Monotheism Judaism Jewish theology 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 (
Hosea 11:9: "I am God, and not a man";
Numbers 23:19: "God is not a man, that He should lie";
1 Samuel 15:29: "He is not a person, that He should repent"). 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 (or
God the Son) and
God the Father are believed to be two members of a
trinity. Jesus is believed to be of the same
ousia (or substance) as God the Father. The Christian God manifests in three
hypostases (or persons): 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 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 (God) has no body, gender (neither male nor female), 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 (we) 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 (or anyone else having the same
Name or attributes/qualities, which belong) to Him?" [Qur'an 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 (all) that is before them and (all) that is behind them (their past and future, and whatever of intentions, speech, or actions they have left behind), whereas they cannot comprehend Him with their knowledge." [Qur'an 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 (he) with respect to Allah is unmistakably a purely grammatical masculinity without even a hint of
anthropomorphism. The Maliki scholar
Ibrahim al-Laqqani (d. 1041/1631) said in his book,
Jawharat al-Tawhid (The Gem of Monotheism), 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 (d. 321/933) 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 (d. 1014/1606) 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". 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 Christian deism 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 (non-classical) 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. 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 (or exclusively) 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 Pandeists 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 Polydeists 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. traditions of Hinduism, subscribe to an ultimate personal nature of God. The
Vishnu Sahasranama declares the person of Vishnu as both the
Paramatma (supreme soul) and
Parameshvara (supreme God) while the Rudram describes the same about Shiva. In
Krishna-centered theology (Krishna is seen as a form of
Vishnu by most, except Gaudiya Vaishnavism) the title
Svayam Bhagavan is used exclusively to designate Krishna in his personal feature, 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.
Jainism Jainism explicitly denies the existence of a non-personal transcendent god and explicitly affirms the existence of personal gods. All gods in Jainism are personal. One of the major points of dispute between
Digambara and
Shwetambara is the gender of the gods.
Digambara can only be men; any man at least eight years of age can become a god if he follows the right procedure. Jain gods are eternal, but they are not beginningless. Also, Jain gods are all
omniscient, but not
omnipotent. They are sometimes called quasi-gods due to this reason. Gods are said to be free from the following eighteen imperfections: •
janma – (re)birth; •
jarā – old-age; •
triśā – thirst; •
kśudhā – hunger; •
vismaya – astonishment; •
arati – displeasure; •
kheda – regret; •
roga – sickness; •
śoka – grief; •
mada – pride; •
moha – delusion; •
bhaya – fear; •
nidrā – sleep; •
cintā – anxiety; •
sveda – perspiration; •
rāga – attachment; •
dveśa – aversion; and •
maraņa – death. The four infinitudes of god are (
ananta cātuṣṭaya) are: •
ananta jñāna, infinite knowledge •
ananta darśana, perfect perception due to the destruction of all darśanāvaraṇīya karmas •
ananta sukha, infinite bliss •
ananta vīrya – infinite energy Those who re-establish the Jain faith are called Tirthankaras. They have additional attributes.
Tirthankaras revitalize the
sangha, the fourfold order consisting of male saints (
sādhus), female saints (
sādhvis), male householders (
śrāvaka) and female householders (
Śrāvika). The first Tirthankara of the current time cycle was
Ṛṣabhanātha, and the twenty-fourth and last Tirthankara was
Mahavira, who lived from
599 BCE to
527 BCE. Jain texts mention forty-six attributes of
arihants or
tirthankaras. These attributes comprise four infinitudes (
ananta chatushtaya), thirty-four miraculous happenings (
atiśaya), and eight splendours (
prātihārya). The eight splendours (
prātihārya) are: •
aśokavrikśa – the
Ashoka tree; •
siṃhāsana– bejeweled throne; •
chatra – three-tier canopy; •
bhāmadal – halo of unmatched luminance; •
divya dhvani – divine voice of the Lord without lip movement; •
puśpavarśā – shower of fragrant flowers; •
camara – waving of sixty-four majestic hand-fans; and •
dundubhi – the dulcet sound of kettle drums and other musical instruments. At the time of
nirvana (final release), the
arihant sheds off the remaining four
aghati karmas: • Nama (physical structure forming) Karma •
Gotra (status forming) Karma, • Vedniya (pain and pleasure causing) Karma, • Ayushya (life span determining) Karma. And float at the top of the universe without losing their individuality and with the same shape and size as the body at the time of release. ==Other definitions==