âHandling the Universe as a Lyreâ: Numinosity and Metaphor in the Patristic Contemplation of Creation

Veronica della Dora

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Chapter 2 âHandling the Universe as a Lyreâ: Numinosity and Metaphor in the Patristic Contemplation of Creation

äºNuminous Fields: Perceiving the Sacred in Nature, Landscape, and Art

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Veronica della Dora

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Page Range:: 54â77

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004687387_004

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Abstract

In attempting to expound Godâs relation to the cosmos, the Greek Church Fathers recurred to a rich repertoire of metaphors. Most striking and recurring among them are textile and musical images. Among other things, creation is repeatedly compared to a garment and a fabric, to a lyre and a melody. The Fathers thus described creation as the product of a poetic act; they showed the harmonious interconnectedness of its parts; and they developed an appreciation of the earth and the cosmos that redirected the human mind to the Creator. Melodic and textile patterns are both woven through the strings of the lyre and loom of creation by an invisible hand. Each type of image nonetheless highlights a specific facet of the relation between visibility and invisibility, between the tangible world and the ineffable God. Garment metaphors reveal the presence of the Creator without violating His mystery. Musical metaphors, on the other hand, emphasize the active and continuous presence of the musician. While textiles speak of the transiency of creation, music, the most numinous and transient of arts, paradoxically stresses the eternal presence of God encompassing and at the same time inhabiting creation.

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Numinous Fields: Perceiving the Sacred in Nature, Landscape, and Art

ISBN:: 9789004687387

åºçç¤¾:: Brill

å°å·åºçæ¥æ:: 06 Mar 2024

Subjects

Front Matter

Part 1 Understanding: Universal Presence

Part 2 Blessing: Devotional Practices

Part 3 Belief: Sacred Manifestations

Part 4 Retrospection: The Mind and the Heart

Part 5 Rediscovery: Modern Reflections

Back Matter

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African Studies	Education	Media Studies
American Studies	History	Middle East and Islamic Studies
Ancient Near East and Egypt	Human Rights and Humanitarian Law	Musicology
Art History	International Law	Philosophy
Asian Studies	International Relations	Religious Studies
Biblical Studies	Jewish Studies	Slavic and Eurasian Studies
Biology	Languages and Linguistics	Social Sciences
Book History and Cartography	Life Sciences	Theology and World Christianity
Classical Studies	Literature and Cultural Studies

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Chapter 2 âHandling the Universe as a Lyreâ: Numinosity and Metaphor in the Patristic Contemplation of Creation

Abstract

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Numinous Fields: Perceiving the Sacred in Nature, Landscape, and Art

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Chapter 2 âHandling the Universe as a Lyreâ: Numinosity and Metaphor in the Patristic Contemplation of Creation

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