ChatGPT said:
Here’s a structured list of types of gods, categorized by key philosophical and theological attributes. This list spans across historical, mythological, and conceptual types:
1. Personal vs. Impersonal
- Personal God
- Has consciousness, will, emotions
- Engages in relationships, responds to prayers (e.g., Yahweh, Allah, Krishna)
- Impersonal God
- Abstract, not conscious in a personal sense
- Often equated with ultimate principles or forces (e.g., Brahman, Dao, Spinoza’s God)
2. Omnipotence and Other Divine Attributes
- Omnipotent God
- All-powerful; can do anything logically possible
- Non-omnipotent God
- Powerful but with limits (e.g., Greek gods, process theology’s God)
- Omniscient God
- All-knowing (past, present, future)
- Non-omniscient God
- May lack foreknowledge or know only possibilities (e.g., open theism)
- Omnibenevolent God
- All-good, morally perfect
- Morally Ambiguous or Limited God
- May be fallible, amoral, or capable of evil (e.g., some Gnostic depictions of the Demiurge)
3. Monotheistic vs. Polytheistic vs. Henotheistic
- Monotheistic God
- Only one deity exists (e.g., classical Abrahamic God)
- Polytheistic Gods
- Multiple gods with different powers/domains (e.g., Greek, Norse pantheons)
- Henotheistic God
- One god is supreme for a group but others are acknowledged (e.g., some Vedic beliefs)
4. Transcendent vs. Immanent
- Transcendent God
- Exists beyond and independent of the physical universe
- Immanent God
- Present and active within the universe or nature (e.g., pantheism, panentheism)
5. Creator vs. Non-Creator
- Creator God
- Originator of the universe (e.g., Abrahamic God, Hindu Brahma)
- Non-Creator God
- Exists within a cosmos they did not create or where creation is eternal (e.g., some Gnostic traditions)
6. Mutable vs. Immutable
- Immutable God
- Unchanging in essence or character (e.g., classical theism)
- Mutable God
- Changes over time, learns, or grows (e.g., process theology, open theism)
7. Interventionist vs. Non-Interventionist
- Interventionist God
- Performs miracles, answers prayers, intervenes in history
- Non-Interventionist God
- Does not intervene in natural processes (e.g., Deism)
8. Anthropomorphic vs. Abstract
- Anthropomorphic God
- Has human-like traits or forms (e.g., Zeus, Odin)
- Abstract God
- Conceptual or symbolic, lacking specific form (e.g., the Neoplatonic One)
9. Eternal vs. Temporal
- Eternal God
- Exists outside time or in all times
- Temporal God
- Exists within time and experiences sequence
10. Necessarily Existent vs. Contingently Existent
- Necessary God
- Cannot not exist; existence is essential (e.g., God in Anselm’s ontological argument)
- Contingent God
- Could exist or not; depends on something else (e.g., some interpretations of finite gods)
Would you like a visual diagram of this classification, or a philosophical analysis of how these types relate to each other (e.g., which combinations are consistent or contradictory)?