You've said this (anthropomorphize God) several times in this thread and other places(threads).. but so many different threads of "thought" have transpired(in many threads), I did not and have not addressed the comment..
It deserves addressing.. nobody has addressed that comment much..
People anthropomorphize animals by attributing human feelings and agendas(and more) to animals often.. but anthropomorphizing God deserves comment..
Many religions anthropomorphize God.. even christian religions.. which shows their (that religions) spiritual base, I believe.. Fleshly Mankind can anthropomorphize other things also..
Anthropomorphizing GOD seems to be an indicator of obscene spiritual error.. Anthropomorphizing the Father, or Jesus, or even the Holy Spirit is usually not indicated.. Usually anthropomorphizing Jesus is the "crime".. Seems to me to be some get confused with the triune God.. from those "trying to be christians".. or in some ways Jews(kabbalah)..
Much could be said on anthropomorphizing GOD..
Anthropomorphizing God would have its effect mentally and conceptually in many areas and indeed a "TEST" to spiritual revelation... You seem to be the ONLY one bringing this up..
Cudos to you for inserting this concept into these threads..
Because it is so very important..
NOTE: an·thro·po·mor·phize..
v.tr. To ascribe human characteristics to.
v.intr. To ascribe human characteristics to things not human.
** Another deffintion could be an·thro·po·mor·phizing GOD..
Many scriptures would support this as an error.. And many Rabbis(Jews) THINK this is what christianity is all about anthropomorphizing GOD.. supported by what many christians DO and think..
Privately this subject could be a thread all by itself..
It is part of the “observer problem.”
In the absence of Spiritual revelation or leading or seeking – or if he chooses to ignore it - man is left to rely on his own reasoning and sensory perception to understand “things.” To such a one, God is one of those “things.”
But the natural or mortal man is only capable of thinking in terms of four dimensions and his senses are limited to sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste. In such a state, he is spiritually blind. As a result, he very often anthropomorphizes God.
A typical example is his demand that God’s reasoning be understandable by him – and worse, acceptable to him. It sounds silly even to say it, but nevertheless that often happens.
Another is his insistence that God’s actions most comply with the laws of His own creation – physical causation (cause/effect) and the ilk. Again it sounds silly that the Creator is of necessity subject to His own Creation… and yet that also happens.
Yet another is the insistence that God must be “fair” – but what man really means is that God must be even handed with all of His creatures to be “god-like.” But Scriptures are quite clear – and we see in Creation itself - that God does not create men with a cookie cutter – some are made for trash, some for glory – but the clay must never complain to the potter.
And since man is loathe to accept what he (in his very reduced mental abilities) perceives as contradictions – he may anthropomorphize God by rationalizing as doctrine or traditions all kinds of things that the mortal mind cannot discern.
BTW, my two favorite examples of Scriptures which can only be Spiritually discerned are John 3 that we must be born again – and John 6 that we must eat Jesus’ flesh and drink His blood.
And, if he goes overboard in anthropomorphizing God, he ends up rejecting the God Who is and fabricating for himself a “god” of his making, a small “god” he can obtain, understand and manipulate. Oh, he might do it with all kinds of piety – but the bottom line is that he has anthropomorphized God.
God tolerated all kinds of anthropomorphizing in the book of Job all the way up to chapter 38 when He put His foot down (so to speak.)
In another example Jesus rails at the Pharisees whose lack of Spiritual discernment caused them to miss the point altogether :
But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
But ye say, Whosoever shall say to [his] father or [his] mother, [It is] a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother, [he shall be free]. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
[Ye] hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with [their] lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men. – Matt 15:1-9
IMHO, people anthropomorphize the Holy Spirit by declaring He answers to or is otherwise under the control of man. Those who experience His indwelling, His Person, would experience Spiritual revelations and thus would not tend to anthropomorphize God anyway.
And, IMHO, some do anthropomorphize Jesus in believing that He came into existence when He was conceived (i.e. that He is not God from the beginning, everything that was made was made by Him and for Him, etc.) – or in the alternative, that He was a mortal man who achieved “godhood” and thus so can they. Jeepers…
Any hoot, that's my "two cents" for the discussion.