[1] The polemic is primarily directed at what, Ibn al-Jawzi held to be, growing anthropomorphic beliefs within the Hanbali school of jurisprudential thought.
He writes in Kitab akhbar as-Sifat: The imam Ahmad used to say "Let the texts of scripture stand as they are."
[5] While Ibn al-Jawzi advocated for a traditionalist and non-anthropomorphic approach to Qur'anic exegesis in Kitab akhbar as-Sifat, he did not object to interpretation outside the realm of "sense experience," interpreting 12 Qur'anic verses and 60 hadith in that manner.
He writes: Ibn az-Zaghuni was asked whether a new attribute came into being upon the creation of the Throne, which had not existed previously, and he replied: "No, only the world was created with the attribute of being 'beneath' and so, in relation to [the Throne] which God occupies, the world is lower ...
This man does not understand the implications of what he says, for when he ascribes to God ... a separation between the Creator and His creation, he imposes limits on Him and in effect, declares Him a body ...