The Problem of Divine Personality

This Element is an engaging exercise in theology and psychology that illuminates connections between God's nature and our own.

Andrew M. Bailey (Author), Bradley Rettler (Author)

9781009619233, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 January 2025

78 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 0.6 cm, 0.249 kg

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.

1. Inception
2. The familiarity problem
3. The problem of perfect rationality
4. The simple problem
5. Arguments against God
6. Arguments for God
7. Encountering God
References.

Subject Areas: Philosophy of religion [HRAB]