Transfiguration And Transformation

Our Bibles consistently use the noun 'Transfiguration' with regard to Jesus but 'Transformation' with regard to the Christian - and yet it is one and the same verb, transliterated 'metamorphosed, ' that is used in those places in the original text. Why is that so? Is there an important difference between them? And why does the noun 'metamorphosis' which is familiar to us never occur in the New Testament? And yet is there some connection between the Transfiguration of Jesus and the Transformation of the Christian? Hywel R. Jones presents answers to these questions in this book. In the course of doing so he shows how the divine can penetrate the human without destroying it as in the Person of Christ, and how the human can become conformed to the divine without its ceasing to be human as in the case of the Christian. That kind of metamorphosis accords and exalts the Christian gospel over against the humanism of our culture, whether secularised or spiritualised. There is a distinction between God and Man which will never be obliterated but preserved for ever - even in the glorified Christ in whom they are joined. But communion between the God-Man and his believing people will result in each Christian being fully conformed to the perfect humanity of Christ while retaining his or her own individuality. It will not result in a faceless absorption into the divine but face to face communion with the triune God for ever. 'The transfiguration of Christ shows how the divine can penetrate the human without destroying it. The transformation of the believer shows how the human can become conformed to the divine without its ceasing to be human. This is the ultimate metamorphosis that is compatible with Christian truth.' -- HYWEL R. JONES

Revision of the author's thesis (Th.D.)--Harvard University, 2008.

It is puzzling that hardly anyone knows about the kingly transfiguration of Jesus appearing in his divine glory, which was truly a revelation along with Moses, the lawgiver and Elijah, the prophet. The event includes all the essential parts of the future kingdom to be set up by Jesus. This is surely the complete fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. What a joyous event this was!

It is puzzling that hardly anyone knows about the kingly transfiguration of Jesus appearing in his divine glory, which was truly a revelation along with Moses, the lawgiver and Elijah, the prophet. The event includes all the essential parts of the future kingdom to be set up by Jesus. This is surely the complete fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. What a joyous event this was!

Danto argues that recent developments in art--in particular the production of works that cannot be told from ordinary things--make urgent the need for a new theory of art. He demonstrates the relationship between philosophy and art and the connections that hold between art, social institutions, and art history.

The biblical story of Jesus' Transfiguration "on a high mountain" bristles with meanings germane to present-day concerns and spiritual longings. Together with its later artistic representations, this episode from the synoptic gospels seizes the imagination as an icon of mystical hope, beauty, and possibility. What might such an iconic episode, long honored liturgically in the Eastern church, disclose not only about Jesus, but also about the prospect of seeing our human nature transformed? And as interpreted by Christian tradition since the patristic era, what might it tell us about the worth of envisioning not just a conservation or preservation of natural resources but a transfiguration of all creation, and about how this "feast of beauty" could re-energize current discussions of Christianity's relation to environmental attitudes and policy? Such questions are addressed in this book through an original blend of personal reflection with commentary on relevant theological and scriptural texts, literary works, music, and art.

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