Divine Haecceity : Reclaiming the Literary Character of God in Hebrew Scripture with Rosenzweig and Miskotte.

This article examines the literary character of God in Hebrew Scripture as a dynamic, complex figure with human-like traits, a portrayal explored by scholars such as Jack Miles, W. Lee Humphreys, and Avivah Zornberg. It highlights why constructive Christian theology often finds this "round" God-character unusable, due to theological commitments to God's immutable, eternal nature and the perennial interpretation of scripture. The article then argues for the theological value of this literary God-character through the concept of haecceity—Latin for "this-ness"—drawing on the twentieth-century thinkers Franz Rosenzweig and K. H. Miskotte. Both emphasize God's nearness and particular historical encounters with humanity, viewing biblical anthropomorphisms as authentic expressions of divine presence rather than mere linguistic limitations, with Miskotte further integrating these insights into Christian theology by affirming continuity between God's self-revelation in Hebrew Scripture and the incarnation.