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A personal god is a deity who can be related to as a person instead of as an "impersonal force", such as the Absolute, "the All", or the "Ground of Being".
In the sacred scriptures of Judaism, Islam and Christianity, God is conceived and described as being a personal creator, speaking in the first person and showing emotion such as anger and pride, and sometimes appearing in anthropomorphic shape.[1] In the Pentateuch, for example, God talks and instructs his prophets and is conceived as possessing volition, emotions (such as anger, grief and jealousy), intention, and other attributes characteristic of a human person.
Personal relationships with God may be described in the same ways as human relationships, such as a Father, as in Christianity, or a Friend as in Sufism.[2]
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Anthropotheism, or the ascribing of human (anthropomorphic) characteristics to a deity, is a related concept. Since an anthropic being is inherently one that can be related to personally, anthropotheism can be seen as the simplest form of "personal god". However, most religions that feature a personal god maintain that this god is not anthropomorphic, and strictly limit the anthropic characteristics ascribed to the deity. In such religions, since God is typically the creator of humans, the characteristics of personality, reason and emotion are considered divine traits that were given to humans, rather than the reverse; other characteristics, such as physical form, are usually not ascribed to God.
Many ancient polytheistic religions, such as that of Ancient Greece, featured strongly anthropic gods, who experienced human emotions, took on human-like forms, and interacted with humans and with one another in human ways. However, the anthropic nature of the various deities that were worshiped differed among other peoples like the Egyptians and Babylonians, who sometimes thought that their gods could take an array of forms, some non-human.
Christian theologian Alister McGrath writes that there are good reasons to suggest that a "personal god" is integral to the Christian outlook, but that one has to understand it is an analogy. "To say that God is like a person is to affirm the divine ability and willingness to relate to others. This does not imply that God is human, or located at a specific point in the universe."[3]
In the case of the Christian belief in the Trinity, whether the Holy Spirit is an impersonal god — that is, a "force...often likened to electricity"[4] by some — or a personal one,[5] is the subject of dispute,[4] with experts in pneumatology debating the matter. Jesus (or God the Son) and God the Father are two persona or aspects of the same God: Jesus is of the same ousia or substance as God the Father, manifested in three hypostases or persons (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit).
Moreover, the belief in Holy Communion and Last Supper implies an intensely communal understanding of religion which very often goes beyond the boundaries of individuality, in what theologians have called the "mystical body".
Nontrinitarian Christians dispute that Jesus is a "hypostasis" or persona of God the Father.
A narrower interpretation of a personal god is a deity who takes a personal interest in the world in general and worshipers in particular. This view is intended to challenge a deistic outlook.
A still narrower definition would be a god whose personal interest in worshipers is so great that the deity communicates directly with them and actively intervenes in their lives through miracles.
Vaishnava and Saiva[6] traditions of Hinduism subscribe to an ultimate personal nature of God. The Vishnu Sahasranama[7] declares the person of Vishnu as both the Paramatma (supreme soul) and Parameshwara (supreme God). In Krishna-centered theology (Krishna is seen as a form of Vishnu by some) the title Svayam Bhagavan is used exclusively to designate Krishna in his personal feature,[8][9] it refers to Gaudiya Vaishnava, the Nimbarka Sampradaya and followers of Vallabha, while the person of Vishnu and Narayana is sometimes referred to as the ultimate personal god of other Vaishnava traditions.[10][11]
Philosophical theism is the belief that God exists (or must exist) independent of the teaching or revelation of any particular religion. It represents belief in a personal God entirely in a philosophical context, without religious doctrine. Some philosophical theists are persuaded of God's existence by philosophical arguments, while others consider themselves to have a religious faith that need not be, or could not be, supported by rational argument. Philosophical theism has parallels with the 18th century philosophical view called Deism.
Jewish theology states that God is not a person. However, there exist frequent references to anthropomorphic characteristics of God in the Hebrew Bible such as the "Hand of God." Judaism holds that these are to be taken only as figures of speech. Their purpose is to make God more comprehensible to the human reader. As in Judaism God is beyond human understanding, there are different ways of describing him. He is said to be both personal and impersonal, he has a relationship with his creation but is beyond all relationships.[12]
The Qur'an asserts the existence of a single and absolute truth that transcends the world; a unique and indivisible being who is independent of the entire creation.[13] Qur'an clearly opposes conceiving God as resembling "the creation" and it maintains that whatever image a believer has of God, is not God, and that he is truly transcendental. According to the Qur'an:[13]
"Say: He is God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him." (Sura 112:1-4, Yusuf Ali)
Thy Lord is self-sufficient, full of Mercy: if it were God's will, God could destroy you, and in your place appoint whom God will as your successors, even as God raised you up from the posterity of other people." (Sura 6:133, Yusuf Ali)
There is a distinct difference between the two major Islamic sects, Shia and Sunni, regarding belief in a Personal God. Sunni Muslims believe in a Personal God.[1][14] Examples of this belief such as God has feet, [1], [2], every night God is coming down [3], God puts all the heavens on one finger, and the Earths on one finger, and the trees on one finger, and the water and the dust on one finger, and all the other created beings on one finger[4], in thereafter, God will come to human beings in a shape other than they know him[5], then he will uncover his shin [6] can be observed in Sahih Bukhari, the most authentic Sunni Muslim book.
Some Sunni scholars hold beliefs which would imply that Allah has a body, but not like the bodies that we know. A vast amount of Sunnis do not interpret the face, hand, and leg of Allah as physical organs.[14] There are quite a number of traditions in Sahih Bukhari describing that God has a sign in his leg, and he put his leg over the hell and so on. For instance see Sahih Bukhari, Arabic-Englich version, 9.532s in which Allah is said to have a sign in His Shin (leg) and when He uncovers His Shin (leg) people will recognize Him. Or in the same volume see Tradition 9.604 and 9.510 where it is said that Allah has fingers.[15]
On the other hand, this belief is strongly rejected by Shia Muslims.[14] An example can be seen in Nahj al-Balagha, the greatest Shia book:[16]
Praise be to God who is proof of His existence through His creation, of His being external through the newness of His creation, and through their mutual similarities of the fact that nothing is similar to Him. Senses cannot touch Him and curtains cannot veil Him, because of the difference between the Maker and the made, the Limiter and the limited and the Sustainer and the sustained. He is One but not by the first in counting, is Creator but not through activity or labour, is Hearer but not by means of any physical organ, is Looker but not by a stretching of eyelids, is Witness but not by nearness, is Distinct but not by measurement of distance, is Manifest but not by seeing and is Hidden but not by subtlety (of body). He is Distinct from things because He overpowers them and exercises might over them, while things are distinct from Him because of their subjugation to Him and their turning towards Him. He who describes Him limits Him. He who limits Him numbers Him. He who numbers Him rejects His eternity. He who said "how" sought a description for Him. He who said "where" bounded him. He is the Knower even though there be nothing to be known. He is the Sustainer even though there be nothing to be sustained. He is the Powerful even though there be nothing to be overpowered.
The Baha'i God is described as "a personal God, unknowable, inaccessible, the source of all Revelation, eternal, omniscient, omnipresent and almighty".[17][18] Though transcendent and inaccessible directly, his image is reflected in his creation. The purpose of creation is for the created to have the capacity to know and love its creator.[19] God communicates his will and purpose to humanity through intermediaries, known as Manifestations of God, who are the prophets and messengers that have founded religions from prehistoric times up to the present day.[20]