Augustine and the Origins of North African Anthropomorphism

This article offers a reconstruction and analysis of the anthropomorphite beliefs Augustine’s North African contemporaries through close reading writings comparison with other cases anthropomorphism within early Christianity. I argue that faith in church was more sophisticated than scholars have previously recognized. My argument is twofold. First, show that, church, belief God has human bodily form comprised part broader nexus theological grounded anthropomorphic conceptions visio dei imago dei. Second, drawing upon work Alexander Golitzin, closely resemble forms found diverse range geographical locales, including Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia. Following suggest this resemblance can best be accounted for if we regard tendencies as reflecting ongoing influence Jewish Christian apocalyptic traditions regarding God’s form.