One of the reasons I embraced Islam is that I have a strong, personal dislike of the anthropomorphic versions of God found in many other religions. That being said, I feel that trying to grasp The Divine without using ANY 'personhood' references is next to impossible. We are physical beings in a physical world and, as hard as I try, I can't avoid using personal pronouns when referring to God or using human ideas and emotions to describe God's being. For example, when I say things like "God hates this," I don't think God really hates in the way that we do, but trying to discuss God without using any of this kind of language can make the discussion cumbersome and esoteric. So it doesn't offend me to read or hear God being referred to in this way. I think we're all trying to understand The Divine and we're using whatever faculties we have to do so. Perhaps, the closer we get to understanding God, the less we need to rely on anthropomorphic representations—whether mental or physical—of God.
Amanda originally wrote her response in the comments section of Tziporah's post. Grace responded last week with a Christian perspective. Please share your thoughts in the comments section this week.
