways the
Bible pictures God as a person with all the traits of human
psychology and even anatomy. Shows convincingly how it enriches
both faith and theology, not least by liberating the readers
from the stultifying literal readings of the sacred
texts.”
—Bishop
Krister Stendahl, Harvard
Divinity School
“A priceless opportunity….
Vitality, excitement and theological imagination leap from
every page. For those readers who never knew Muffs the teacher,
this volume is a gift.”
—Dr. Neil
Gillman, professor of Jewish
philosophy at The Jewish Theological Seminary of America,
author of The Death of Death:
Resurrection and Immortality in Jewish Thought
“Biblical scholar, Jewish
theologian, master teacher—all three of these personae
make their appearance on every page. His vast but understated
erudition is completely fused with his own passionate
religiosity to make for stimulating and challenging reading.
The reader will be well rewarded.”
—Rabbi
Arthur Green, dean of the
Rabbinical School at Hebrew College, author of Ehyeh: A Kabbalah for Tomorrow
“Behind the academic and the
philosopher is the one who loves God as Person with a burning
intensity. How does he work this out so it makes sense to him
and to others? Those of us who have heard ‘Yochie
Muffs’ teach and those who, alas, have not can read The
Personhood of God. The book is a blessing.”
—Rabbi
Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, author of
First Steps to a New Jewish Spirit:
Reb Zalman’s Guide to Recapuring the Intimacy &
Ecstasy in Your Relationship with God
Dr. Yochanan Muffs, for more than four decades a beloved teacher at The
Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS), holds the
Distinguished Service Professorship in Bible and Religion at
JTS and has made major contributions in biblical studies,
Semitic languages, the history of the ancient Near East and
Jewish religion and thought in general. Dr. Muffs’s
central work has been in the understanding of biblical text
through comparative philological study. His two books, Studies in the Aramaic Legal Papyri from
Elephantine and Love and Joy: Law, Language and Religion in Ancient
Israel are unparalleled
studies in this area.
