Conceptions of God

Main articles: Conceptions of God and Image of God

Conceptions of God in monotheist, pantheist, and panentheist religions – or of the supreme deity in henotheistic religions – can extend to various levels of abstraction:

• as a powerful, human-like, supernatural being, or as the deification of an esoteric, mystical or philosophical entity or category;
• as the “Ultimate”, the summum bonum, the “Absolute Infinite”, the “Transcendent“, or Existence or Being itself;
• as the ground of being, the monistic substrate, that which we cannot understand; and so on.

General conceptions about God

The first recordings that survive of monotheistic conceptions of God, borne out of henotheism and (mostly in Eastern religions) monism, are from the Hellenistic period. Of the many objects and entities that religions and other belief systems across the ages have labeled as divine, the one criterion they share is their acknowledgement as divine by a group or groups of human beings.

Aristotelian view of God Anthropomorphism Agnosticism Agnostic Theism Apatheism Atheism Antitheism Deism Henotheism

Ietsism Ignosticism Monotheism Monism Dualism Dualistic Cosmology Monolatry Nontheism Kathenotheism Omnism

Pandeism Panentheism Pantheism Polytheism Process Theology Theism Classical Theism Open theism Philosophical Theism Transtheism Unitarian Universalism

Specific conceptions

God is absolutely other than His creation. The Creator cannot by any means be the same kind of being as that which He created. Although this is self-evident to sense and reason, some people still ask why we cannot directly see God.

The Abrahamic God in this sense is the conception of God that remains a common attribute of all three traditions. God is conceived of as eternal, omnipotent, omniscient and as the creator of the universe. God is further held to have the properties of holiness, justice, omnibenevolence and omnipresence.

Creator Solar Deity Dying-and-rising Deity Demiurge Deus Dyeus Form of the Good Great Architect Intelligent Designer Higher Power Monad Mother Summum bonum Sustainer The All The Lord Tawhid Ditheis Monism Personal God National god Unitarianism Arianism Socinianism God As The Devil Sacred King Apotheosis Divinity Divine Grace Divine Illumination Divine Inspiration Divine Judgment Divine language Divine Law Divine Light Divine Love Divine Presence Divine Providence Divine Revelation Divine Simplicity Divine Command Theory Divine Destiny and Decree and Divine Grace Divine will Human transcendence God and the Truth of Divinity

Singular God Tawhid (Unity) Ahadiya and Wahidiya (Uniqueness or Absolute Oneness and Unity) Absolute (philosophy) Ultimate Reality Brahman Emanationism Logos Supreme Being Binitarianism Binitarianism Other views Egotheism is deification of the self, or the view that the idea of God is nothing more than a conception of the self. Godhead (or godhood) refers to the divinity or substance (ousia) of the Christian God Olelbis (meaning “he who is above”) is the creator deity in Wintun mythology Godhead (Latter Day Saints) Great Spirit Apophatic Theology Cataphatic Theology Tian Unmoved mover Phenomenological definition of God Sarav viāpak Taryenyawagon     A single raised index finger, around the world means symbolizing Tawhid.

Trinitarianism Triple Deity Tritheism Trinity God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit What is Trinity? Introduction to The Trinity Divine Trinity Perichoresis G-d is One, Not a Trinity Jewish Reflections on Trinitarian Thinking Trinitarian formula Athanasian Creed Comma Johanneum Trinitarianism in the Church Fathers The Holy Spirit Holy Spirit in Christianity Holy Spirit in Judaism Shekhinah Holy Spirit in Islam Archangel Gabriel What is Holy Spirit? Holy Wisdom Gender of the Holy Spirit Holy Spirit in Christian Denominational Variations Fruit of The Holy Spirit Seven Gifts of The Holy Spirit Spiritual Gift Baptism with The Holy Spirit Son of God Son of God in Christianity Is Jesus Son of God? Is Jesus Unique Son of God? Son of Man in Christianity Divine Sonship of Jesus Son of Heaven Divinity of Jesus Sons of God Consubstantiality Homoousian Hypostasis Shield of the Trinity Trinitarian Universalism

Atheism and Non-theistic views

Non-theist views about God also vary. Some non-theists avoid the concept of God, whilst accepting that it is significant to many; other non-theists understand God as a symbol of human values and aspirations.

General atheism concepts Atheism What is Atheism? Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Nontheism Atheism and religion Christian Atheism Hindu Atheism Jewish Atheism Criticism of atheism Demographics of atheism Discrimination Against Atheists Related positions Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Agnosticism is the view that the truth values of certain claims – especially metaphysical and religious claims such as whether God, the divine or the supernatural exist – are unknown and perhaps unknowable. Agnostic atheism Apatheism Christian agnosticism Antireligion Criticism of religion Freethought Freedom of Religion Irreligion Naturalism Parody religion Secularism

History of atheism History of atheism New Atheism State atheism Nontheistic Religion What type of thing is atheism? a philosophy – a belief – a non-belief – Types of atheism Marxist–Leninist Atheism irreligious Marxism–Leninism Negative and Positive Atheism  non-theism Implicit and Explicit Atheism Agnostic atheism Antitheism Atheism in philosophical naturalism Atheism publications The Encyclopedia of Unbelief The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief Persons influential in atheism Charles Darwin Bertrand Russell Stephen Hawking Isaac Asimov Richard Dawkins Daniel Dennett Sam Harris Lawrence Krauss Michael Shermer Matt Dillahunty

God’s Attributes

Different religious traditions assign differing (though often similar) attributes and characteristics to God, including expansive powers and abilities, psychological characteristics, gender characteristics, and preferred nomenclature. The assignment of these attributes often differs according to the conceptions of God in the culture from which they arise. For example, attributes of God in Christianity, attributes of God in Islam, and the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy in Judaism share certain similarities arising from their common roots.

Main articles: The Attributes of God

• • Essence
  • What are Essence and Attributes of God, Can We Describe Him?
  • Attributes of God in Christianity
  • Grace in Christianity
  • Mission of God
  • The Attributes Of God According To The Old Testament
  • Thirteen Attributes of Mercy
  • Divine Providence in Judaism
  • Attributes of God in Islam
  • God, His Essence And Attributes

The philosophy of religion recognizes the following as essential attributes of God: Eternity (God is not bound by time) Existence Gender of God Immutability (God is not subject to change) Impassibility (God is not affected) Incorporeality (God is not material) Names (“Word“) Omnipotence (limitless power) Omniscience (limitless knowledge) Oneness (God is wholly benevolent) Simplicity (God is not composite)

God’s Attributes of Glory God and the Truth of Divinity Love of God What is Love of God? Fear of God Sacred Holy Divine Providence Divine Retribution Theodicy Theodicy and The Bible Evil Problem of evil Skeptical Theism

Gender of God

• • Gender of God

The gender of God may be viewed as either a literal or an allegorical aspect of a deity who, in classical western philosophy, transcends bodily form. Polytheistic religions commonly attribute to each of the gods a gender, allowing each to interact with any of the others, and perhaps with humans, sexually. In most monotheistic religions, God has no counterpart with which to relate sexually. Thus, in classical western philosophy the gender of this one-and-only deity is most likely to be an analogical statement of how humans and God address, and relate to, each other. Namely, God is seen as begetter of the world and revelation which corresponds to the active (as opposed to the receptive) role in sexual intercourse.

• Gender and Religion
  • gods
  • Goddess
  • Mother goddess
  • Goddess Movement
• Gender of God in Judaism
  • Shekhinah (the presence of God is feminine)
• Gender of God in Christianity
  • Jesus Christ 
  • Holy Wisdom (feminine)
  • Christ the Logos
  • Trinity (implicitly invoke masculine sex)
    • God the Father (masculine)
    • God the Son (masculine)
    • God the Holy Spirit (feminine and masculine)
  • Heavenly Mother (Mormonism)
• Gender of the Holy Spirit 
• God and gender in Hinduism
• Gender of God in Sikhism
• God in Islam
  • (Allah is gender-neutral )

Frequently Asked Questions about God

Does God Exist? Who Created God? Why Cannot We See God? Why Can’t We See God? His Existence and Unity The Existence and Unity of God Why Did God Create The Universe? Does God Know What is Better For Us? What Ever We Have Is A Blessing Of God Two Supreme Proofs of Divine Unity Is There Really A Supreme Being? Given That God Created Everything, Who Created God? Why Did He Not Create Universe Sooner? Why Did God Create Humans Physically And Financially Different? How Does Single Being Direct And Administer Entire Universe? What are Essence and Attributes of God, Can We Describe Him? Equation On God Without Partners Is God A Man? Is Jesus God? Is God Afraid of Us? God And Man How Does God Permit Infinite Ugliness and Awesome Calamity? Is Submission To God In Accord With Sense And Reason? The spirit and conscience are a strong argument for the existence of One God. What Is Universal Wisdom About Creation Of Celestial Bodies? Is Man’s Weakness And Impotence An Appeal For Divine Help?

What Is Divine Decree? The Meaning of Gods Unity Arguments for Divine Unity The Entire Cosmos is a Mirror to the Divine Christianity and Divine Unity A Most Direct And Safest Way To God Praise and Glorification of God Divine Teaching and Directing The Divine Purpose for The Creation of Man Divine Decree and Destiny Is Divine Unity Necessity of Creation? Divine Decree and Destiny in Relation with Divine Will Divine Decree and Destiny, and Human Free Will Divine Decree and Destiny in Divine Knowledge Divine Decree and Destiny in Relation to Creation Divine Decree and Destiny in Relation to Registry and Duplication Destiny, Faith and The Meaning Of Divine Decree The Divine Wisdom In Creating People Differently Divine Support and Ensuring Its Continuation From Beauty To Divine Love Destiny is a Title for Divine Knowledge God is Absolutely Capable of Destroying the World and Rebuild It Majority of The Mankind Believes in The Existence of God God’s existence in Sufism Wahda and Kasra (Unity and Multiplicity) Wujud (Finding and wujud) What Is “Unity of Being” (Wahdat al-Wujud)? Tajalli (Manifestation of God) Ma’rifa (Spiritual Knowledge of God)  ‘Aql (Reason Ihsan (Perfect Goodness)