Images of the Divine and Cultural Orientations

Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Voices

edited by Michael Welker and William Schweiker

Book cover: Images of the Divine and Cultural Orientations

Extent: 208 pages

Publisher: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt

Subjects: Religious Studies

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(October 2015)

ISBN: 9783374041091

6.06 x 9.06 inches

Price: $36.00

In stock

This innovative volume explores the “iconic problem” in the Abrahamic religions and how it can provide cultural orientation for religious and non-religious people. This “problem” is the presence of two opposed injunctions present in these religions: the prohibition of the making of images and yet the proliferation of images of God within these traditions. In an age shaped by a whirlwind of imagessome peaceful, some violentof people through the global media systems, the works collected in this book show how the religions can address the “iconic problem” in our age of global image making. Readers interested in the monotheistic religions, the reality of global media, and the formation of human consciousness by religion and media will find here rich and provocative resources for reflection.


This innovative volume explores the “iconic problem” in the Abrahamic religions and how it can provide cultural orientation for religious and non-religious people. This “problem” is the presence of two opposed injunctions present in these religions: the prohibition of the making of images and yet the proliferation of images of God within these traditions. In an age shaped by a whirlwind of images – some peaceful; some violent – of peoples through the global media systems, the works collected in this book show how the religions can address the “iconic problem” in our age of global image making. Readers interested in the monotheistic religions, the reality of global media, and the formation of human consciousness by religion and media will find here rich and provocative resources for reflection. With contributions by Alfred Bodenheimer (Basel), Sarah Coakley (Cambridge), Susanne Enderwitz (Heidelberg), Michael Fishbane (Chicago), Paul Mendes-Flohr (Chicago), Johannes Heil (Heidelberg), Susannah Heschel (Dartmouth), Dwight Hopkins (Chicago), Baber Johansen (Harvard), Angelika Neuwirth (Berlin), Friederike Nussel (Heidelberg), William Schweiker (Chicago), Kathryn Tanner (Yale) and Michael Welker (Heidelberg).

  • Edited by William Schweiker
  • Edited by Michael Welker