JOY PHILIP
KAKKANATTU
Dharmaram
Vidya Kshetram, Bangalore
Paper
Title: “The Interface between Divine and Human
in the Language and Imagery of Love in the Book of Hosea”
Man
can speak of God and divine milieu only through analogies and imageries taken
from the sphere of humans. The concept
"love" may be the most powerful but at the same time the most
misunderstood and misused relational expression in language and literature. In
speaking of divine human relationship, the Bible employs various
imageries. The book of Prophet Hosea is
often noted for its use of love imagery to speak of Yahweh-Israel
relationship. The striking aspect of the
use of this imagery in Hosea is that it does not consider any aspect of love as
a taboo not to be used. These include:
the sensual and erotic nature of the love between husband and wife, the
romantic and intimate nature of love, the affection of a parental and filial
love. However all these aspects are considered as part of an umbrella imagery,
namely, "family". In the book of Hosea, we notice a rather unique
transference of the human sentiment of love to the realm of the divine and by
this Hosea employs love as an analogy to speak of God and God's ways. Love
becomes the known component of the metaphor for Hosea to speak of Divine-human
interaction and relationship. In this paper, my attempt is to look at the
various aspects of the imagery of love to refer to Yahweh-Israel relationship
in Hosea and to learn how the language of love becomes a medium to understand
God's dealing with humanity.
Joy Philip Kakkanattu, CMI holds a Licentiate in sacred Scripture from Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome and Doctorate from Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. His doctoral dissertation was published as the 14th title of Forschungen zum Alten Testament 2.Reihe with the title God’s Enduring Love in the Book of Hosea. A Synchronic and Diachronic Analysis of Hosea 11,1-1, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006. He is a resident faculty at Dharmaram Vidhya Kshetram, Bangalore and visiting faculty at JDV, Pune (2007-2012); Francesco, Capuchin Theological College, Trichy, Samanvaya Theological College, Bhopal, Carmel Jyothi, Aluva etc.
Joy Philip Kakkanattu, CMI holds a Licentiate in sacred Scripture from Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome and Doctorate from Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. His doctoral dissertation was published as the 14th title of Forschungen zum Alten Testament 2.Reihe with the title God’s Enduring Love in the Book of Hosea. A Synchronic and Diachronic Analysis of Hosea 11,1-1, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006. He is a resident faculty at Dharmaram Vidhya Kshetram, Bangalore and visiting faculty at JDV, Pune (2007-2012); Francesco, Capuchin Theological College, Trichy, Samanvaya Theological College, Bhopal, Carmel Jyothi, Aluva etc.