WORD STUDIES

The word of the day is “avatar”

Why study “avatar” at church?

Why study “avatar” at church? Karen Armstrong says that when humans impute human characteristics to a divine entity, they create avatars of the divine entity. ( A History of God, Gramercy Books, 1993)

Definitions: avatar: 1. in Hindu mythology, the descent of a deity to the earth in an incarnate form or some manifest shape; the incarnation of a god. 2. in digital technology, a graphical image that represents a person, as on the Internet. 3. an embodiment or personification, as of a principle, attitude, or view of life. (

Karen Armstrong: 1. In their inability to grasp the ultimate and mysterious nature of a divine entity, humans create avatars of the divine entity by imputing human characteristics to it.

Karen Armstrong: 1. In their inability to grasp the ultimate and mysterious nature of a divine entity, humans create avatars of the divine entity by imputing human characteristics to it. 2. Humans may worship and pray to their avatars of the divine entity.

Karen Armstrong: 1. In their inability to grasp the ultimate and mysterious nature of a divine entity, humans create avatars of the divine entity by imputing human characteristics to it. 2. Humans may worship and pray to their avatars of the divine entity. 3. When worshiped, avatars of the divine entity in effect are idols.

Karen Armstrong: 1. In their inability to grasp the ultimate and mysterious nature of a divine entity, humans create avatars of the divine entity by imputing human characteristics to it. 2. Humans may worship and pray to their avatars of the divine entity. 3. When worshiped, avatars of the divine entity in effect are idols. 4. Anthropomorphized concepts of God are the idols of the twenty-first century.

Avatar characteristics: 1. Each human's god avatar is a unique collection of anthropomor- phized characteristics.

Avatar characteristics: 1. Each human's god avatar is a unique collection of anthropomor- phized characteristics. 2. There may be as many unique avatars of divine entities as there are humans.

Avatar characteristics: 1. Each human's god avatar is a unique collection of anthropomor- phized characteristics. 2. There may be as many unique avatars of divine entities as there are humans. 3. But there may be shared characteristics among the avatars.

Avatar characteristics: 1. Each human's god avatar is a unique collection of anthropomor- phized characteristics. 2. There may be as many unique avatars of divine entities as there are humans. 3. But there may be shared characteristics among the avatars. 4. Humans organize themselves into religions and denominations based upon shared avatar characteristics.

God avatars: 1. Edgar McKnight, in his book Jesus Christ Today, says that since the reader of scripture is an active participant in the interpretation of the meaning of scriptural texts, Jesus can mean whatever the reader of scripture needs for him to mean. (Mercer University Press, 2009) continued...

God avatars: 1. Edgar McKnight, in his book Jesus Christ Today, says that since the reader of scripture is an active participant in the interpretation of the meaning of scriptural texts, Jesus can mean whatever the reader of scripture needs for him to mean. (Mercer University Press, 2009) 2. By extension, a god avatar can mean whatever the avatar creator needs for the avatar to mean. continued...

God avatars: 1. Edgar McKnight, in his book Jesus Christ Today, says that since the reader of scripture is an active participant in the interpretation of the meaning of scriptural texts, Jesus can mean whatever the reader of scripture needs for him to mean. (Mercer University Press, 2009) 2. By extension, a god avatar can mean whatever the avatar creator needs for the avatar to mean. 3. Each of our personal god avatars may be a collection of wishful thinkings about what we would like for our god to be or to do for us. continued...

continuing My personal god avatar can be my buddy, my co-pilot, the lord of my life.

continuing My personal god avatar can be my buddy, my co-pilot, the lord of my life. 5. I can ask my god avatar to feed me, clothe me, shield me from harm, bless me, give me success in all of my endeavors, and direct my every step.

continuing My personal god avatar can be my buddy, my co-pilot, the lord of my life. 5. I can ask my god avatar to feed me, clothe me, shield me from harm, bless me, give me success in all of my endeavors, and direct my every step. 6. I may not be able to make God in my own image, but I certainly can create an avatar of God with whatever characteristics that I want to include.

continuing My personal god avatar can be my buddy, my co-pilot, the lord of my life. 5. I can ask my god avatar to feed me, clothe me, shield me from harm, bless me, give me success in all of my endeavors, and direct my every step. 6. I may not be able to make God in my own image, but I certainly can create an avatar of God with whatever characteristics that I want to include. 7. But when I worship my God avatar, I am engaging in idol worship!

Some God avatar descriptors: 1. timeless, ancient, preexistent. 2. source of all wisdom, knowledge. 3. powerful creator, sustainer, provider. 4. omni- (-potent, -present, -scient, -benevolent). 5. loving. 6. good without qualification. 7. judgmental, without bias or prejudice. 8. merciful, forgiving. 9. incarnate, (in human form). 10. in spirit form. 11. able to appear to humans as a human (any human, any religious tradition). 12. able to commission humans to be prophets, i.e., to bring messages to other humans. 13. able to communicate directly to humans. 14. saving (offers salvation). 15. approachable (in prayer).

This presentation may be viewed in essay form on-line at: Click on “Selected Essays” Click on “A Post-Christian Theist” Click on “Avatar”