Corporeal Theology

Corporeal Theology
Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Total Pages : 304
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780192884589
ISBN-13 : 0192884581
Rating : 4/5 (89 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Corporeal Theology by : Tobias Tanton

Download or read book Corporeal Theology written by Tobias Tanton and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2023-01-05 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Appropriating insights from empirical findings and theoretical constructs of 'embodied cognition', this study explores how theological understanding is accommodated to the bodily nature of human cognition. The principle of divine accommodation provides a theological framework for considering the human cognitive capacities that are accommodated by theological concepts and ecclesial practices. A rich portrait of the nature of human cognitive capacities is drawn from an emerging paradigm in cognitive science, embodied cognition, which proposes that cognition depends upon bodily sensorimotor systems to ground concepts and to draw upon environmental resources. Embodied cognition's hypothesis that human concepts are grounded in sensorimotor states poses a theological quandary for God-concepts, since identifying God with sensorimotor content risks idolatry. The incarnation resolves this problem in theological epistemology by grounding God-concepts in bodily understanding, while avoiding idolatry. Thus, the incarnation represents an accommodation to human conceptual capacities. Embodied cognition further hypothesises that cognition relies on sensorimotor engagement with the world rather than internal mental representations. Subsequently, in addition to the brain, bodily states and environmental artefacts 'scaffold' cognitive processes. A scaffolded view of cognition highlights the cognitive import of embodied religious practices, which choregraph the body and curate material culture. Tobias Tanton applies dozens of studies identifying mechanisms by which bodily or environmental factors influence cognition to the embodied and material dimensions Christian practices. On account of their inherent cognitive effects, practices are theorised to have intrinsic 'embodied' meanings alongside 'symbolic' ones established by conventions. Consequently, liturgy is seen as a bearer of theological content rather than merely an expression of it; a locus of religious experience; and a crucial determinate of religious and ethical formation. Again, the embodied nature of Christian liturgy is understood in terms of accommodation. Embodied cognition research helpfully illuminates the details of human embodiment to which theological understanding must be accommodated.


Corporeal Theology Related Books

Corporeal Theology
Language: en
Pages: 304
Authors: Tobias Tanton
Categories: Religion
Type: BOOK - Published: 2023-01-05 - Publisher: Oxford University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Appropriating insights from empirical findings and theoretical constructs of 'embodied cognition', this study explores how theological understanding is accommod
The Corporeal Imagination
Language: en
Pages: 273
Authors: Patricia Cox Miller
Categories: Religion
Type: BOOK - Published: 2012-02-28 - Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

With few exceptions, the scholarship on religion in late antiquity has emphasized its tendencies toward transcendence, abstraction, and spirit at the expense of
Corporeal Words
Language: en
Pages: 312
Authors: Alexandar Mihailovic
Categories: Criticism
Type: BOOK - Published: 1997 - Publisher: Northwestern University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This text explores Mikhail Bakhtin's reliance on the terms and concepts of theology. It begins with an identification of the theological categories and terms re
Corporeal Theology
Language: en
Pages: 304
Authors: Tobias Tanton
Categories: Religion
Type: BOOK - Published: 2022-12-06 - Publisher: Oxford University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Appropriating insights from empirical findings and theoretical constructs of 'embodied cognition', this study explores how theological understanding is accommod
Millenarianism and Messianism in English Literature and Thought 1650-1800
Language: en
Pages: 218
Authors: Popkin
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2023-08-21 - Publisher: BRILL

DOWNLOAD EBOOK