God, Relationships With

People may perceive themselves as being in relationships with other people, as well as with God or some Higher Power. (In this entry, “God” is used for brevity.) Many people experience connections to God that include relational elements: communication, attachment bonds, and the potential for conflict. However, this particular relationship differs in important ways from interpersonal relationships. First, although many people report that they can sense God's presence, most people do not report seeing or hearing God in a direct, physical way. Second, God is typically seen as being much more powerful than humans. For example, the monotheistic (“one God”) traditions of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity usually portray God as all-knowing, all-powerful, and capable of being everywhere at once. Third, many people see God as morally perfect and incapable of sin. Given these important differences, relationships with God cannot be reduced to simple interpersonal relationships, even though they share many features.

The idea of a relationship with God fits most easily within certain faith traditions: those focusing on a personal God who intervenes in people's lives. Such beliefs are more likely in Protestantism than in Zen Buddhism, for example. Existing research has overemphasized Western, Christian samples, yielding a somewhat lopsided picture of how humans experience the sacred. Yet the concept of a relationship with God may apply to some who do not regard God as a personal, relational being. For instance, studies suggest that people can become angry at impersonal forces such as tornadoes or illnesses. People can also experience a profound sense of communion with nature, which is usually seen as an impersonal force. Thus, some relational concepts presented here may apply to faiths that do not include a personal God. For simplicity, this entry emphasizes religions that include one God. The dynamics become more complex in religions that include more than one God.