Anthropomorphism is the portrayal of the gods and spiritual powers beyond and in the world as having human appearance and qualities. It critically reverses the saying that “humans were made in the image of God” to “the gods were made in the images of humans.” Thieromorphism is the analogous portrayal of spirits in animal form. It is an ancient, widespread aspect of religion, evident in statues of gods and goddesses as if they were human, as in Egypt (Osiris), Greece (Aphrodite), or India (Krishna). They may blend human and animal images, as in animal-headed human figures. The Roman orator Cicero (106–43 bce) complained of the “poisonous honey of the poets, who present us with gods afire with rage or mad with lust, and make us the spectators of their wars.” But he concluded that “we must admit there are gods,” due to innate ideas of the divine (Cicero, 87–88). Anthropomorphism may criticize the former and debate the latter.
Anthropomorphism is an issue that combines both ontological and...
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Bailey, L.W. (2010). Anthropomorphism. In: Leeming, D.A., Madden, K., Marlan, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-71802-6_35
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