Transfiguration And Transformation

Our Bibles consistently use the noun 'Transfiguration' with regard to Jesus but 'Transformation' with regard to the Christian - and yet it is one and the same verb, transliterated 'metamorphosed, ' that is used in those places in the original text. Why is that so? Is there an important difference between them? And why does the noun 'metamorphosis' which is familiar to us never occur in the New Testament? And yet is there some connection between the Transfiguration of Jesus and the Transformation of the Christian? Hywel R. Jones presents answers to these questions in this book. In the course of doing so he shows how the divine can penetrate the human without destroying it as in the Person of Christ, and how the human can become conformed to the divine without its ceasing to be human as in the case of the Christian. That kind of metamorphosis accords and exalts the Christian gospel over against the humanism of our culture, whether secularised or spiritualised. There is a distinction between God and Man which will never be obliterated but preserved for ever - even in the glorified Christ in whom they are joined. But communion between the God-Man and his believing people will result in each Christian being fully conformed to the perfect humanity of Christ while retaining his or her own individuality. It will not result in a faceless absorption into the divine but face to face communion with the triune God for ever. 'The transfiguration of Christ shows how the divine can penetrate the human without destroying it. The transformation of the believer shows how the human can become conformed to the divine without its ceasing to be human. This is the ultimate metamorphosis that is compatible with Christian truth.' -- HYWEL R. JONES

Revision of the author's thesis (Th.D.)--Harvard University, 2008.

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It is puzzling that hardly anyone knows about the kingly transfiguration of Jesus appearing in his divine glory, which was truly a revelation along with Moses, the lawgiver and Elijah, the prophet. The event includes all the essential parts of the future kingdom to be set up by Jesus. This is surely the complete fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. What a joyous event this was!

Danto argues that recent developments in art--in particular the production of works that cannot be told from ordinary things--make urgent the need for a new theory of art. He demonstrates the relationship between philosophy and art and the connections that hold between art, social institutions, and art history.

It is puzzling that hardly anyone knows about the kingly transfiguration of Jesus appearing in his divine glory, which was truly a revelation along with Moses, the lawgiver and Elijah, the prophet. The event includes all the essential parts of the future kingdom to be set up by Jesus. This is surely the complete fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. What a joyous event this was!

"This book taps the vein of the blending of theology and art in the Middle Ages, in particular, the evolution of the imagery and theology surrounding the Transfiguration Of Christ. In this well-researched volume, Andreas Andreopoulos discusses in detail every philosophical and ritual application of the Transfiguration icon - the mountain, the cloud, the mandorla, the positioning of the apostles, the Old Testament prophets, and the image of Christ himself - taking the reader through an illustrated historical journey. The author simplifies the complex relationship between the dogma of the church fathers and Byzantine art and makes it understandable to a non-specialist audience. Nevertheless, theologians, historians, and art historians alike will appreciate the interdisciplinary value of this clearly presented documentation. Andreopoulos's expert use of patristic texts and Jewish sources, as well as the New Testament and apocryphal writings and pagan sources, elucidates the development of art and doctrine that surround this scriptural epiphany."--BOOK JACKET.

Arising from the context of post-communist Eastern Europe, the present monograph highlights the socio-transformative work of the Holy Spirit while reflecting on the need for a prophetic re-envisioning of historical ends and cultivation of a hopeful political imagination toward building a functional global civil society. Bringing together insights from philosophy, sociology of religion, economics, and political science, the text charts the way toward constructing a theology of social transformation. The argument draws its inspiration from the event of Pentecost as offering a rapturing vision for the cosmopolitan future of the world. This vision highlights the radical hospitality of God towards the other, incarnated in the community of faith via the agency of the Holy Spirit and forecasts the redemption of humanity's multiculturalism transfiguring the global village into the city of God. The text finds its point of departure in examining the ecclesiological significance of Pentecost, establishing the church as a living icon of the Trinitarian communal life on earth. It emphasizes the Christoforming work of the Spirit, translating within the ecclesia the beauty of divine hospitality as distributive justice for the other. The work contrasts the realities of global economic neoliberalism with the communal economics of the Spirit within the household of God, cultivating a eucharistic consciousness of reverent consumption that prioritizes the well-being of the other and transforms the globe into a home for all.