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Series:   Elements in the Problems of God

The Problem of Divine Personality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2024

Andrew M. Bailey  and
Bradley Rettler
Andrew M. Bailey
Affiliation:
Yale-NUS College
Bradley Rettler
Affiliation:
University of Wyoming

Summary

The main question of this Element is whether God has a personality. The authors show what the question means, why it matters, and that good sense can be made of an affirmative answer to it. A God with personality - complete with particular, sometimes peculiar, and even seemingly unexplainable druthers - is not at war with maximal perfection, nor is the idea irredeemably anthropomorphic. And the hypothesis of divine personality is fruitful, with substantive consequences that span philosophical theology. But problems arise here too, and new perspectives on inquiry itself. Our cosmos is blessed with weirdness aplenty. To come to know it is nothing less than to encounter a strange and untamed God.
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Keywords

personalityclassical theismtheistic personalismTrinitypersonality traitsperfectionperfect being theologytheistic argumentsatheistic arguments
Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in the Problems of God
Online ISBN: 9781009269254
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 31 January 2025

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