A Christophany is an appearance or non-physical manifestation of Christ. Traditionally the term refers to visions of Christ after his ascension, such as the bright light of the conversion of Paul the Apostle. [1]
Also, following the example of Justin Martyr who identified the Angel of the Lord with the Logos, [2] some appearances of angels in the Old Testament are also identified by some Christians as preincarnate appearances of Christ. [3]
The etymology is from the Greek Χριστός (Christos) and the ending "-phany", coming from the Greek verb φαίνειν phainein "bring to light, cause to appear, show." This noun is derived by direct comparison with the term Theophany (Theophaneia). [4]
George Balderston Kidd (1852) popularised the term in relation to the identification of angels in the Old Testament as Christ. [5]
The term was used by Albert Joseph Edmunds (1857–1941) in relation to the revealing of Christ in Christianity and Buddhism. [6]
Since the work of James Borland (1978) usage of the term in conservative Christian publications related to Old Testament appearances of Christ has multiplied exponentially. [7]
Certain early Christian writers identified the Angel of the Lord as a pre-incarnate Christ. For example, Justin Martyr claimed that the Angel was the Logos. He writes that "He who is called God and appeared to the patriarchs is called both Angel and Lord ...The word of God, therefore, recorded by Moses, when referring to Jacob the grandson of Abraham, speaks thus" [8] and that "neither Abraham, nor Isaac, nor Jacob, nor any other man saw the Father ... but saw Him who was according to His will His Son, being God, and the Angel because He ministered to His will". [9] Irenaeus also held to this view; he wrote that "when the Son speaks to Moses, He says, 'I have come down to deliver this people'." [10]
A popular Christian understanding of the relationship between Melchizedek and Jesus is that Melchizedek is an Old Testament Christophany. [11] Romanos the Melodist interpreted the figure with whom Abraham spoke in Genesis 18:1–8 as being Christ himself. [12]
J. Douglas MacMillan suggests that angel with whom Jacob wrestles is a "pre-incarnation appearance of Christ in the form of a man." [13] Once the man touches his hip, he's rendered helpless. If someone wants to destroy the power of a wrestler, you injure his thigh and he is finished. [14] This was narrated in a way to show that you can't get the blessing of God through manipulation. You only get God's blessings when you cling to Him in helpless dependance. [15]
Some church fathers such as Origen and later theologians such as Martin Luther believed another example is the "Man" who appears to Joshua, and identifies himself as "the commander of the army of the LORD." (Joshua 5:13–15). The standard argument that this was in fact Christ is that he accepted Joshua's prostrate worship, whereas angels refuse such worship ; see Revelation 19:9–10. Additionally, he declared the ground to be holy; elsewhere in the Bible, only things or places set aside for God or claimed by him are called holy; see Exodus 3:5. Jewish commentators reading the same text do not accept that this figure was Christ (or even Adonai), but rather the Archangel Michael. [16]
Jonathan Edwards identified an example in Daniel 3:25, when the fourth man in the furnace is described as “… and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God" or "like a son of the gods.". [17]
The vision of Isaiah (Isaiah 6) may be regarded as a Christophany. It appears to have been seen as such by John the evangelist, who, following a quote from this chapter, adds 'Isaiah said this because he saw His glory and spoke of Him' (John 12:41).
A New Testament Christophany is Paul's vision of Christ on the road to Damascus, and the subsequent one of Ananias. Acts 9 describes how Paul heard a voice from Jesus. [18]
According to the Acts of the Apostles, the martyr Stephen saw a vision of Jesus "standing at the right hand of God" [19] before he was killed.
Another New Testament example is John's vision of the Son of Man, recounted in Revelation 1. In this vision, John sees "... one like the Son of Man" who speak to John, identifying himself as "the first and the last". [20]
In Christian art, God was always given the features of Jesus until about 1400. [21] [ need quotation to verify ]
In Christianity, Christology, translated from Greek as 'the study of Christ', is a branch of theology that concerns Jesus. Different denominations have different opinions on questions such as whether Jesus was human, divine, or both, and as a messiah what his role would be in the freeing of the Jewish people from foreign rulers or in the prophesied Kingdom of God, and in the salvation from what would otherwise be the consequences of sin.
Justin Martyr, also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and philosopher.
The resurrection of Jesus is the Christian belief that God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion, starting – or restoring – his exalted life as Christ and Lord. According to the New Testament writing, Jesus was firstborn from the dead, ushering in the Kingdom of God. He appeared to his disciples, calling the apostles to the Great Commission of forgiving sin and baptizing repenters, and ascended to Heaven.
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity is the central doctrine concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, three distinct persons (hypostases) sharing one essence/substance/nature (homoousion). As the Fourth Lateran Council declared, it is the Father who begets, the Son who is begotten, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds. In this context, one essence/nature defines what God is, while the three persons define who God is. This expresses at once their distinction and their indissoluble unity. Thus, the entire process of creation and grace is viewed as a single shared action of the three divine persons, in which each person manifests the attributes unique to them in the Trinity, thereby proving that everything comes "from the Father," "through the Son," and "in the Holy Spirit."
The virgin birth of Jesus is the Christian doctrine that Jesus was conceived by his mother, Mary, through the power of the Holy Spirit and without sexual intercourse. Christians regard the doctrine as an explanation of the mixture of the human and divine natures of Jesus. The Eastern Orthodox Churches accept the doctrine as authoritative by reason of its inclusion in the Nicene Creed, and the Catholic Church holds it authoritative for faith through the Apostles' Creed as well as the Nicene. Nevertheless, there are many contemporary churches in which it is considered orthodox to accept the virgin birth but not heretical to deny it.
Nontrinitarianism is a form of Christianity that rejects the mainstream Christian theology of the Trinity—the belief that God is three distinct hypostases or persons who are coeternal, coequal, and indivisibly united in one being, or essence. Certain religious groups that emerged during the Protestant Reformation have historically been known as antitrinitarian.
Theophany is an encounter with a deity, in which it manifests in an observable and tangible form. Where the deity does not take tangible form, the broader term used for inward manifestation is divine revelation or divine inspiration. Where the god indwells in a human person, the terms used are divine incarnation, an avatar, or, poetically, the personification of that deity. Theophanies, tangible appearances of a god, are distinguished from epiphanies, which are powerful internal changes in outlook caused by a theophany or other divine revelation.
Two names and a variety of titles are used to refer to Jesus in the New Testament. In Christianity, the two names Jesus and Emmanuel that refer to Jesus in the New Testament have salvific attributes. After the crucifixion of Jesus the early Church did not simply repeat his messages, but focused on him, proclaimed him, and tried to understand and explain his message. One element of the process of understanding and proclaiming Jesus was the attribution of titles to him. Some of the titles that were gradually used in the early Church and then appeared in the New Testament were adopted from the Jewish context of the age, while others were selected to refer to, and underscore the message, mission and teachings of Jesus. In time, some of these titles gathered significant Christological significance.
Jacob wrestling with the angel is described in the Book of Genesis. The "angel" in question is referred to as "man" and "God" in Genesis, while Hosea references an "angel". The account includes the renaming of Jacob as Israel.
The Angel of the Lord is an entity appearing repeatedly in the Hebrew Bible on behalf of the God of Israel.
The New Church can refer to any of several historically related Christian denominations that developed under the influence of the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). The Swedenborgian tradition is considered to be a part of Restorationist Christianity.
In Christianity, the Logos is a name or title of Jesus Christ, seen as the pre-existent second person of the Trinity. In the Douay–Rheims, King James, New International, and other versions of the Bible, the first verse of the Gospel of John reads:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Isaiah 53 is the fifty-third chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah and is one of the Nevi'im. Chapters 40 to 55 are known as "Deutero-Isaiah" and date from the time of the Israelites' exile in Babylon.
The Dialogue with Trypho, along with the First and Second Apologies, is a second-century Christian apologetic text, usually agreed to be dated in between AD 155-160. It is seen as documenting the attempts by theologian Justin Martyr to show that Christianity is the new law for all men, and to prove from Scripture that Jesus is the Messiah.
The Prayer of Joseph is a pseudepigraphic writing of the Old Testament. It was composed either in Aramaic or in Greek in the 1st century AD. The text is almost lost and only a few fragments have survived in ancient quotations concerning the Biblical patriarch Jacob. The Prayer of Joseph narrates that Jacob was the incarnation of the angel Israel who competed with Uriel over their rank in heaven.
The pre-existence of Christ asserts the existence of Christ prior to his incarnation as Jesus. One of the relevant Bible passages is John 1:1–18 where, in the Trinitarian interpretation, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis called the Logos. There are nontrinitarian views that question the aspect of personal pre-existence, the aspect of divinity, or both.
Revelation 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is traditionally attributed to John the Apostle, but the precise identity of the author is a point of academic debate. This chapter contains the prologue of the book, followed by the vision and commission of John.
Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exegesis, rational analysis and argument. Theologians may undertake the study of Christian theology for a variety of reasons, such as in order to:
The New Eve is a devotional title for Mary mother of Jesus. It is perhaps the most ancient doctrinal title given to Mary in the Early Church. Since the apostolic age, both Eastern and Western Church fathers have expressed this doctrinal idea, which had been a universal teaching of the Early Church. Mary's unique and necessary participation in the economy of salvation is expressed in the doctrine, particularly her faith at the annunciation of Gabriel, which facilitates the incarnation of Christ and human redemption.
Theophanies was the second album from hip hop duo Hazakim. The album was released on June 23, 2009, through Lamp Mode Recordings. Although Theophanies was Hazakim's second album, it was their first studio album to be released on a record label with national distribution. Theophanies helped to establish Hazakim's unique sound and approach to lyricism in the christian hip hop genre.