Global Journal of Human-Social Science, A: Arts and Humanities, Volume 23 Issue 5

© 2023 Global Journals Volume XXIII Issue V Version I 4 Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2023 ( ) A A Quranic Concept with Universal Appeal: The Innate Monotheistic Disposition ( Fitra ) Deuteronomy 17, 2. We also find here the reflection attributed to Abraham in verses (Q 6, 76-77). The anonymous Christian text Letter to Diognetus includes a reminder of this question: "God gave men reason and understanding; to them alone he allowed to lift up their eyes to heaven; he formed them in his image" (Gn. I, 26, 1). 19 The reference to this passage from Genesis is particularly significant insofar as it echoes Philo's assertion that all men are born with a spiritual gift that is "something from God". Finally, in a similar vein, the Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions state that: "The souls of men, by the secret power of God, recognize the One they must love even before they are instructed." 20 The hermeneutic threshold of Divine Institutes: the monotheistic vocation of the Anthropos The Fathers of the Church, as well as the Christian theologians of late antiquity, pondered this concept, reorganizing its many aspects in various ways. Among them, Lactantius was the first and, it would seem, the one to establish a direct link between three ideas expressed and presented separately until then: − The universal consensus around the innate natural knowledge of divinity. − The fact that this stems from the defining characteristic of man's ipseity, created to stand on his own two feet in order to renounce earthly idols and seek his religion in heaven. − Finally, the decision to reject the stars as celestial divinities in favor of the one transcendent God. In this case, the natural recognition of an ineffable divinity is linked to man's primary vocation, since he has been created capable of looking up to heaven, and of drawing the ultimate consequences from this state. God guides those who remain faithful to the contemplation of heaven, enlightening them on their vocation. The same process is described in the Qur’an, as the following passages testify: Divine Institutes , VI, 8, 4, 5. Look not to the earth, but to heaven (...) follow God, serve not our idols of the earth, but (turn) to the god of heaven (...) Stretch out our gaze towards heaven (...) our steps will be directed on the right path. Qur’an (2, 144) "We often see you with your face turned towards heaven. We will give you a direction that pleases you (...)". Just as the vocation of the human being, created in such a way as to be able to stand upright and turn his face towards the sky to find there the signs of a unique divinity, constitutes the true meaning of the word anthropos according to Lactantius, 21 so the Qur’an completes the meanings of the notion of fitra with that of hanîfiyya , (the quality of the true believer who rejects astral cults after having turned away from earthly idols) 22 : 19 Letter to Diognetus (A Diognète) (anonymous text composed around the second century), Introduction, translation and commentary by Henri Irénée Marrou, 2nd ed. Sources Chrétiennes, no. 33 bis, Le Cerf, Paris, 1965, X, 2. 20 Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions, IV, 4, 6. 21 Lactantius trusted to explain the word anthropos by man’s ability to look upwards ( sursum spectare = ano atrein), " he who looks upwards " : "While all the other animals look down on the earth, man has been given a high face, turned towards the sky, and he has been ordered to contemplate the heavens, to look up towards the stars." See Divine Institutes , II, I, 15 et 16. 22 As we showed for the first time in our article: Geneviève Gobillot, "Les Pères de l'Eglise et la pensée de l'Islam", L'Orient chrétien dans l'empire musulman, collective work, edited by G. Gobillot and M.Th. Urvoy, expanded edition of the proceedings of the colloquium held on 15 and 16 October 2004 in homage to Gérard Troupeau, Les éditions de Paris, Paris, 2005, pp. 59-90.