Compassion as the Heart of the Gospel

by Daniel C. Peterson

Overview

Abstract: The Greek philosopher Aristotle, clearly one of the world's great geniuses, created the concept of the "unmoved mover," which moves "other things, but is, itself, unmoved by anything else." This label became the standard Jewish, Christian, and Muslim description of an impersonal God — a God without body, parts or passions — a concept that has, for nearly 20 centuries, dominated western theology, philosophy, and science. The problem for thinkers in these religious traditions is that the God depicted in the Bible and the Qur'an is plainly personal. A careful review of the Bible and modern scripture reveals a "compassionate, feeling" God. Numerous scriptures confirm that God, in fact, "feels more deeply than we can even begin to imagine."

Product Details

BN ID:	2940161490884
Publisher:	Interpreter Foundation
Publication date:	07/04/2019
Series:	Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship , #32
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	327 KB

About the Author

Daniel C. Peterson (PhD, University of California at Los Angeles) is
a professor of Islamic studies and Arabic at Brigham Young University
and is the founder of the University’s Middle Eastern Texts Initiative,
for which he served as editor-in-chief until mid-August 2013. He has
published and spoken extensively on both Islamic and Latter-day Saint
subjects. Formerly chairman of the board of the Foundation for Ancient
Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) and an officer, editor, and author
for its successor organization, the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious
Scholarship, his professional work as an Arabist focuses on the Qur’an and
on Islamic philosophical theology. He is the author, among other things,
of a biography entitled Muhammad: Prophet of God (Eerdmans, 2007).