From the Greek, theophaneia which translates "appearance/showing of God",^[1] theophany means an appearance of a god to man, or a divine disclosure. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly ^[2]

This term has been used to refer to appearances of the gods in the ancient Greek and Near Eastern religions. While the Iliad is our earliest source for descriptions of theophanies in the Classical tradition (and they occur throughout Greek mythology), probably the earliest description of a theophany is in the Epic of Gilgamesh. The Iliad ( Greek: Ἰλιάς (Ancient Ιλιάδα (Modern is together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from Ancient Mesopotamia and is among the earliest known works of literary fiction. The term, however, has acquired its technical usage through the Bible. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin In its most restrictive sense, it is a visible appearance of God in the Old Testament. Some Bible commentators believe that “the angel of the Lord” who appears in several places throughout the Old Testament is translated to be the pre-incarnate Christ, which is Christ before his manifestation into human form in the New Testament. ^[3]

Death of Semele by Peter Paul Rubens

Greek tradition

The appearance of Zeus to Semele, is more than a mortal can stand and she is burned to death by the flames of his power. Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology Stimula redirects here For the Genus of Grass skipper Butterflies, see Stimula (butterfly. ^[4] 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. In Greek mythology, Prometheus (Προμηθεύς "forethought" is a Titan known for his wily intelligence who stole Fire from Zeus The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon ( Greek: Δωδεκάθεον There are no descriptions of the humans involved in this theophany, but Prometheus was severely punished by Zeus.

Catholic tradition

The New Catholic Encyclopedia cites examples such as Gen 3:8a. The New Catholic Encyclopedia is a multivolume Reference work on Roman Catholic history and belief edited by the faculty of The Catholic University The same source then quotes Gen 16:7-14. 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). An angel is a Spiritual Supernatural being found in many Religions Although the nature of angels and the tasks given to them vary from tradition to tradition Hagar (הָגָר "Stranger" Standard Hebrew Hagar, Tiberian Hebrew Hāḡār; هاجر Hajar) according to the 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). Abraham ( Ashkenazi   Avrohom or Avruhom; ابراهيم, {{Unicode|Ibrāhīm}}; Ge'ez: 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 which recount the Baptism, and the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ respectively. 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 not veiled by his humanity, that it could be termed 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 6 January (which is 19 January in the Gregorian Calendar when the particular church uses the Julian Calendar) celebrates the theophany at the Baptism of Jesus. Epiphany ( Greek for "to manifest" or "to show" is a Christian Feast day which celebrates the "shining forth" or revelation of The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world Events 1066 - Harold Godwinson is crowned King of England. 1205 - Philip of Swabia becomes King Events 1419 - Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England completing his reconquest of Normandy. The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used Calendar in the world today The Julian calendar, a reform of the Roman calendar, was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC and came into force in 45 BC (709 Ab urbe condita In the Synoptic gospels, Jesus is baptised by John the Baptist.

The 4th century bishop Eusebius of Caesarea wrote a book called Theophania, referring to the Incarnation of Jesus. The Incarnation is the belief in Christianity that Jesus Christ is the God of Israel in the flesh

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. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the fourth largest Christian denomination in the United States and the largest and most well-known In many religions the supreme Deity ( God) is given the title and attributions of Father. Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) This vision is considered to be the start of the Latter Day Saint movement altogether^[5].

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. Arjuna or Arjun ( Sanskrit: अर्जुन arjuna) is one of the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, whose name Krishna (कृष्ण in Devanagari kṛṣṇa in IAST, ˈkr̩ʂɳə in classical Sanskrit is a deity worshiped across many traditions of Hinduism Krishna complies and gives Arjuna the spiritual vision which enables him to see Krishna in his true form, a magnificent and awe-inspiring manifestation, containing everything in the universe 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 theophany on February 3, 1974, which was to become the later basis for his semi-biographic works Valis (1981) and the posthumous Radio Free Albemuth (1985). Philip Kindred Dick (December 16 – March 2) was an American Science fiction Novelist and Short story Writer. Events 1112 - Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence marry uniting the fortunes of those two states Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. Biographic is a Comic strip by Steve McGarry. VALIS is a 1981 Science fiction novel by Philip K Dick. The title is an acronym for Vast Active Living Intelligence System, A posthumously published Novel by Philip K Dick, written in 1976, Radio Free Albemuth (originally titled VALISystem A was his

In 1977, a man, in France, Michel Potay testified he witnessed five theophanies. Michel Potay, a French citizen (b 1929 is the author of The Revelation of Arès and The Pilgrim to Arès (Le Pèlerin d'Arès. He published the text he says he received from God in The Book, second part of The Revelation of Ares. The Revelation of Arès is a book about a supernatural Revelation experienced by Michel Potay in Arès France, during the 1970s

References

1. ^ Encyclopedia Britannica; retrieved 27 February 2008.
2. ^ J. T. Burtchaell, "Theophany", in New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed. (2003), . 13:929.
3. ^ [1]; retrieved 27 Februrary 2008.
4. ^ Fox, William Sherwood (1916) The Mythology of All Races: Greek and Roman pp. 45-46
5. ^ The Restoration of the Gospel

See also

• Hierophany
• Angel of the Lord
• Avalokitesvara
• Avatar
• Darshan
• Exegesis (book)
• Tajalli
• Trimurti
• UPG
• Valis

External links

• Eusebius of Caesarea at the Tertullian Project