The Holy
At the base and at the origin of all religion is a self manifestation of the Holy (i.e a hierophany, from Greek hieros = "holy" ) experienced by man or a self manifestation of God (a theophany, from Greek theos = god).
The whole history of religions, from the most primitive religions to the most elaborate ones, is constitued by an accumulation of theophanies and hierophanies, from the disclosure of the Holy in an object, whatever it may be (stone, tree...) up to the disclosure of God in a human person, such as Jesus for Christianity or Krishna for Krishnaism.
At the origin of Judaism we find several theophanies:
* Gen 18 : Abraham at the oak of Mamre (three men, in reality three angels, appear to him)
* Ex 3.1: Moses and the burning bush
* Ex 19-20: Moses in the Sinai .
At the origin of Islam we find the manifestation of the angel Gabriel to Muhammad in 610, bringing to him the Koran, as it is recorded in the Sīra (theological biography of Muhammad).
From these examples, we are seeing that there is no "rough" theophany. Any theophany is always mediatized. There is also a huge diversity in the mediums of theophanies:
* a person (Christianity, Krishnaism)
* an angel or a book (Islam)
* a tree (burning bush)
* a cloud (God is speaking through a cloud in the Old Testament or through a storm, Ex 19-20)
* a stone ( in various religions there are holy stones)
Mount Sinai
Gabriel revealing Muhammad the Koran
Phenomenology of religions Mircea Eliade The Holy Hierophanies and Theophanies The Sky The Holy Place The Holy Man Myth Holy Scripture Suffering and Dying Dying and the Hereafter Contact
© Ralph Stehly, France. Prof. Ralph Stehly's lectures may be reproduced only for educationnal purposes. Any abuse will be prosecuted.