A theophany is a visible appearance or other local manifestation of a deity to humans. Many religions believe in such manifestations; this article deals with theophany primary as in the Christian religion.

Theophany in the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament)

For example, in the Bible in Isaiah 6, the story of Isaiah seeing the Lord sitting upon a throne is called a theophany. An early example of theophany in the Torah (the first five books of the bible) is God's appearance to Moses from the midst of a burning bush (Exodus 3:4-6). God tells Moses to remove his shoes, because the ground near God is holy. Moses hides his face because he is afraid to look upon God.

Perhaps the best known example of theophany in Western religion is God's giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses upon a mountain variously called Sinai or Horeb. At this time, the people of Israel are warned that if they came too close to see God, they will die (Ex 19:21). The people do not see God's form (Deut 4:12), but this first personal experience with God is obviously terrifying, as they plead for God to leave and they expect to die if they hear directly from God any more (Ex 20:18-19).

Theophanies are often indicated in the Bible by saying that God appears to someone. Likewise, the Angel of the Lord is an expression that in many contexts refers to a theophany. Theophanies occur many times throughout the Hebrew Bible. In the Torah alone, God appears to

Although God appears locally in any theophany, the Hebrew Bible repeatedly indicates that God is not limited by this to being present at only one place. This is implied by God's creation of the heavens and earth (Gen 1), as well as the accepted belief by all that God can hear their prayers. God's universal presence is explicitly stated when, in his prayer for God's presence to dwell in the newly constructed temple at Jerusalem, Solomon says, "Will God dwell upon the earth? Behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you. How much less this house which I have built." (1 Kings 8:27; cf Is 66:1; Jer 23:24; Ps 139:7-16)

Theophany between the testaments

Some Jewish inter-testamental traditions personify this expression of God as a special angel who has the task of representing God to men. This angel is called the Angel of the Face, or the Angel of the Presence, or Metatron, or in Hebrew anan or mal'ak, and is said to have the highest place in heaven next to God, and to intercede for Israel.

According to the 1st century Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria, God is purely transcendent, so his interactions with the material world are through an expression of himself: his Logos, or Word. It is through his Word that, in Genesis 1, God created the world. Philo's works

Theophany in the New Testament

Referring back to Genesis 1, where God creates all things by speaking, the Gospel of John opens by saying that "In the beginning" God created all things through his Word (Logos). The Gospel then says that this Word (which is God) came down and took on human form (Jn 1:1,14), and lived among mankind (as Jesus). This is what Christians call the incarnation, and necessitates what later theologians called a hypostatic union. As many commentators have noted, the rare Greek word John uses for "dwelt" in this passage means to dwell as in a tent, often seen as a parallel to the tent from which God spoke to Moses, especially because John refers to the "glory" which also came down into the tent where Moses listened to God, and which accompanies God's local presence. For this reason among others, Christians have traditionally come to regard Jesus as being both fully God and fully human, while maintaining the distinction between his deity and his humanity. The Gospel of John emphasizes this paradoxical union and distinction of natures by affirming that "no one has seen God" (Jn 1:18), even though men saw Christ; and that "the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (Jn 1:1). By John's witness, the conclusion has been reached that God became specifically immanent through the physical theophany of Jesus.

At the time of Jesus' baptism in the Jordan, the Gospels describe the simultaneous appearance of Jesus, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, and the audible voice of the Father. This entire event is considered a theophany, and the ability of all three forms of the Christian deity to appear at once but be distinct in their functions supports the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.

Theophany in later Christianity

The Feast of Theophany in the Eastern Orthodox Church on January 6 of the Julian Calendar or Gregorian Calendar celebrates the theophany at Jesus' baptism.

The 4th century bishop Eusebius of Caesarea wrote a book called Theophania, referring to Jesus' Incarnation.

• at the

Joseph Smith claimed a personal, modern theophany: a physical appearance of God the Father and his physical son Jesus Christ. This theophany, known as the First Vision, is unique in that Smith claims that God the Father appeared physically, a first in Judeo-Christian religion.

Theophany in other beliefs

Since Hinduism is often understood as polytheistic or pantheistic, theophany has a different significance than it carries in Judaism and Christianity. The most well-known theophany in Eastern religions is contained within the Bhagavad-Gita of Hinduism, itself representing one chapter of the epic, Mahabharata. In the Gita, the famed warrior Arjuna begs for Krishna to reveal his true form after a series of teachings given by Krishna to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra indicates Krishna to be far more than mortal. Krishna complies and gives Arjuna the spiritual vision which enables him to see Krishna in his true form, a terrifying and awe-inspiring manifestation that forms the main part of Chapter XI. This theophany was paraphrased by Robert Oppenheimer upon witnessing the first atomic bomb test, "Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of worlds."

See also

• Avatar
• Avalokitesvara
• Tajalli
• Trimurti
• Darshan Theophanie

Theophanie Theofanie