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From the Greek, theo (God), and phainein (to show forth),[1] theophany means an appearance of a God to man, or a divine disclosure. [2] While the Iliad is our earliest source for descriptions of theopanies in the Classical tradition (and they occur throughout Greek mythology), probably the earliest description of a theophany is in the Epic of Gilgamesh. There, the protagonist meets Siduri, a goddess associated with brewing and fermentation. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the Bible is the primary source of events which both Britannica and the New Catholic Encyclopedia cite as being theophanies.
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Greek tradition
The appearance of Zeus to Semele in his full godhead, "all his glory", is more than a mortal can stand and she is burned to death by the flames of his power.[3] However, most Greek theophanies were less deadly. Unusual for Greek mythology is the story of the immortal Prometheus, not an Olympian but a Titan, who brought knowledge of fire to humanity. There are no descriptions of the humans involved in this theophany, but Prometheus was severely punished by Zeus.
Judeo-Christian tradition
The New Catholic Encyclopedia cites examples such as Gen 3:8a.[2] The same source then quotes Gen 16:7-14.[2] In this case, initially it is an angel which appears to Hagar, however it then says that God spoke directly to her, and that she saw God and lived (Gen 16:13). The next example the New Catholic Encyclopedia cites is Gen 22:11-15, which states explicitly that it was the angel of the Lord speaking to Abraham (Gen 22:11a).[2] However, the angel addressing Abraham speaks the words of God in the first person (Gen 22:12b). In both of the last two examples, although it is an angel present, the voice is of God spoken through the angel, and so this is a manifestation of God Himself. A similar case would be Moses and the burning bush. Initially Moses saw an angel in the bush, but then goes on to have a direct conversation with God himself (Ex 3). In the case of Jesus Christ according to the gospels and tradition, Christians understand him to be God the son, become man (Jn 1:14). The New Catholic Encyclopedia, however, makes few references to a theophany from the gospels. Mk 1:9-11, and Lk 9:28-36 are cited[2] which recount the Baptism, and the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ respectively. Although we could understand that although Jesus Christ is believed by Christians to be a manifestation of the divine throughout his life, it is only when his divine glory is manifested and not veiled by his humanity, that we would call it a theophany. Traditional analysis of these passages led Christian scholars to understand theophany as an unambiguous manifestation of God, to man, where "unambiguous" indicates that the seers or seer are of no doubt that it is God revealing himself to them.
Orthodox Christianity
The Feast of Theophany in the Eastern Orthodox Church on January 6th (which is the 19th of January in the Gregorian Calendar when the particular church uses the Julian Calendar celebrates the theophany at Jesus' baptism. The 4th century bishop Eusebius of Caesarea wrote a book called Theophania, referring to Jesus' Incarnation.
Latter-day Saints
Joseph Smith, Jr., the prophet and founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claimed that when he was 14 years old, he was visited by God the Father and Jesus Christ in a grove of trees near his house, a theophany in answer to his first spoken prayer. This vision is considered to be the start of the Latter Day Saint movement altogether.
Theophany in other beliefs
Since Hinduism is often understood as polytheistic or pantheistic, theophany has a different significance than it carries in Judaism and Christianity. The most well-known theophany in Eastern religions is contained within the Bhagavad-Gita, itself representing one chapter of the epic, Mahabharata. In the Gita, the famed warrior Arjuna begs for Krishna to reveal his true form after a series of teachings given by Krishna to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra indicates Krishna to be far more than mortal. Krishna complies and gives Arjuna the spiritual vision which enables him to see Krishna in his true form, a terrifying and awe-inspiring manifestation that forms the main part of Chapter XI. This theophany was paraphrased by Robert Oppenheimer upon witnessing the first atomic bomb test, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." More recently, science fiction author Philip K. Dick reportedly had a gnostic theophany on February 3, 1974 CE, which was to become the later basis for his semi-biographic works Valis (1981) and the posthumous Radio Free Albemuth (1985).
References
- ^ Merriam-Webster Dictionary; retrieved 24 March 2006.
- ^ a b c d e J.T.Burtchaell, "Theophany", in New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed. (2003), .13:929.
- ^ Fox, William Sherwood (1916) The Mythology of All Races: Greek and Roman pp. 45-46
