LessonsRefuting Anthropomorphism: Divine Attributes, Scriptural Language and LikenessQuiz

بَلْ يَدَاهُ مَبْسُوطَتَانِ
Rather, His two hands are outstretched. (Qur’an 5:64)

One must distinguish the wording of revelation from the additional claim that the wording necessarily posits a physical limb. A term's common creaturely use does not automatically establish the same bodily mode for God.

The same distinction arises with reports employing terms such as “fingers” or “form.” The classical problem is neither to dismiss scriptural language nor to impose an unproved human physiology upon it.

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Hand-language: text versus bodily implication

Refuting Anthropomorphism: Divine Attributes, Scriptural Language and Likeness

بَلْ يَدَاهُ مَبْسُوطَتَانِ
Rather, His two hands are outstretched. (Qur’an 5:64)

One must distinguish the wording of revelation from the additional claim that the wording necessarily posits a physical limb. A term's common creaturely use does not automatically establish the same bodily mode for God.

The same distinction arises with reports employing terms such as “fingers” or “form.” The classical problem is neither to dismiss scriptural language nor to impose an unproved human physiology upon it.