Category موضوعي
Evidence and research methods
Reading evidence, comparing interpretations and assessing the limits of inference.
Advanced search →Artifact 9 Entity 197 Period 2 Person 52 Site 17 Study 82 Ancient text 10
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Augustine
Fourth- and fifth-century Christian author describing his changing grasp of nonspatial divine presence.
Positions in specific texts, not a consensus of early or later Christianity; no portraits depicted
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Origen
Second- and third-century Christian exegete; the surviving First Principles argues for an incorporeal God.
Positions in specific texts, not a consensus of early or later Christianity; no portraits depicted
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Person
Tertullian
Latin Christian author of the late second and early third centuries with a distinctive body–spirit vocabulary.
Positions in specific texts, not a consensus of early or later Christianity; no portraits depicted
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Christian incarnation
The Word becoming flesh; distinct from every divine body or sensible manifestation.
Positions in specific texts, not a consensus of early or later Christianity; no portraits depicted
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Negative theology
Speaking of God through negating limitations while resisting comprehension of essence.
Different methods may coexist; they cannot all be reduced to one metaphor or delegation
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Divine anthropomorphism
Human bodily or emotional descriptions of God; not alone proof of corporeal essence.
Analyzing a phrase differs from reconstructing divine corporeality; words provide different kinds of evidence
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Divine simplicity
Metaphysical noncomposition, not simply belief in one God.
Three distinct axes, not one historical transition or a doctrine shared by every school
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Divine incorporeality
Denial of a material divine body; distinct from image prohibition and simplicity.
Three distinct axes, not one historical transition or a doctrine shared by every school
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When Israel’s God Encountered Greek Philosophy
From Greek Torah and Philo to Christian reception, Arabic philosophy and Maimonides: changing language of perfection, creation and logos, with distinct schools and graded transmission evidence.
Gold coin of Ptolemy II, Alexandria, ca. 261–246 BCE; the illustrated obverse bears Arsinoe II’s head. Context for Hellenistic Egypt, not a portrait of Philo or proof of a Torah translation commission. [24]
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Person
Avicenna (Ibn Sina)
Philosopher in the Arabic Islamic tradition, distinguishing possible from necessary existence in itself.
Modern diagram of ontological dependence, not a temporal sequence or portrait. The argument does not make all Islamic schools agree
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Neoplatonism
Modern label for later Platonic traditions associated with Plotinus, centuries after Philo.
Modern simplification of some Plotinian dependencies, not a spatial map or Christian Trinity. This third-century CE school postdates Philo
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Moses Maimonides
Medieval Jewish thinker; wrote the Guide in Judeo-Arabic and examined incorporeality and attributes.
Modern diagram of passages read in the Guide; neither a portrait of Maimonides nor a summary of the entire book
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Divine immutability
Inquiry into divine change, distinguished from fidelity and impassibility.
Modern conceptual distinction; connecting the levels requires argument, and terminology alone does not deny love or providence
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Allegorical exegesis
Reading narrative elements for further meanings; not inherently abolition of literal practice.
Modern diagram of Philo’s approach, not a rule for every Jewish reader. Migration of Abraham rejects neglecting laws because of symbolic interpretation. [11][12]
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Person
Philo of Alexandria
Jewish exegete writing Greek in the early Roman period and using philosophical tools to read the law.
Modern explanatory chronology; succession does not establish direct borrowing between authors. Philo predates Plotinian Neoplatonism. [10][20][21][22][19]
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Unmoved mover
Aristotelian principle explaining eternal motion without its own transition from potentiality to actuality.
Modern comparison of explanatory principles, not three names for the same god. Plato’s ordering does not establish creation from nothing; Aristotle’s mover is not automatically the biblical God. [6][7][13]
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Aristotle
Greek philosopher whose concepts of actuality, soul and motion were reinterpreted in later religious traditions.
Modern comparison of explanatory principles, not three names for the same god. Plato’s ordering does not establish creation from nothing; Aristotle’s mover is not automatically the biblical God. [6][7][13]
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Demiurge
Maker or organizer of the world in the Timaeus; not automatically a creator from nothing.
Modern comparison of explanatory principles, not three names for the same god. Plato’s ordering does not establish creation from nothing; Aristotle’s mover is not automatically the biblical God. [6][7][13]
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Person
Plato
Greek philosopher; the Timaeus’s maker differs from later religious conceptions of God.
Modern comparison of explanatory principles, not three names for the same god. Plato’s ordering does not establish creation from nothing; Aristotle’s mover is not automatically the biblical God. [6][7][13]
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Original photograph
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Allah in the Quran
Traces Allah before the Quran, then examines divinity, al-Raḥmān, angels, intercession and prophets in its discourse, separating linguistic kinship from doctrinal identity.
Quran manuscript folio, Met 1979.201, late eighth–early ninth century, Central Islamic Lands; ink, colours and gold on parchment. Later codex transmission, not a seventh-century copy or an image of the verses cited here. [28]
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Hanif
Quranic description of Abraham linked to submission and rejection of association.
Modern summary of passages about heavenly beings and Abraham, not depictions or an independent Abrahamic biography. Roles and surviving names do not establish a particular ancient god’s conversion into an angel. [9][10][11][27][23]
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Period
Late antiquity
Historical frame for late ancient transformations; boundaries vary by region and subject.
Modern distinction between the dates of witnesses surrounding this study, not fixed boundaries for late antiquity or a borrowing chain
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Intercession
Mediation subject in the cited Quranic texts to permission and approval, not divine independence.
Modern comparison of intermediary arguments with the permission condition. Neither denial of all intercession nor a complete history of interpretation. [18][19][25][9]
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Rabb
Title of lordship, ownership or care by context; applied to God in Lord of worlds.
Word functions in Quranic witnesses, not an etymological tree or four gods. Modern explanatory diagram; Allah’s possible derivation is a separate issue. [15][16][17][25]
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Raḥmānān
Divine designation rḥmnn in late Sabaic inscriptions before Islam.
Modern diagram of the Raḥmānān designation and settings, based on the passages read from Kjær. Not an inscription image or claim of uniform belief
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Al-Raḥmān
Quranic divine designation co-referring with Allah.
Word functions in Quranic witnesses, not an etymological tree or four gods. Modern explanatory diagram; Allah’s possible derivation is a separate issue. [15][16][17][25]
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How did the Trinity emerge?
A history of witnesses and formulation, from letters and gospels to fourth-century terminology and two creeds, distinguishing texts, interpretation and reception.
Modern timeline of witnesses and formulations, not one birth date for belief or immediate consensus. It distinguishes 381 from the expanded creed’s attestation in 451
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Filioque
Later western Latin addition concerning the Spirit’s procession, absent from the expanded Greek creed.
Modern diagram of debate, showing arguments, politics and worship together. No claim that one decision immediately made all Christians agree
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Modalism
Label for positions opponents argued erased Father/Son/Spirit distinction.
Modern diagram of debate, showing arguments, politics and worship together. No claim that one decision immediately made all Christians agree
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First Council of Nicaea
Council convened by Constantine in 325, a major stage that did not immediately end dispute.
Modern timeline of witnesses and formulations, not one birth date for belief or immediate consensus. It distinguishes 381 from the expanded creed’s attestation in 451
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Nicene Creed
Creed associated with the 325 council, distinct from the expanded form associated with 381.
Modern comparison of transmitted texts, not a tablet or original council minutes. The expanded form is ecclesially attributed to 381 and clearly displayed in Chalcedon’s 451 documentation
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Homoousios — consubstantial
Term in the 325 creed relating the Son’s substance to the Father, debated in reception.
Modern illustrated glossary of later technical usage. Meanings changed between authors; modern psychological person is no automatic equivalent of ancient hypostasis. The diagram does not depict the divine being
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Hypostasis
Term later used for distinguishing Father, Son and Spirit within one divinity.
Modern illustrated glossary of later technical usage. Meanings changed between authors; modern psychological person is no automatic equivalent of ancient hypostasis. The diagram does not depict the divine being
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Ousia — essence
Greek term for essence or nature, with meanings changing between authors.
Modern illustrated glossary of later technical usage. Meanings changed between authors; modern psychological person is no automatic equivalent of ancient hypostasis. The diagram does not depict the divine being
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Logos
Greek word for word or discourse, used in John’s language of God and incarnation.
Modern comparison of distinct witnesses. Threefold language and Christ’s status do not alone supply fourth-century terminology, and one text does not date every practice
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Trinity
Christian formulation of divine unity and Father/Son/Spirit distinction, with a history of debate.
Modern timeline of witnesses and formulations, not one birth date for belief or immediate consensus. It distinguishes 381 from the expanded creed’s attestation in 451
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Study
Judaism between exile and Christianity
Following Jewish diversity from exile to Roman times and changing angels, evil, resurrection and visions, distinguishing textual testimony, historical reconstruction and cultural-influence hypotheses.
Modern explanatory timeline of political and institutional changes, not dates for the birth of every belief or one uniform doctrinal path
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Apocalyptic literature
Writing disclosing hidden heavenly and historical knowledge, not every catastrophe.
Modern analytical tool. Resemblance alone does not prove Iranian borrowing: dating, contact, distinctive pattern, mechanism, alternatives and direction must be tested
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First Enoch
Layered collection of Jewish writings about heaven, evil and judgment.
Modern comparison of different witnesses, not an archaeological afterlife map or three identical beliefs. Daniel retains “many”; Josephus’s account differs from bodily resurrection
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Entity
Essenes
Group described by outside authors; a Qumran link is likely, not identity with all scrolls.
Modern comparison of an ancient outside author’s account. Josephus uses Greek philosophical language; this is neither the groups’ own manifesto nor an account of all Jews
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