Personal god


A personal god, or personal goddess, is a deity who can be related to as a person, instead of as an impersonal force, such as the Absolute. In the context of Christianity and the Baháʼí Faith, the term "personal god" also refers to the incarnation of God as a person. In the context of Hinduism, "personal god/goddess" also refers to Ishtadevata, a worshipper's personal favorite deity.
In the scriptures of the Abrahamic religions, God is 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. In the Pentateuch, for example, God talks with and instructs his prophets and is conceived as possessing volition, emotions, 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.
A 2008 survey by the Pew Research Center reported that, of U.S. adults, 60% view that "God is a person with whom people can have a relationship", while 25% believe that "God is an impersonal force". A 2019 survey by the National Opinion Research Center reported that 77.5% of U.S. adults believe in a personal god. The 2014 Religious Landscape survey conducted by Pew reported that 57% of U.S. adults believe in a personal god.

Views

Monotheism

Judaism

states that God is not a person. This was also determined several times in the Torah, which religious Jews traditionally believed to be an indisputable authority for their faith. 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.

Christianity

In mainstream Christianity, Jesus and God the Father are believed to be two members of a trinity. Jesus is believed to be of the same ousia as God the Father. The Christian God manifests in three hypostases : the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Nontrinitarian Christians dispute that Jesus is a "hypostasis" of or a person within a broader God. Whether the Holy Spirit is impersonal or personal is the subject of dispute, with experts in pneumatology debating the matter.

Islam

From the Shiite perspective, Imam Ali says:
Anthropopathism existed in the ancient Semitic religion and early Islam.
Islamic theology rejects the Christian doctrine of the Incarnation and the notion of a personal god as anthropomorphic because both demean the transcendence of God. The Qur'an prescribes the fundamental transcendental criterion in the following verse: "There is nothing whatever like Him" Qur'an [https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/42/11/ 42:11. Therefore, strictly rejects all forms of [anthropomorphism and anthropopathism of the concept of God, and thus categorically rejects the Christian concept of the Trinity or division of persons in the Godhead.
Islamic theology confirms that Allah has no body, gender, or comparison. However, due to grammatical limitations in the Arabic language, masculinity is the default grammatical gender if the noun is not specifically feminine. This does not apply to the word "Allah" because, according to Islamic theology, Allah has no gender. Allah is also a singular noun and cannot have a plural form. The "We" used in the Qur'an in numerous places is used only as the "royal we", as has been a tradition in most other languages. It is a feature of literary style in Arabic that a person may refer to himself by the pronoun nahnu for respect or glorification. Nothing can be used as a similitude or for the purpose of comparison to Allah, even in allegorical terms, because nothing can be compared with him. Thus, the Qur'an says: "Do you know any similar to Him?" Qur'an [https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/19/65/ 19:65. According to mainstream theological accounts, Allah is the creator of everything that exists and transcends spatial and temporal bounds. He has neither any beginnings nor any end and remains beyond the bounds of human comprehension and perceptions. This has been described in the Qur'an at various places, such as the following: "He knows that is before them and that is behind them, whereas they cannot comprehend Him with their knowledge." [Qur'an [https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/20/110/ 20:110
In one of the most comprehensive descriptions, as revealed in Surat al-Ikhlas, the Qur'an says:
In this context, the masculinity of huwa [with respect to Allah is unmistakably a purely grammatical masculinity without even a hint of anthropomorphism. The Maliki scholar Ibrahim al-Laqqani said in his book, Jawharat al-Tawhid, that: "Any text that leads one to imagine the similitude of Allah to His created beings, should be treated either through ta'wil or tafwid and exalt Allah the Almighty above His creation."
The Hanafi jurist and theologian al-Tahawi wrote in his treatise on theology commonly known as al-'Aqida al-Tahawiyya:
The six directions are above, below, right, left, front, and back. The above statement of al-Tahawi refutes the anthropomorphist's dogmas that imagine Allah has a physical body and human form and is occupied in a place, direction, or trajectory. 'Ali al-Qari in his Sharh al-Fiqh al-Akbar states: "Allah the Exalted is not in any place or space, nor is He subject to time, because both time and space are amongst His creations. He the Exalted was present in pre-existence and there was nothing of the creation with Him".
Al-Tahawi also stated that:

Baháʼí Faith

In the Baháʼí Faith, God is described as "a personal God, unknowable, inaccessible, the source of all Revelation, eternal, omniscient, omnipresent and almighty". Although 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. 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.

Deism

While many deists view God as a personal god, deism is a broad term encompassing people with varying specific beliefs, some of which reject the notion of a personal god. The foundational idea of a personal god in deism is illustrated by the 17th-century assertions of Lord Edward Herbert, universally regarded as the Father of English Deism, which stated that there is one Supreme God, and he ought to be worshipped. A god that is not a personal god cannot be worshipped. Nevertheless, the notion of God as a personal god cannot be ascribed to all deists. Further, some deists who believe in a personal god may either not prioritize a relationship with such a god or not consider a personal relationship with such a god as possible.

Christian

is a term applied both to Christians who incorporate deistic principles into their beliefs and to deists who follow the moral teachings of Jesus without believing in his divinity. About those who are essentially deists who incorporate the teachings of Jesus into their beliefs, these are usually a subset of classical deists. Consequently, they believe in a personal god but do not necessarily believe in a personal relationship with God. However, some Christian deists may practice a different form of deism while viewing Jesus as a non-divine moral teacher. The views of these Christian deists on the existence of a personal god and whether a relationship with such god is possible would be based on their core deist beliefs.

Classical

Classical deists who adhere to Herbert's common notion certainly believe in a personal god because those notions include the belief that God dispenses rewards and punishments both in this life and after it. This is not something an impersonal force would do. However, a personal relationship with God is not contemplated since living a virtuous and pious life is seen as the primary means of worshiping God.

Humanist

Humanist deists accept the core principles of deism but incorporate humanist beliefs into their faith. The key element that separates humanistic deists from other deists is the emphasis on the importance of human development over religious development and on the relationships among human beings over the relationships between humans and God. Those who self-identify as humanistic deists may take an approach based upon what is found in classical deism and allow their worship of God to manifest itself primarily in the manner in which they treat others. Other humanistic deists may prioritize their relationships with other human beings over theological beliefs, but still maintain a belief in a Supreme Being.

Pandeism

believe that in the process of creating the universe, God underwent a metamorphosis from a conscious and sentient being or force to an unconscious and unresponsive entity by becoming the universe. Consequently, pandeists do not believe that a personal god currently exists.

Polydeism

reject the notion that one Supreme Being would have created the universe and left it to its own devices, a common belief shared by many deists. Rather, they conclude that several gods who are superhuman but not omnipotent each created parts of the universe. Polydeists hold an affirmative belief that the gods who created the universe are completely uninvolved in the world and pose no threat and offer no hope to humanity. Polydeists see living virtuous and pious lives as the primary components of worshiping God, firmly adhering to one of the common notions set forth by Herbert. Thus, polydeists believe that there are several personal gods. Yet, they do not think they can have a relationship with any of them.