God: A Brief History with a Cognitive Explanation of the Concept

Authors

  • ILKKA PYYSIÄINEN University of Helsinki

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33356/temenos.4803

Abstract

The Christian concept of 'God' names a category with surprisingly heterogeneous contents. In the Old Testament traditions God is an anthropomorphic agent; in Christian theology God often appears as a personalized metaphysical principle; philosophers of religion try to find the inherent rationality of this concept; finally, some natural scientists regard God as the "intelligent designer" of the world. What is common to all these ideas, covering a time span of about 2,500 years, is that representations of God are triggered by the perception of order and control in the world.

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Published

2005-01-01

How to Cite

PYYSIÄINEN, I. (2005). God: A Brief History with a Cognitive Explanation of the Concept. Temenos - Nordic Journal for the Study of Religion, 41(1). https://doi.org/10.33356/temenos.4803

Issue

Vol. 41 No. 1 (2005)

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2005 Temenos - Nordic Journal of Comparative Religion

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