Divine Metaphors
The Candler Foundry
COURSE INFORMATION
Course Dates: September 3 - September 24, 2026
Course Time: Thursdays, 6:30 PM - 7:45 PM ET (Online)
Course Description
How does the Bible talk about God? Rather than using abstract theological terms, biblical authors turn to metaphors that liken their ineffable God to concepts known from everyday life: shepherd, king, judge, potter, mother, gardener, mid-wife, bird, lion, river, and mountain. In this course we’ll explore the wide range of metaphors the Bible uses to talk about God, and reflect on the challenges and possibilities of using metaphors to talk about God today.
For more information, please email our Assistant Director of Community Learning and Partnerships, Donnell Williamson, at dwilliamson@emory.edu.
Recommended Books
Brown, William. Seeing the Psalms.
Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson. Metaphors We Live By.
Winner, Lauren. Wearing God.
TheoED Talk - Lauren Winner, “Magnolia Trees and Cardigan Sweaters.”
Children’s Book - Stahl Bohler, Carolyn. God Is Like a Mother Hen and Much, Much More.
Meet the Instructor
Dr. Ryan Bonfiglio
Dr. Ryan Bonfiglio joined the Candler faculty in 2018 as an assistant professor in the practice of Old Testament. He also serves as executive director of The Candler Foundry, an initiative that seeks to bridge the gap between the church and the academy by making seminary-level learning accessible and engaging for the broader public. Bonfiglio’s research and teaching interests include ancient Near Eastern iconography, biblical metaphors, the Sabbath, and various topics in Old Testament theology. He is the author of Reading Images, Seeing Texts: Towards a Visual Hermeneutics for Biblical Studies (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2016) and co-editor of Iconographic Exegesis and the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015). He is currently working on a book that explores the biblical theology of the Sabbath (Westminster John Knox). Read more here.
Tell Us How We’re Doing!
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Courses in the Community
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