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A level Religious Studies Edexcel Essay: Outline the concept of God as personal (8/8)
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Outline the concept of God as personal (8 marks)Describing God as personal means that humans are able to have a close relationship with
him. He therefore must be immanent and thus temporal because it allows us to have a close
relationship with him.
Augustine argued that Christians are able to have a personal relationship with God because
he provided us with a soul and a free will, which is the source of our relationship with him.
However, he did still recognise that God is transcendent and the ultimate judge, but also
realised that Christians should become close to him through prayer and worship.
Buber also recognised that humans can have a relationship with God, but distinguished
between two types. I-thou relationships are the ones Christians want with God as they are
between two beings, allowing for a close personal relationship where they can know God
rather than know of him. The other type of relationship is I-it which is between an object and
a being, preventing a close personal relationship as you can’t know an object personally. For
example, you can know of a table, but you can’t actually know it personally like a being.
Paul Tillich said describing God as personal is an analogy that demonstrates his willingness
to connect with humans. This is reinforced by the trinity where God presents himself in three
separate and distinct forms. Jesus as God incarnate highlights the effort God makes to get
closer to humans and also shows his love for us due to Jesus’ sacrificial death. Furthermore,
the Holy Spirit can consistently be seen in people’s lives which further shows the efforts God
goes to so that he can become close to us and develop a personal relationship. Mystical
experiences also reflect this idea even further by showing again how God wants and strives
to have a personal relationship with humans.
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