Graham, this is an awesome discussion and you raise some very challenging issues. I am far from qualified theologically to give any sort of credible answers but you have not let my lay person status keep you from seriously considering my thoughts, so I will respond best I can.

You have my position exactly right in the quotation above. I did explain in a comment on the previous post why I consider God the Creator as person. Creation is an act of intention. Intention in the sense used here is something only conscious minds do and conscious minds capable of intention and carrying out their intentions with personal power only belong to persons (as far as I know.) Hence, the creator is a person. A principle, such as an economic principle or mathematical principle can be used to explain things, but cannot be said to cause things.