Incarnation

{{main|God in Abrahamic religions}}

File:Meister von Daphni 002.jpg, God incarnate in the Christian faith, shown in a mosaic from Daphni, Greece, ca. 1080–1100.]]

{{main|Incarnation (Christianity)|}}

The incarnation of Christ (or Incarnation) is the central Christian doctrine that God became flesh, assumed of human nature, and became a man in the form of Jesus, the Son of God and the second person of the Trinity. This foundational Christian position holds that the divine nature of the Son of God was perfectly united with human nature in one divine Person, Jesus, making him both truly God and truly human. The theological term for this is hypostatic union: the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, became flesh when he was miraculously conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary.{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/284611/Incarnation|title=Incarnation|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}} Biblical passages traditionally referenced in connection with the doctrine of the Incarnation include {{Bibleverse|John|3:1-21}}, {{bibleverse||Colossians|2:9}}, and {{Bibleverse|Philippians|2:7-8}}.

{{See also|Druze#Beliefs}}

Hamza ibn Ali ibn Ahmad is considered the founder of the Druze faith and the primary author of the Druze manuscripts,{{cite book |editor1-last=Hendrix |editor1-first=Scott |editor2-last=Okeja |editor2-first=Uchenna |title=The World's Greatest Religious Leaders: How Religious Figures Helped Shape World History [2 volumes] |date=2018 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1440841385 |page=11}} he proclaimed that God had become human and taken the form of man, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.{{cite book|title=The Aga Khans|author=Willi Frischauer|year=1970|publisher=Bodley Head|page=?}} (Which page?){{cite journal|title=Review - The Fatimids and Their Traditions of Learning|author=Ismail K. Poonawala|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=119|issue=3|page=542|doi=10.2307/605981|jstor=605981}}Minorities in the Middle East: A History of Struggle and Self-expression - Page 95 by Mordechai NisanThe Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and Status - Page 41 by Nissim DanaEncyclopaedic Survey of Islamic Culture - Page 94 by Mohamed Taher{{cite journal | last = Bryer | first = David R. W. | title = The Origins of the Druze Religion | journal = Der Islam | year = 1975 | volume = 52 | issue = 1 | pages = 52–65 | doi = 10.1515/islm.1975.52.1.47 | s2cid = 201807131 | url = https://doi.org/10.1515/islm.1975.52.1.47 | issn = 1613-0928 | ref = {{harvid|Bryer|1975a}} }} al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah is an important figure in the Druze faith whose eponymous founder ad-Darazi proclaimed him as the incarnation of God in 1018.{{cite book|title=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought|last1=Zaman|first1=Muhammad Qasim |last2=Stewart|first2=Devin J. |last3=Mirza|first3=Mahan |last4=Kadi|first4=Wadad|last5=Crone|first5=Patricia |last6=Gerhard |first6=Bowering|last7= Hefner|first7=Robert W.|last8= Fahmy|first8=Khaled|last9=Kuran|first9=Timur |year= 2013| isbn=9780691134840| pages =139–140|publisher=Princeton University Press|quote=}}{{cite book|title=The Origins of the Druze Religion: An Edition of Ḥamza's Writings and an Analysis of His Doctrine|first=David |last=R. W. Bryer|year= 1979| isbn= 9780030525964| page =239|publisher=University of Oxford Press|quote=}}

Historian David R. W. Bryer defines the Druzes as ghulat of Isma'ilism, since they exaggerated the cult of the caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah and considered him divine; he also defines the Druzes as a religion that deviated from Islam.{{cite journal |last=Bryer |first=David R. W. |title=The Origins of the Druze Religion |journal=Der Islam |year=1975 |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=52–65 |doi=10.1515/islm.1975.52.1.47 |s2cid=201807131 |url=https://doi.org/10.1515/islm.1975.52.1.47 |issn=1613-0928 |ref={{harvid|Bryer|1975a}} }} He also added that as a result of this deviation, the Druze faith "seems as different from Islam as Islam is from Christianity or Christianity is from Judaism".{{cite journal | last = Bryer | first = David R. W. | title = The Origins of the Druze Religion (Fortsetzung) | journal = Der Islam | year = 1975 | volume = 52 | issue = 2 | pages = 239–262 | doi = 10.1515/islm.1975.52.2.239 | s2cid = 162363556 | url = https://doi.org/10.1515/islm.1975.52.2.239 | issn = 1613-0928 | ref = {{harvid|Bryer|1975b}} }}

Some scholars believe Christian elements are deeply embedded in Druze beliefs, introduced through Isma’ili traditions. This is evident in the Druze creed, which deifies al-Hākim bi Amrillāh.{{cite journal |last1=Mahmut|first1=R. İbrahim|title=The Christian Influences in Ismaili Thought|journal=The Journal of Iranian Studies|date=2023|volume=7|issue=1|pages=83–99|doi=10.33201/iranian.1199758|doi-access=free}} The initiation text, "Mīthāq Walī al-Zamān" (Pact of Time Custodian), which begins with, “I rely on our Moula Al-Hakim the lonely God, the individual, the eternal,... Obedience of almighty Moulana Al-Hākim, exalted be him and that obedience is worship and that he does not have any partners ever, present or coming”,{{cite book|author1=Hanna Batatu|title=Syria's Peasantry, the Descendants of Its Lesser Rural Notables, and Their Politics|date=17 September 2012|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-4584-2|pages=15–16}} closely resembles Christian beliefs about Jesus' divinity. The Druze also view figures like Jesus, al-Hākim bi Amrillāh, and Hamza ibn Ali as the Messiah or Mahdi. They believe al-Hākim will return at the end of times to judge the world and establish his kingdom, while Hamza ibn Ali is considered a reincarnation of Jesus, the Universal Mind 'Aql, closely associated with al-Hākim.

{{See also|Allah|God in Islam|Kalam|Tawhid|Tanzih}}

Islam completely rejects the doctrine of the incarnation (Mu'jassimāMuhammad Abu Zahra, İslâm’da Siyâsî ve İ’tikadî Mezhepler Tarihi, History of Madhhabs in Islam, pp: 257 - 259, Fığlalı, Ethem Ruhi and Osman Eskicioğlu translation to Turkish, Yağmur, İstanbul, 1970. / (Tajseem) Tajsīm) of God in any form, as the concept is defined as shirk. In Islam, God is one and "neither begets nor is begotten".Quran, (112:1-4).

{{main|God in Judaism}}

{{see also|Chabad-Lubavitch related controversies}}

According to many modern scholars, the Biblical and Talmudic view of God was anthropomorphic. God could sometimes appear in bodily form.{{cite web |last1=Brand |first1=Ezra |title=Some Notes on the Anthropomorphization of God in the Talmud |url=https://www.ezrabrand.com/p/some-notes-on-anthropomorphization}} The Babylonian Talmud contains stories of earthly appearances of God, Elijah, Satan, and demons.{{cite web |last1=Brand |first1=Ezra |title="He appeared to him as a [X]": Talmudic Stories of Incarnations of God, Eliyahu, Satan, and Demons |url=https://www.ezrabrand.com/p/he-appeared-to-him-as-a-x-talmudic |website=www.ezrabrand.com/ |access-date=10 January 2024}}

Since the time of Maimonides, mainstream Judaism has mostly rejected any possibility of an incarnation of God in any form.L. Jacobs 1973 A Jewish Theology p. 24. N.Y.: Berman House

However, some modern-day Hasidim believe in a somewhat similar concept. Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a prominent Hasidic leader, said that the Rebbe is God's essence itself put into the body of a tzadik.Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 2, pp. 510-511.

{{further|Rastafari}}

Rastas refer to God as Jah, a shortened name for God used in English translations of the Bible.{{Cite book |last=Barrett |first=Leonard E. |title=The Rastafarians |date=2018 |publisher=Beacon Press |isbn=978-0-8070-1039-6 |edition=Reprint |location=Boston, MaA |page=83}} Rastafari emphasises the immanence of Jah,{{Cite journal |last=Chevannes |first=Barry |date=1990-01-01 |title=Rastafari: towards a new approach |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/nwig/64/3-4/article-p127_3.xml |journal=New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids |volume=64 |issue=3–4 |pages=127–148 (135) |doi=10.1163/13822373-90002020 |issn=1382-2373|doi-access=free }} who partially resides within every person,{{Cite book |last1=Fernández Olmos |first1=Margarite |title=Creole religions of the Caribbean: an introduction from Vodou and Santería to Obeah and Espiritismo |last2=Paravisini-Gebert |first2=Lizabeth |date=2011 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0-8147-6228-8 |edition=2nd |series=Religion, race, and ethnicity |location=New York |page=196}} in a manner similar to the Hindu concept of Brahman.{{rp|p=45}} The unity of divinity and humanity is often reflected in the saying "I and I", and the aphorism "God is man and man is God".{{Cite book |last=Edmonds |first=Ennis Barrington |title=Rastafari: a very short introduction |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-19-958452-9 |edition=1st |series=Very short introductions |location=Oxford}}{{rp|p=36}} Rastafari practices known as livity, influenced by the Nazirite vow, are seen as a way to embrace this inner divinity.{{rp|pp=43}}

Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, is traditionally seen by Rastas as the Second Coming of Jesus or Jah incarnate, and is sometimes referred to as "the living God".{{Cite journal |last=Bedasse |first=Monique |date=2010 |title=Rasta Evolution: The Theology of the Twelve Tribes of Israel |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0021934708320135 |journal=Journal of Black Studies |language=en |volume=40 |issue=5 |pages=960–973 (961–8) |doi=10.1177/0021934708320135 |issn=0021-9347}} To others, he is a human who embodies the teachings of Christ, or a distinct human prophet who symbolises the divinity within humankind.{{rp|pp=32–33}} Leonard Barrett has argued that many Rastas believe in a form of reincarnation, where Moses, Elijah, Jesus and then Haile Selassie are avatars of Jah.Barrett, Leonard E. (2018). The Rastafarians (Reprint ed.). Boston, MaA: Beacon Press. p. 112. {{ISBN|978-0-8070-1039-6}}. R. Matthew Charet has argued that Christ is a title for Rastas much as Buddha is for Buddhists, and that Christ's divine connection is not unique to Jesus but may be attained by all humans through a "discovery of the Christ-consciousness in us all".Charet, R. Matthew. "Jesus was a Dreadlocks: Rastafarian Images of Divinity." Sydney Studies in Religion (1999). p.126.

{{further|God in the Baháʼí Faith}}

In the Baháʼí Faith, God is not seen to be incarnated into this world and is not seen to be part of creation as he cannot be divided and does not descend to the condition of his creatures.{{cite book |author = `Abdu'l-Bahá |author-link = `Abdu'l-Bahá |year = 1981 |title = Some Answered Questions |publisher = Baháʼí Publishing Trust |location = Wilmette, Illinois, USA |isbn = 0-87743-190-6 |url = http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/ab/SAQ/saq-53.html.iso8859-1#gr5 | pages = 202–203 |orig-year = 1904-06 }} The Manifestations of God are also not seen as incarnations of God but are instead understood to be like perfect mirrors reflecting the attributes of God onto the material world.{{cite journal |first=Juan |last=Cole |title=The Concept of Manifestation in the Baháʼí Writings |year=1982 |journal=Études Baháʼí Studies |volume=monograph 9 |pages=1–38 |url=http://bahai-library.com/cole_concept_manifestation |location=Ottawa |publisher=Canadian Association for Studies on the Baháʼí Faith |access-date=2020-10-11 |via=Bahá'í Library Online}}{{cite book |author = Hatcher, W.S. |author2=Martin, J.D. |year = 1998 |title = The Baháʼí Faith: The Emerging Global Religion |publisher = Harper & Row |location = San Francisco |isbn = 0-87743-264-3 | page = 118}}

{{see also|Rebirth (Buddhism)}}

Buddhism is a nontheistic religion: it denies the concept of a creator deity or any incarnation of a creator deity. However, Buddhism does teach the rebirth doctrine and asserts that living beings are reborn, endlessly, reincarnating as devas (gods), demi-gods, human beings, animals, hungry ghosts or hellish beings,{{Citation | last =Trainor | first =Kevin | year =2004 | title =Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide | publisher =Oxford University Press | isbn =978-0-19-517398-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PrloTKuAjwC|pages=61–64}} in a cycle of samsara that stops only for those who reach nirvana (nibbana).{{cite book|author=Peter Harvey|title=An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u0sg9LV_rEgC|year=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-85942-4|pages=32–33, 38–39, 46–49}}{{cite book|author1=Robert E. Buswell Jr.|author2=Donald S. Lopez Jr.|title=The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DXN2AAAAQBAJ|year=2013|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-4805-8|pages=708–709}}{{cite book|author=Edward Craig|title=Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8FWa85vgoTQC|year=1998|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-18715-2|page=402}}

In Tibetan Buddhism, an enlightened spiritual teacher (lama) is believed to reincarnate, and is called a tulku. According to Tulku Thond, there are three main types of tulkus. They are the emanations of buddhas, the manifestations of highly accomplished adepts, and rebirths of highly virtuous teachers or spiritual friends. There are also authentic secondary types, which include unrecognized tulkus, blessed tulkus, and tulkus fallen from the path.Tulku Thondup (2011) Incarnation: The History and Mysticism of the Tulku Tradition of Tibet. Boston: Shambhala.

{{main|Avatar}}

File:Avatars.jpg (Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Vamana, Balarama, Krishna, Kalki, Buddha, Parshurama, Rama & Narasimha). Painting from Jaipur, now at the Victoria and Albert Museum]]

In Hinduism, incarnation refers to its rebirth doctrine, and in its theistic traditions to avatar.{{cite book|first=M. Thomas|last=Thangaraj|editor-first=Sebastian C. H.|editor-last= Kim|editor-link=Sebastian Kim |chapter=Religious Pluralism, Dialogue and Asian Christian Responses| title=Christian Theology in Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hXh3iq94MWIC |year=2008|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-47206-7 |pages=169–176 }} Avatar literally means "descent, alight, to make one's appearance", and refers to the embodiment of the essence of a superhuman being or a deity in another form.{{Sfn|Sheth|2002|p=98}} The word also implies "to overcome, to remove, to bring down, to cross something".{{cite book|author=Monier Monier-Williams|title=A Sanskrit-English Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_3NWAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA90|year=1923|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=90}} In Hindu traditions, the "crossing or coming down" is symbolism, states Daniel Bassuk, of the divine descent from "eternity into the temporal realm, from unconditioned to the conditioned, from infinitude to finitude". An avatar, states Justin Edwards Abbott, is a saguna (with form, attributes) embodiment of the ''nirguna Brahman or Atman (soul).{{cite book|author=Justin Edwards Abbott |title=Life of Tukaram: Translation from Mahipati's Bhaktalilamrita |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E-UmxAoX2wYC|year=1980|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0170-7|pages=335–336 }}

Neither the Vedas nor the Principal Upanishads ever mentions the word avatar as a noun.{{cite book|author=Daniel E Bassuk |title=Incarnation in Hinduism and Christianity: The Myth of the God-Man |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k3iwCwAAQBAJ |year=1987|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-349-08642-9 |pages=2–4}} The verb roots and form, such as avatarana, do appear in ancient post-Vedic Hindu texts, but as "action of descending", but not as an incarnated person (avatara).{{Sfn|Paul Hacker|1978|pp=415-417}} The related verb avatarana is, states Paul Hacker, used with double meaning, one as action of the divine descending, another as "laying down the burden of man" suffering from the forces of evil.{{Sfn|Paul Hacker|1978|pp=415-417}}

The term is most commonly found in the context of the Hindu god Vishnu. The earliest mention of Vishnu manifested in a human form to empower the good and fight against evil, uses other terms such as the word sambhavāmi in verse 4.6 and the word tanu in verse 9.11 of the Bhagavad Gita,{{Sfn|Sheth|2002|pp=98-99}} as well as other words such as akriti and rupa elsewhere.{{Sfn|Paul Hacker|1978|pp=405-409}} It is in medieval era texts, those composed after the sixth century CE, that the noun version of avatar appears, where it means embodiment of a deity.{{Sfn|Paul Hacker|1978|pp=424, also 405-409, 414-417}} The incarnation idea proliferates thereafter, in the Puranic stories for many deities, and with ideas such as ansha-avatar or partial embodiments.{{Sfn|Sheth|2002|pp=98-99}}James Lochtefeld (2002), "Avatar" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A-M, Rosen Publishing, {{ISBN|0-8239-2287-1}}, pages 72-73

While avatars of other deities such as Ganesha and Shiva are also mentioned in medieval Hindu texts, this is minor and occasional.James Lochtefeld (2002), "Shiva" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 2: N-Z, Rosen Publishing, {{ISBN|0-8239-2287-1}}, page 635 The incarnation doctrine is one of the important differences between Vaishnavism and Shaivism traditions of Hinduism.{{cite book|author=Lai Ah Eng |title=Religious Diversity in Singapore |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9MmNaNebFD8C |year=2008|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore|isbn=978-981-230-754-5|pages=221 }}{{cite book|author1=Constance Jones |author2=James D. Ryan |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC |year=2006|publisher=Infobase |isbn=978-0-8160-7564-5 |pages=474 }}

The translation of avatar as "incarnation" has been questioned by Christian theologians, who state that an incarnation is in flesh and imperfect, while avatar is mythical and perfect.{{Sfn|Sheth|2002|pp=107-109}}{{cite book|last=Matchett|first=Freda|title=Krishna, Lord or Avatara?: the relationship between Krishna and Vishnu|publisher=9780700712816|year=2001|page=4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1oqTYiPeAxMC&pg=PA4 | isbn=978-0-7007-1281-6}} The theological concept of Christ as an incarnation into the womb of the Virgin Mary and by work of the Holy Spirit, as found in Christology, presents the Christian concept of incarnation. Mercy Amba Oduyoye and H. M. Vroom state that this is different from the Hindu concept of avatar because avatars in Hinduism are unreal and the Christian concept is similar to Docetism.Mercy Amba Oduyoye, H. M. Vroom, One gospel – many cultures: case studies and reflections on cross-cultural theology, Rodopi, 2003, {{ISBN|978-90-420-0897-7}}, p. 111. Sheth disagrees and states that this claim is an incorrect understanding of the Hindu concept of avatar.{{Sfn|Sheth|2002|p=108}}{{NoteTag|Buddha, a real person, is included as an avatar of Vishnu in many Hindu texts.{{Sfn|Sheth|2002|p=99}}}} Avatars are true embodiments of spiritual perfection, one driven by noble goals, in Hindu traditions such as Vaishnavism.{{Sfn|Sheth|2002|p=108}}

The Serer religion of West Africa rejects any notions of incarnation or manifestation of the supreme deity Roog (also called Koox in the Cangin language). However, the reincarnation (ciiɗ)Faye, Louis Diène, Mort et Naissance Le Monde Sereer, Les Nouvelles Edition Africaines (1983), pp 9-10, {{ISBN|2-7236-0868-9}} of the ancient Serer saints and ancestral spirits, called Pangool, is a well-held principle in Serer religion. These Pangool (singular: Fangool) act as intermediaries between the living world and the divine. When the Serers speak of incarnation, it is these Pangool they refer to, who are themselves holy by virtue of their intercession with the divine.{{in lang|fr}} Thaiw, Issa Laye, « La religiosité des Seereer, avant et pendant leur islamisation », in Éthiopiques, no. 54, volume 7, 2e semestre 1991 [http://ethiopiques.refer.sn/spip.php?article1248] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925133630/http://ethiopiques.refer.sn/spip.php?article1248|date=2019-09-25}}Gravrand, Henry, La civilisation sereer, Cosaan: les origines, vol.1, Nouvelles Editions africaines (1983), p 33, {{ISBN|2-7236-0877-8}}

• Arahitogami
• Kumari (goddess)
• List of people who have been considered deities
• Theophany

{{NoteFoot}}

{{Reflist}}

• Daniélou, Alain (1991) [1964]. [https://archive.org/details/mythsgodsofindia00dani The myths and gods of India]. Inner Traditions, Vermont, USA. {{ISBN|0-89281-354-7}}. pp. 164–187.
• {{Cite web | last1 = Coleman | first1 = T. | doi = 10.1093/obo/9780195399318-0009 | title = Avatāra | journal= Oxford Bibliographies Online: Hinduism| year = 2011 | postscript = . Short introduction and bibliography of sources about Avatāra (subscription required). }}
• {{cite book|last=Matchett|first=Freda|title=Krishna, Lord or Avatara?: the relationship between Krishna and Vishnu| isbn =978-0700712816 |year=2001| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1oqTYiPeAxMC | publisher=Routledge}}
• {{Cite book|title=Zur Entwicklung der Avataralehre | author= Paul Hacker| language=de| editor= Lambert Schmithausen| publisher=Otto Harrassowitz |year=1978| isbn=978-3447048606}}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1353/pew.2002.0005|last=Sheth|first=Noel| year= 2002| title=Hindu Avatāra and Christian Incarnation: A Comparison| journal=Philosophy East and West| publisher=University of Hawai'i Press| volume=52| issue=1 (January)|pages=98–125 |jstor = 1400135 |s2cid=170278631}}

• {{cite IEP |url-id=incarnat |title=Incarnation}}

{{wiktionary|incarnation|incarnate}}

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Category:Religious belief and doctrine

Category:Conceptions of God