Paradoxical Descriptions of Divine Beings

Student Name: Tiago Garcia Ferrer
Majors: English, Religious Studies
Advisors: Bhakti Mamtora & Bryan Alkemeyer

Most Joyful Award

Within almost every mythology on earth there are moments of revelation, moments of physical encounter with the gods, which play a major role on how their cultures perceive the divine. This study argues that physical descriptions of gods are an active participant in the multifaceted relationship between mortals and divinities. To achieve this, this essay takes a large-scale comparative approach looking at literary examples of ten different cultures from around the world. These examples are separated into three sections: one dealing with the stories of some gods whose divinity is contingent on the clothes they wear; another examining almost incomprehensible descriptions of gods which nonetheless attempt to teach a hard theological lesson; and the last one exploring some examples where revelation itself is used as a form of punishment.

Tiago will be online to field comments on April 16: Noon-2 pm EDT (PST 9am-11am, Africa/Europe: early evening).