Post # 13 The Doctrine of God - P1 God's Attribute of Spirituality - Getting A Grasp On What We Mean By "Spirit" and "Spiritual"

Introduction:

    In this series of posts we are aiming to do a survey of the Doctrine of God, otherwise known as "Theology Proper". In today's post we will explore God's attribute of "spirituality". Theologian Wayne Grudem makes the following observation about this attribute of "spirituality",

“Thus we should not think of God as having size or dimensions, even infinite ones. We should not think of God's existence as spirit as meaning that God is infinitely large, for example, for it is not part of God but all of God that is in every point of space (see Ps. 139:7-10). Nor should we think that God's existence as spirit means that God is infinitely small, for no place in the universe can surround him or contain him (1 Kings 8:27). Thus God's being cannot be rightly thought of in terms of space, however we understand his existence as ‘spirit’”. (Systematic Theology, 2nd edition, page 221).

    Grudem then offers the following definition of God's Divine spirituality, 

"God's spirituality means that God exists as a being that is not made of any matter, has no parts or dimensions, is unable to be perceived by our bodily senses, and is more excellent than any other kind of existence."

    Theologian and speaker Steven J. Lawson, in his study on the attributes of God, has noted three terms that are helpful in getting our minds and hearts to track with this attribute. Lawson's terminology below meshes well with what we just observed in Grudem’s quote above.

1. Immaterial, without a physical or material nature. 

2. Infinite, without limitations in regards to any attribute, His being, and thus His character.

3. Invisible or not having ever been directly viewed or comprehended by any creature.

Clarifying what we mean by "spirit", and how we apply it to God's spirituality

    As we reflect on the above thoughts of God's spirituality, I think it important to probe into what we mean by "spirit", and what it entails in reference to God's spirituality, due to two trends in our wider Western world. 

    First, due to the prevailing climate of belief that physics, chemistry, and energy are all that underlies our universe (often called "materialism"or "naturalism"), some reflection on what the term "spirit" refers to requires some unpacking before exploring what Scripture says about God's attribute of "spirituality". 

    The second trend in our secular culture has increasingly become fixated on "being spiritual" in the sense of Eastern mysticism or some sort of impersonal pantheism or the push towards somehow divinizing nature. Whenever we read the Bible's revelation of God's spirituality, it causes us to think on what is meant by the term "spirit" itself.  

    I offer this definition of spirit - that animating, immaterial, vital energy of a being that moves, causes, produces, and affects whatever it touches, influences, or acts. Let me briefly unpack this definition.

1. When I say "animating", I mean that which makes alive or causes to become active. In the Latin, the term "anima" refers to the principle of life or spirit (The New Latin English Dictionary). 

2. The next term "immaterial" indicates that spirit is non-physical in nature. 

3. The third idea, "vital energy", refers to movement, force, that issues forth. The English word "vital"derives from the Latin "vis" meaning "strength, force, influence". As for our English word "energy", it derives from the Greek noun "energeia" that speaks of "work from within". I'll comment more later on the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin words we find that translate our English word "spirit".

4. The fourth term in our definition talks of "being", whether we are speaking of animals, humans, angels, or God. As I'll explain below, God as "Spirit" differs from His creatures, even though He shares the qualities of spirit we are talking about in our definition. 

5. One final observation about our definition as to how it gives us the consequences or visible affects brought forth by anything with a spirit, namely "that moves, causes, produces, and affects whatever it touches, influences, or acts."

    In thinking of our proposed definition above, we will discover some key Scripture passages where we find references to animals and humans having spirits, angels being created spirits, and God as spiritual or He by nature being an eternal spirit. As a quick comment on the term "spiritual", in the Biblical way of thinking, especially in the New Testament, the Greek underlying term translated "spiritual" ("pneumatikos, 1 Corinthians 15:46-47 for example) speaks of the source from which the life of a being originates - namely a spirit connected to a personality. "Spirituality" in the Old and New Testament is never thought of as an impersonal force or as collapsed into a state of mind as taught by practitioners of Eastern meditation. 

Hebrew, Greek, and Latin terms which translate our English word "spirit".

    The Hebrew word for “spirit” in the Old Testament (“ruach”) and the Greek word for “spirit” in the New Testament (“pneuma”) both refer to “wind, breath”. If you look at that Greek word “pneuma”, you may recognize such English words as “pneumatic” or “pneumonia”. Those English words and their Greek derivative all have to do with movement or effects caused by air or breath. In the Latin, the terms "anima" and “spiritus” are used, with the latter term used to rendering the English word “spirit”.    Much like the Hebrew “ruach” and Greek “pneuma”, the Latin terms convey this idea of "wind", "air" or "breath". 

    Jesus for instance describes the spirituality of the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, in John 3:8, 

"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

How God's spirituality is a communicable or "shared" attribute.

      In working through clarifying the meaning of the terms "spirit"and "spirituality", we can enter into discussion of how spirituality is communicated by God to His creatures. We have three classes of creatures that are described as having a “spirit”. Animals have this animating, immaterial energy given to them by God that enables them to live and move (Genesis 7:22). It is interesting to note that a living or moving thing in the Latin is “anima”, thus why we call any non-human creature an “animal”. 

     Human beings have a “spirit” as well. It is the original base of operations in man that is spiritual dead in unbelievers and becomes “reanimated” and indwelled by the Holy Spirit in salvation (1 Cor 6:19-20; Hebrews 4:12). Then there are angels that don’t merely have a spirit but are spirits in their created sense (see Psalms 104; Hebrews 1:13).

     But then when we come to God, we find out that He is a Spirit in His own unique right. We classify the spirituality of God as a “communicable attribute”, meaning He shares some qualities of that attribute with His creatures. 

     In as much as we can apply the above definition I gave to God, we of course realize He is unique from angels, humans, and animals. God is eternal, infinite, and without beginning Psalm 90:1-3; 102:25-27; 145; Romans 11:33-36). As J.P. Boice in his "Abstract of Theology", page 62 notes,

"But when we ascribe spirituality to God, we do not intend to simply assert that He possess a spiritual nature, but that His nature is exclusively spiritual. By this we mean that He has no material organization, that He has neither body nor members (parts) of the body such as we have, neither shape or form, neither passions (the trait that causes change in a being when acted upon by something outside of itself), nor limitations, but only a spiritual nature." 

More next time.

    

Post # 12 The Doctrine of God - God's Attribute of Divine Omniscience (including a brief evaluation of so-called "middle knowledge")

 

Isaiah 41:21-23 “Present your case,” the Lord says. “Bring forward your strong arguments,” The King of Jacob says. 22 Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place; As for the former events, declare what they were, That we may consider them and know their outcome. Or announce to us what is coming;

23 Declare the things that are going to come afterward, That we may know that you are gods; Indeed, do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together. 24 Behold, you are of no account, And your work amounts to nothing; He who chooses you is an abomination."

Introduction:

     In this series on "the Doctrine of God", we've observed God's existence, knowability, and attributes such as His independence, unchangeableness, and eternity. In today's post we continue by taking a look at His omniscience. Theologian Wayne Grudem offers this definition of God's omniscience,

"God fully knows himself and all things actual and possible in one simple and eternal act". (page 225, 2nd edition, Systematic Theology). 

Main Bible passages for Divine omniscience.

    God's Divine omniscience refers to His ability to know any and all true facts about everything. This is staggering to think about. The above opening text from Isaiah 41 has God issuing a challenge to "wanna-be" gods or idols that, in reality, are not deities at all. God alone is omniscient. The 19th century theologians Charles Hodge writes in Volume 1 of his "Systematic Theology":  

"We pray to a God who, we believe, knows our state and wants, who hears what we say, and who is able to meet our necessities".

Hodge lists the following scriptures which elevate to our attention God's omniscience: Psalm 104:9; 139:1,2,12; 147:5; Proverbs. 15:3,11; Ezekiel 11:5; Matthew 10:30; Acts 15:8; Hebrews 4:13. This is the God of sacred scripture! Psalm 147:5 states most plainly: 

"Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite."

      So how much does God know? How is it that God knows what He knows? We can attempt to approach an answer by considering typical ways that theologians describe Divine omniscience as revealed in the Bible.

1. God's self-knowledge.

     Jesus makes the following statement in Matthew 11:27 - 

"All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."

     Let Jesus' words sink in for just a moment. God, by nature and definition, is infinite (Psalm 90:1-2). The Person of the Father, by nature, is God. We understand from Moses in Deuteronomy 32:8 that the Father knows all things, including the future of the nations. The Son comprehends the Father, which tells us that the Son is as much God (by nature) as the Father is God. 

    Not only do we see "God's self-knowledge" expressed in the Son's comprehension of the Father and the Father's comprehension of the Son, but we also note this same ability ascribed to the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 1 Corinthians 2:10-11; Romans 8:26-27; Romans 11:34-35). These considerations remind us that each Person of the Trinity, sharing equally in the Divine essence, are each truly God, wholly and entirely. This Trinitarian knowledge shared and experienced by the persons of the Godhead constitutes what we are discussing here - God's self knowledge. 

As Wayne Grudem notes,

"Of course, only he who is infinite can fully know himself in detail." (page 225, Systematic Theology, 2nd edition).  

    No other creature - angel or man - can comprehend all that God is (see Isaiah 6:2-3; 1 Timothy 6:16). This self-knowledge of God is expressed by the Father and the Son in their full comprehension of one another. 

2. God's knowledge of all things that "could be", or "natural knowledge".

       God's comprehension of Himself is a knowledge that takes into view "what He is" and "how He is" as God. In our definition of omniscience offered earlier, God's knowledge of, "any and all true facts about everything", begins with Himself. However, what about all those things other than Himself? How much does God know about those things which He could make or did make. In the mind of God, all things are known directly and all-at -once. 

    Furthermore, God's knowledge includes all things that could possibly be. Put another way, in God's mind, He knew all possible versions of history that "could-had-been" had He decided to bring anyone of them into reality. 

      This aspect of God's knowledge, whereby He knows all things that "could-be", is what we call His "natural knowledge". The reason for this is that all possible outcomes of every event, time and person, are as much known by Him as those same things that did come about in this version of time known as creation. This would apply to the phenomena of Bible prophecy, predicted and fulfilled.1

3. God's knowledge of "all-things-that-are" or actual knowledge from His decree.

     God's omniscience includes knowledge of Himself and all those things that "could-had-been". But now, what can we note of God's knowledge of our actual world? Sometimes theologians and philosophers define God's omniscience as His knowledge of all true statements about reality (i.e. "propositions"). Hence, when I say "it is raining outside", whether I say that statement in English, Spanish, or any other language, the information content still holds regardless.2

    You see, all possibilities were present in God's Divine mind. His Divine decree, rooted in His will and sheer pleasure of being God, decreed out of those innumerable possibilities that one version of history which He would bring about in His creation of time and space (see Romans 11:36; Ephesians 1:11). We refer to God's omniscience of our actual world as His, "actual" knowledge, His "free-knowledge", or most commonly referred to as "the knowledge from His decree". Theologian William G.T. Shedd summarizes God's actual knowledge:

"The divine decree is formed in eternity, but executed in time. There are sequences in the execution, but not in the formation of God’s eternal purpose."

     Shedd gives an example of how God's decree to bring about all He knew "could-be" to "what came to be" by Christ Himself:

"There were thirty-three years between the actual incarnation and the actual crucifixion, but not between the decree that the Logos should be incarnate and the decree that he should be crucified. In the divine decree, Christ was simultaneously (in God's mind, which He, the Father, and Spirit have as One God in being) eternally incarnate and crucified: “The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 14:8). Hence divine decrees, in reference to God, are one single act only." 

       What always blows my mind is to realize that in one act, God not only knew what "may-possibly-be" from the myriad versions of the history of the universe in His natural knowledge, He also knew what "could be, and thus did become" by His decretive choice. 

    In sum, God does not decree our world because He looked ahead to a so-called "tunnel of time" independent of Himself, but instead, knows all about our world by what He decreed from the vastness of His omniscience. You and I require many successive thoughts in our planning. Truly, God's omniscience is staggering. He thinks it all in "one shot". Let me briefly mention one more category sometimes mentioned by theologians when it comes to answering the question: "how much does God know?"

4. Ought we include a category of God's knowledge of "what we would do if in different circumstances" or "middle knowledge"?

       If we consider God's "natural knowledge" of all things that "could-be" as a first logical moment in God's mind, then His decree is the source of the second logical moment to bring about our version of history or, "all things that are". But now is there some type of "logical moment" that stands between God's knowledge of possibilities and the decree to bring about our actual history? Some Christian thinkers are convinced that the standard, theological account I outlined above doesn't go far enough. 

     This so-called "middle knowledge view" attempts to offer scriptures for its support (1 Samuel 13:13-14; Jeremiah 38:17-18; Matthew 11:21-23; 1 Corinthians 2:8, just to list several). According to 16th century thinker Luis De Molina (see endnote #3 below), as God was decreeing to create, He included what his creatures "would do", and, by considering the purpose He so designed to take place, God brought about our version of history.3 Such a view is often called "Molinism" in memory of the thinker who championed it.

       

        For five or so years I toyed around with this idea of middle knowledge or Molinism. It had at one time appealed to me, and on the surface seemed to make sense. However, there are problems. First, if God would use such "middle knowledge", then that would mean He is using something outside of Himself (free-will choices of what creatures would do in certain scenarios) to influence or "inform" what He decree to bring into existence. This would conflict with what we read of in Romans 11:35 "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?" 

    Secondly, middle knowledge suffers from what is known as "the grounding objection". Essentially, if middle knowledge is true, where does God's get this middle knowledge? It cannot be from the free-will agents, since they would not had existed. At the same time, such middle knowledge can't be grounded in God either, since proponents advocate God taking into consideration what they would do in certain situations. Its as if such middle knowledge is pulled out of "somewhere", with that "somewhere" being akin to pulling a rabbit out of a hat, except there is no rabbit, nor hat. 

    Then finally, what about all the passages that middle-knowledge advocates set forth (as seen above)? If you will recall what I had said earlier about God's natural knowledge of all possibilities or "what could be", one could just as easily explain the passages as God knowing the possible outcome. Further, since what actually occurred (in this instance the crucifixion of our Lord for example), demonstrates the reality of God's decretive knowledge, thus eliminating the need for an extra category such as "middle knowledge". 

Closing thoughts

      In today's post we considered the question: how much does God know? We explored the Biblical teaching on the subject of Divine omniscience. We defined omniscience as, "knowing any and all true facts about everything" or Wayne Grudem's definition, "God fully knows himself and all things actual and possible in one simple and eternal act". We also consider how God knows Himself, has knowledge of all possibilities or natural knowledge, and knows exhaustive details of this universe and all that is in it due to His Divine decree. We briefly considered whether or not God included people's decisions in His plans, or what theologians call, "middle-knowledge", concluding that Biblically, theologically, and philosophically, the idea of middle knowledge is untenable (further details are in the endnotes below).  

     To borrow and paraphrase an illustration from the 5th century Christian thinker, Augustine, I feel like  a little boy who thinks He has grasped the ocean by dipping a cup into it and exclaiming to his parents:

"I've scooped up the ocean". 

    This little post has submerged itself into the vastness of God's omniscience. This is but a small cup, which I hope, causes us to be in awe of our amazing God! More next time!

Endnotes:

1. We know God knows what is "possible-to-know" by the sheer amount of predictive prophecy in the Bible. According to J. Barton Payne's, "Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy - The complete guide to scriptural predictions and their fulfillment", we find a total of 395 predicted fulfilled prophecies about 12 different nations and various events and 127 fulfilled prophecies centering about the life of Christ. 

    H.A. Ironside aptly refers to predictive prophecy as a form of, "prehistory", meaning that, in the mind of God, the predicted event is already a "done-deal". For God to know with certainty the potential outcomes of future events gives us but the tip of the iceberg to what all lies in His natural knowledge of "things-that-could-be". 

2. Suppose we tried to "trick God" and somehow were to last-minute cause it not to rain, rather than rain. For God, He knows for certain the weather conditions for tomorrow, next week, and ten years from now, including all possible scenarios where it rains or doesn't rain. Depsite our attempts to trick God, we would find that His knowledge of the future is still infallible, since He knew of the situation where it would not rain just as well as the scenario in which it would.  

3. In the 16th century, a brilliant man by the name of Luis de Molina proposed that there is a "middle logical moment" or type of knowledge in God's mind between His "natural" and "actual knowledge". According to Molina, whenever God chose to create the world, He took seriously the free-will decisions of His creatures. He foresaw what they "would do" if in a potential set of circumstances. According to this view, God used His "middle knowledge" of what free-will creatures would do in certain circumstances to "whittle down" all the possibilities of "what could be" from His natural knowledge to a subset of feasible alternatives. Then, by including the decisions of His creatures, God then brought into existence our actual world. 

    So for example, in 1 Corinthians 2:8, Paul notes that if the Romans and Jews had comprehended that Jesus was really "God in the flesh", then they would not had crucified Him. For those influenced by Molina's view, this represents an example of an alternative version of history that could had come about if the perpetrators of Christ's crucifixion would had known differently, and thus evidence for God's middle knowledge. Although such a version of history was "possible" in God's omniscience, yet, it was not "feasible", since God rather chose to bring about our version of history with the cross (see Acts 2:22-23; 4:27-28). 

Post #11 The Doctrine of God - The Attribute Of Divine Eternity - God Without Beginning, Without End

 

Note: the above image is found in Wayne Grudem's "Systematic Theology", 2nd edition, page 204. 

Introduction:

    So far in our series on "The Doctrine of God", we have explored God's existence, knowability, and introduced His attributes. We then considered the Divine attribute of independence (a.k.a "Divine Aseity), which readers may review here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/08/post-9-doctrine-of-god-gods-attribute.html  and God's attribute of Divine unchangeability (a.k.a "immutability") here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/08/post-10-doctrine-of-god-gods-attribute.html 

 
   What we want to do today is explore God's Divine eternity. 

Exploring the four senses of talking about Divine eternity, along with some Biblical passages

       God's Divine eternity has to do with how His infinite being and life operate with respect to His other attributes, as well as in relationship to time itself. As with the other posts in this series, my aim is to attempt to sharpen our understanding of what God is in His being, how He is in His attributes, and who He is as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

    As we work on improving our clarity of "Divine eternity", we need to do so step-by-step. We can put together an outline of Divine eternity by noting four main senses.

The first way or sense of Divine eternity is noting how there is no succession of moments in God. 

    Theologian Wayne Grudem gives the following crisp definition of "Divine eternity" in his "Systematic Theology, 2nd edition, page 199,

"God has no beginning, end, or succession of moments in His own being, and He sees all time equally vividly, yet God sees events in time, and He acts in time".

    This notion of "no succession of moments" in God constitutes the first part of understanding God's Divine eternity. Theologian Francis Turretin offers a rich yet succinct three-part summary of this concept of "eternity" in his "Enlenctic Theology", volume 1, page 202,

“The infinity of God in reference to duration is called eternity to which these three things are ascribed: (1) that it is without beginning; (2) without end; (3) without succession." 

    We can note that the beginning of Grudem's definition above echoes this core idea of God having no succession of moments in His life, mind, power, or presence. Eternity, in this sense, is foundational to thinking about God (see Romans 1:20; Colossians 1:16-17; 1 Timothy 1:17).

The second sense to understanding Divine eternity is how it relates to God's Divine attributes.
      As we move on, we note again Grudem's definition of eternity in how it pervades all of God's other attributes, such as God's omniscience. Grudem observes, "and He sees all time equally vividly, yet God sees events in time, and He acts in time" (the term "see" here is equivalent to God's knowledge of all things). We could define eternity as: "without beginning, without end, fullness of being without the limitations of time." Passages such as Psalm 90:2; 102:25; Isaiah 57:15; John 1:1-3; Hebrews 9:14; 1 Timothy 6:16; Rev. 4:8 speak to us of God's eternity in this second sense. 

The third sense of Divine eternity has to do with the very life of God Himself in relationship to time.

    To then speak of Divine eternity not only refers to His experience as God (not having successive moments within Himself) but also the way He exercises Himself through His attributes. Hence we have thus far God's experience and activity as God captured by this umbrella attribute of His "Divine eternity". 

      If we then consider a third sense to aid our understanding of God's Divine eternity, we may note the very life of God Himself. Boethius, a 6th century Christian thinker, defines eternity as: 

“the complete, simultaneous and perfect possession of everlasting life.” 

    To say God is eternal means He alone has complete possession and comprehension of what He is, who He is (as Father, Son, and Spirit), and how He expresses His existence in His attributes. You and I do not have a handle on our entire life. I have memories here and there of my past, and I have this present moment, yet I do not know what I will be doing in the next moment. 

The fourth sense of talking about God's Divine eternity has to do with His relationship to time.

    

    Everything in our universe is either "coming" or "going" from one state of affairs to the next. The qualities of "time and space" were made by God. Time and space itself had a beginning. It started in a particular way and carried forth to another state of affairs. How our world and everything in the universe is related to the eternal God requires us to press more into trying to understand His Divine eternity. 

      The 13th century theology Thomas Aquinas described every created thing as going from a state of "potentiality" (that is, where everything is caused by something else and has the potential to become what it was created to be) to a state of "actuality" (when a created thing reaches its full potential for how it was designed). This describes all things that are time-bound and created. 

    God is different. He alone is "pure act", meaning that in God there is no potential to become a better God. God is God. He is eternal. He never had beginning, and thus never had a past. He never had to "grow up", and certainly never has to wonder about the future as well. God transcends time, which is to say, God operates and persists outside and prior to this space-time universe. Hebrews 1:8 says this of the Divine nature of the Son (quoting from Psalm 102:25-27, which speaks to God's Divine eternity in general),

"But regarding the Son He says, your throne, God, is forever and ever, and the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of His kingdom."

The writer of Hebrews goes on to note further information of God's relationship to time and space in Hebrews 1:10-12,

"And, 'You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands; 11 They will perish, but You remain; and they all will wear out like a garment, 12 And like a robe You will roll them up; like a garment they will also be changed.'"

    God's eternity (to borrow some from the 5th century writer Augustine) is likened unto a continuous, "eternal now", wherein He equally is Himself and comprehends the past, this current moment, and time yet to come. To put it another way, God operates outside time's constraints, choosing to work within its bounds by His governing sovereignty or providence. Augustine expands on this notion of God's Divine eternity or "eternal now"  in His book "Confessions", Book 11, chapter 13, section 16,

"Thou precedest all times past, and survivest all future times, because they are future, and when they have come they will be past; but You are the same, and Your years shall have no end. Your years neither go nor come; but ours both go and come, that all may come. All Your years stand at once since they do stand; nor were they when departing excluded by coming years, because they pass not away; but all these of ours shall be when all shall cease to be. Your years are one day, and Your day is not daily, but today". 

    What the quote above does is bring in the first sense we spoke of earlier (God having no succession of moments), the second sense of eternity (how His eternity relates to other attributes), the third sense (how eternity speaks of God possessing the entirety of His life and activity), and the fourth sense (God being and operating independently of time and being able to work within time, all the while remaining the same).  

How a Divinely timeless eternal God can work and interract with all He has made. 

    

    Such a God is not limited to the boundaries of time, whether prior to the existence of time and space itself, or with reference to whatever transpires within it. Some theologians assume that a Divine eternal God cannot interract with a time-bound world, since God's Divine timelessness outside of time is embedded within the classical definition of Divine eternity. Some observations from Scripture can serve to show the fallacy of such a reservation. 

     For starters, God's eternal decree of this actual universe and history is why He knows all things and thus can freely interract with us in time, even though He operates and carries on His life independently of it. We see this point in how the Bible talks of God freely acting and deciding things "before time" (Isaiah 46:9-10; Ephesians 1:1-5; 2 Timothy 1:9; Jude 1:25). Such a "decree" means that God freely chose from all the potential versions of history He knew about in His infinite knowledge. Since God is eternal, He didn't have to guess what the future of our actual world would be, since He knew it by virtue of His decretive choice to bring it forth from His mind into a reality of its own (i.e. the doctrine of creation out of nothing). 

     In addition to God's decree (Psalm 115; Isaiah 46:9-10; Ephesians 1:11), we can note quickly a few other examples in Scripture that alerts us to the God of eternity being able to freely move and interract with His time-bound creatures. Take for instance some of the Biblical covenants (see Jeremiah 33:20; Genesis 2:17; 8:22; 15; 2 Samuel 7:13-16; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Romans 9:1-5); the incarnation of the Son of God (Matthew 1:21-23; John 1:14; Colossians 2:9); and the working of the Holy Spirit (Psalm 104; John 16:8-12). These illustrate how this eternal God can and does work within our world.  

Clarifying in our minds Divine eternity and its four senses
    We started with Wayne Grudem's definiton of eternity, "God has no beginning, end, or succession of moments in His own being, and He sees all time equally vividly, yet God sees events in time, and He acts in time". We discovered four senses in which we can talk about God's Divine eternity as we build our way to a better understanding (not comprehension) of this attribute. 

1. Divine eternity means God is without sucession of moments.

2. Divine eternity shows why the other attributes of God are without limitation, beginning, or ending.

3. Divine eternity includes the notion that God is in entire possession of His entire life, being, and thus attributes. 

4. Divine eternity entails God being outside of time and yet being able to act within it. 

Meditating on God's Divine eternity raises one's awareness of God.

    Author A.W. Tozer once remarked about God’s Divine eternity and the supernatural realm’s relevance to our lives:2. “A spiritual kingdom lies all about us, enclosing us, embracing us, altogether within reach of our inner selves, waiting for us to recognize it. God Himself is here waiting our response to His Presence. This eternal world will come alive to us the moment we begin to reckon upon its reality.”

Giving time to think about God’s eternity drives us to prayer and worship. 

    When we pray, we ought to think of prayer as “the greatest adventure”, since we are treading into the very foothills of God’s eternal presence. We could say far more, but let us live in light of this truth that God, is, eternal. In our next post we will look at the Divine attribute of omnipresence. 

Post # 10 - The Doctrine Of God - God's Attribute Of Unchangeability (Immutability) And The Question Of Him Changing His Mind

Introduction:

    In the last post we talked about how God is independent in His existence, without need of support from anything outside of Himself, as well as being self-sufficient. The link to the last post is here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/08/post-9-doctrine-of-god-gods-attribute.html. This attribute of "God's independence" is also known by an older term, "aseity", which in the Latin literally means "from oneself". As author Ron Gleason notes,

“In an absolute sense he (God) is Lord, Lord of all the earth (Ex. 23:17; Deut. 10:17; Josh. 3:13). He is dependent on nothing, but everything depends on him (Rom. 11:36).”

    As we continue on in our journey through the Doctrine of God, my hope is you are finding these posts prompting you to want to know God more. As I heard theologian James Dolezal recently say in a lecture on the doctrine of God, 

"Our goal is two-fold. First, that we would come to realize that we know less about God than we thought we did. Then second, that we would come to understand God better than we do now".

In today's post we want to look at that attribute of God known as "God's unchangeableness" or what older theologians term it, "Divine immutability".

A key Scripture and definition of God's unchangeableness (Divine immutability)

    There are several Biblical passages we could turn to in recognizing why the God of the Bible is the unchanging God. The foremost that comes to my mind is in Malachi 3:6 "For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." Some other key passages on Divine immutability or unchangeableness are these Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; Psalms 102:26; Hebrews 6:18; Hebrews 13:8; James 1:17; Revelation 1:8; Revelation 22:13. 

    It can be difficult to wrap our minds around God's unchangeability, since we ourselves and the universe we dwell is subject to change (remember a few posts back we talked of God's incomprehensible nature, here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/08/post-7-doctrine-of-god-by-nature-god.html). 

    Even features such a time, space, and matter include change to some degree. The angels, though immaterial, still have to move from one place to another and do experience the passage of time, thus pointing to their own changeable nature. God and God alone is immutable (this term derives from the Latin prefix "in" meaning "not" and "mutatis" meaning "change", which when put together spells out "immutatis" or our English word "immutable"). Theologian Wayne Grudem, on page 192 of his second edition "Systematic Theology", define God’s unchangeableness, 

“God is unchanging in His being, perfections, purposes, and promises, yet God does act and feel emotions, and He acts and feels differently in response to different situations.” 

    In having briefly defined and noted key Scriptures about God's Divine immutability or unchangeableness, let's explore how this doctrine functions when considering the classic question of how an unchanging God is described as changing His mind in the Bible.

Scripture does present God as unchanging in terms of His being while seemingly "changing His mind".

     One time I was asked the question of how to makes sense of Scriptures which assert God's Divine immutability and those that state God changes His mind. To begin, Scripture says that on several occasions (for instance in the book of Jonah), that God "relents" or changes His mind. In the Jonah example, we read in Jonah 3:10, 

"When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them." 

    This act of God showing mercy and compassion on the Ninevites provokes Jonah to say these words in Jonah 4:2 

"He prayed to the Lord and said, 'Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.

And He did not do it.'" 

    What had happened? Jonah was told by God to proclaim throughout the city of Nineveh that in three days God was going to judge them (Jonah 3:1-4). Then, the King of Nineveh decreed a time of repentance where everyone was to dress in sackcloth and sit on ashes (a customary ancient form of mourning) and cry out to God for repentance (see Jonah 3:5-9). As we saw already, Jonah 3:10 expresses that "God relented" or "changed his mind".  

    So, some people have asked: "well, how can that be the case?" We read, for instance, in Numbers 23:19 

"God is not a man that he should change his mind nor son of man that he should repent". 

      Yet, there in the book of Jonah, we see God changing his mind.  Although God is by nature unchanging (what theologians call "immutable"), we see instances in scripture where He is described as changing his mind that is referring to God from the standpoint of the creatures. What is going on here? How do we square these two seemingly irreconcilable descriptions of God (unchanging, and then He changing His mind)? 

God, in Scripture, uses two different methods of expressing His nature and identity.

      Scripture talks of God in two ways. There are those verses that speaks of God as He is in and of Himself (what theologians call "univocal language", which is to say, terms having the same meaning for God and for us). So, when God says "I am the Lord who does not change", that "univocal statement" has only one meaning, the same meaning, when God says it and when we hear it.  

    Then, there are those verses in which God adapts the revelation of Himself in forms of figurative language to bridge understanding to His people (what theologians refer to as "analogical language" or language of comparison). The clearest example that explains analogical language is how older writers (such as John Calvin in his "Institutes of the Christian Religion") liken this to a parent speaking baby-talk to their child.

      So, with respect to God from God's perspective, there is no change within Him. His plan, His mindset, is constant or unchanging. To illustrate, whenever I was a child, my mom or dad would take me to do errands or go on a trip. They would tell me at the beginning of the trip - "we're going to the store" or "we're going to Grandma's house". As to their plan and point of view, there was nothing different to alter that plan. They told me what was happening. They were the same mom and dad to me. As a principle of perspective and truth - my mom and dad kept the same unvarying plan and course. 

      But with respect to our finite perspective, as we experience and interact with God from our point of view, it seems as if God does change his mind. Romans 2:4 says this, 

"do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and tolerance and patience, knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance". 

      So, we understand that it is God's intention to change people and to change their lives. Whenever we read in scripture those places where God is described as "changing his mind", it is God using analogical speech or figures of speech to convey His truth. God does this in revealing Himself  by adapting the revelation of Himself to people so that they can relate to Him.
      In divine revelation, it's God's way of expressing himself in ways that are understandable to us. Scripture itself demonstrates this principle by which God adapted His communication to words in the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek written by the prophets and apostles (over 770,000 words an average English translation of Old and New Testaments). 

    

    In other words, wherever we read in scripture something like "God changed his mind", that's actually Scripture's way of indicating how we experience God through changes within ourselves. 

       The author A.W. Tozer puts it this way, more-or-less:

"that whenever we read of God changing his mind that means there's been a change in the moral situation of the person. So, for example, a person who perhaps all their lives was in rebellion against God and opposition against God hears the Gospel. The Spirit of God does His work in them and now they're responding by faith to Jesus Christ. What has taken place? Has there been a change in God? No. God's always angry at sin and He hates it. God is always gracious and merciful towards those who repent. So what's changed? It's not God. Instead, its the person that's changed." 


      Sometimes we can illustrate it in this way. Say you have the sun and then you have maybe a block of wax and a block of clay. As you sit that block of wax and that block of clay out in the sunlight, the block of clay will harden but the block of wax will soften. Now what has changed? It's not the sun. The sun is shining. It's doing what it always does. 

     The sun does not change relative to the block of wax and the block of clay. Instead, it's the block of clay and the block of wax that has changed.  So, from the perspective and the vantage point of the blocks of clay and wax, there has indeed been a change (a change in the situation of each). In like manner, when we talk about people and how it is they experience what seems to be a change in God, it's actually those persons experiencing a change within themselves.

Closing thoughts:

    Today we have looked at God's Divine attribute of unchangeability, otherwise known as "Divine immutability". We observed how this Divine attribute operates in Scripture. For readers who may desire to read more on Divine immutability, you may consult past posts on the subject relevant to God's emotions and our emotions in light of His unchangeableness here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/04/thats-good-question-answering-recent.html and here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/04/thats-good-question-how-can-unchanging.html

In our next post we shall consider God's attribute of Divine eternity. More next time....

Post # 9 The Doctrine of God - God's Attribute Of Divine Independence (A.K.A. "Divine Aseity") With Applications

Introduction:

    In our study through the doctrine of God, we've talked about God's existence, knowability, along with an introduction to His attributes. In our study on the attributes of God, we noted two major sub-categories. The first category of Divine attributes is what we call "communicable attributes", meaning those qualities that God shares and somehow communicates to His creatures (particularly human beings). The second grouping are what we called "incommunicable attributes", meaning that God alone bears characteristics unique to His being, activity, and way of relating within Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

    As we turn our attention to that latter group (the incommunicable attributes), we begin with God's attribute of Divine independence. Theologian Wayne Grudem describes God's Independence as follows,

“God does not need us or the rest of creation for anything, yet we and the rest of creation can glorify Him and bring Him joy. God in His being is self-sufficient (Acts 17:24-25; Job 41:11; Psalm 50:11-12)."

    The attribute of Divine independence (also known as the doctrine of Divine Aseity, with the term "aseity" being a Latin term meaning "from oneself") is, in the words of theologian Matthew Barrett, the gateway to entering any study of the Divine perfections or attributes of God.

How God's Independence or Divine Aseity shows us the "Godness of God"

    When you read through Isaiah 43-44, you find celebrated a characteristic of God that is unique to Himself. Isaiah 43:10-11 states, “You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. 11 “I, even I, am the Lord, and there is no savior besides Me." Isaiah 44:6 says similarly, “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me." Astute readers may have caught on to the repeated idea of "I am the Lord, there is no other", which tips us off to this attribute of Divine independence.

    This trait, as I mentioned above, is what Bible teachers call "aseity" (a-say-itee). I like to think of this eternal quality of God as being "God's Godness" or "what makes God - God". Theologian Dr. R.C Sproul writes concerning God's Divine Aseity: 

"When we affirm that God is eternal, we are also saying that He possesses the attribute of aseity, or self-existence. This means that God eternally has existed of Himself and in Himself."

   Unlike everything else, which derives its existence from God (whether the universe, galaxies, people, animals, plants, and so forth) - God is His own source of His own life. The Wetsminster Confession of Faith describes this attribute of God beautifully in its second article "Of God and the Holy Trinity",

"He is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things;and hath most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, or upon them whatsoever himself pleaseth (compare Acts 14:11,15; Mal 3:6; James 1:17). 

    God's Divine independence speaks not only to the type of life God enjoys within Himself as Father, Son, and Spirit, but it also distinguishes the kind of God He is in comparison to all He has made. The universe itself is dependent on God, since it was He who spoke it into existence (Genesis 1:1-2; Psalm 33:6). 

    We can comfortably conclude at this point that the Bible teaches this truth of God's independent existence in-and-of-Himself or Divine Aseity (such as Psalm 90:1-4; 102:25-27; Isaiah 40:28-31; 43:10-11; 44:6; John 5:26 and Revelation 4:10). Below are some other Biblical passages that help us see why it is vital to understand this attribute for our lives today.

The Bible's teaching on God's Divine Aseity (Independence)

1. Exodus 3:14 "God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

    Here we see God revealing His most intimate, covenant name - Yahweh or I am who I am. Is it not interesting that at the heart of God's redemption of His people that He would reveal His very name as His very character as the self-sufficient God? This is highly appropriate for God to do, showing that He is uniquely able to save His people. 

2. Psalm 90:1-4 "Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. 3 You turn man back into dust And say, “Return, O children of men.” 4 For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night."

    Here we find God's Divine aseity as a source of comfort to His people. Moses is the author of this Psalm and had been the first man in history to had received the revelation of God's covenant name "Yahweh" which refers to His self-existence or aseity.

3. Psalm 102:25-27 “Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. 26 “Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. 27 “But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end."

    This precious text contrasts God's divine aseity with the relative brevity of the universe. Theologians and philosophers refer to the universe and all of its contents as being "contingent", meaning that it depends on something greater and outside of it for its existence. God is "from Himself" (to use the Latin term associated with our English word "aseity" "a se", meaning "from oneself"). Again this simply means God is self-sufficient and without need of the universe to sustain Himself. Interestingly enough, Hebrews 1:4-13 incorporates Psalm 102:25-27 to describe the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

4. Isaiah 40:28-31 "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. 29 He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. 30 Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, 31 Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary."

Isaiah is centering on God's Divine aseity to provide comfort to the people of God. 

5. Isaiah 43:10-11 “You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me. 11 “I, even I, am the Lord, And there is no savior besides Me."

    Isaiah uses the phrase, "there was no God formed and there will be none after me", to demonstrate why the pagan deities possess neither reality nor are worthy of worship. We find this similar type of language used by Isaiah in Isaiah 44:6; 45:6, 11,18. 

    Sometimes we find the best way to begin thinking about God, and such mind-bending concepts as Divine aseity, through describing what God is "not". God is not finite, but infinite. God is not material, but immaterial or spiritual. God is not mortal but immortal. This way of describing God is what we call "apophatic theology", meaning that we state what "God is not". It is oftentimes discovered that once we have asserted what God is not, we exclude all other created things from the category of being we call God. God, and God alone is self-sufficient or "a se" (a-say, the Latin phrase translated "aseity"). 

6. John 5:26 "For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself".

    When Jesus asserted the Divine aseity of the Father, He was hardly stating anything controversial, since the Old Testament plainly expresses the Divine Aseity of the Father. However, when Jesus claims that He too possess this same quality, now his opponents find all sorts of red-flags raised in their minds. 

    This is one of several statements found throughout the four-Gospels where Jesus claims Himself to be truly Divine. Divine aseity is at the heart of what makes God-God. Touching His Deity, the Son of God is aseity.

7. 1 Timothy 6:16 "who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen."

    As Paul closes out his letter to young pastor Timothy, he ends with a doxology or exclamation of praise to God. Paul wrote 1 Timothy to instruct a young Pastor on what he needed to preach and how to pastor. Timothy needed to possess a high view of God. Divine Aseity would be at the center of this young pastor's God-centered ministry. This ought to give us a clue today concerning how big of a vision of God we need in the contemporary church.

8. Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

    The Apostle John sees a profound vision of Jesus. This verse is truly a commentary on that one, ineffable holy name "Yahweh" first revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14. We find references to Divine Aseity in other places in Revelation such as Revelation 4:10-11.

Why God's Divine Aseity is so important 

    The modern classic book on the doctrine of God by J.I Packer, "Knowing God", lays out the practical and profound reasons why Christ-followers ought to include God's aseity in their everyday lives:

"In theology, endless mistakes result from supposing that the conditions, bounds, and limits of our own finite existence apply to God. The doctrine of his aseity stands as a bulwark against such mistakes. In our life of faith, we easily impoverish ourselves by embracing an idea of God that is too limited and small, and again the doctrine of God’s aseity stands as a bulwark to stop this happening. It is vital for spiritual health to believe that God is great (cf. Ps. 95:1–7), and grasping the truth of his aseity is the first step on the road to doing this."

Below the reader will find four life-practical reasons for focusing on God's Divine aseity.

1. Aseity is the essential starting place for the worship of God

    To begin, Divine Aseity is important for the worship songs we commonly sing. One of my favorite hymns that celebrates the Aseity of God is the song "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing." The lyrics of the hymn begin as follows: 

"Come thou fount of every blessing Tune my heart to sing Thy grace Streams of mercy never ceasing Call for songs of loudest praise". 

    How do great songs of worship like this hymn rely on God's Aseity? The fact that God is described as a fountain means that He is His own source of blessing. We are dependent on God for everything and celebrate the Triune God of scripture that alone is our source of life and eternal life. A fountain of water feeds itself in producing a beautiful stream of water to be enjoyed by all who look upon it. Likewise, God's Aseity refers to all that we see of Him flowing outwardly from within the kind of God he is: eternal, self-sufficient, infinite, holy, immaterial, changeless, uncreated and many more attributes expressed in the Bible. There is God. There is everything else. The universe and all it contains is not even a footnote in comparison to the vast aseity of God. 

    The Apostle Paul's burst of worship in Romans 11:36 assumes Divine Aseity: "For from Him and to Him and through Him are all things. To Him be the glory for ever and ever, amen."

2. Aseity is essential to understanding God in His Word

    Another reason we could cite as to why God's Aseity is so important is in how the revelation of Himself to us in His Word requires Him to possess this quality. Isaiah brings out three main titles of God: Savior (Isaiah 43:3), Creator (43:15) and King of Israel (43:15). As you read these chapters, you find a repeated phrase that speaks of God's Aseity - namely that God is the only Lord, and there is no other, neither before nor after Him. (Isaiah 43:10-11; 44:6-8).  God's Aseity insures that God is the sole source of salvation, the sole source of all things as Creator and the Sole King over His people.

3. Aseity is essential to waging war on worldliness

    Isaiah then contrasts God who is Aseity to that of man made idols that are not gods at all (Isaiah 44:9-20). Quite the opposite of Aseity is the fact that idolatry is foolishness, since men take blocks of wood or stone and take half for firewood and half to make an image.  Those false gods cannot save, only condemn. 

    Furthermore, idols cannot create but only destroy and they cannot reign but only be worthless. The idols that we combat are those idols that come up in our hearts. Whenever we begin to think that God or Christ is not enough, and that we need to "supplement" He and His word, we have drifted into the realm of idolatry or worldliness (1 John 2:15-17). Only when we see God in His Aseity do we realize the lie of sin, that nothing can fully complete except God alone.

4. Aseity is essential for the work of salvation

    Only the God that is Aseity, the God that is His own Source of life and eternal power, can redeem and forgive (Isaiah 43:10-11;44:21-28).  For example, when you turn to Colossians 2, you discover two essential truths about Jesus Christ: He being truly God and truly man. Take everything you just learned about God in Isaiah 43-44 and apply it to the Son, Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ, touching His Divinity, shares the same exact qualities with the Father, being the "fulness of Deity in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9). 

    The Son shares in the same nature of aseity as the Father, meaning He can be regarded as the Savior, Creator and King (Colossians 2:10-11). Equally important is the fact that the Son came to begin sharing in our humanity, meaning He could now die for our sins and raise from the dead (Colossians 2:11-15). By being both truly God and truly man, Jesus Christ's saving work carries with it infinite value and is effectively applied to all who by grace through faith believe on Him (Colossians 2:1-7).

Closing thoughts:

    Celebrate God's aseity. Praise Christ today for His aseity - the quality that makes Him an equal sharer with the Father and the Spirit and thus the source of your salvation. Also praise Him that He came to share in your humanity so that He could shed His blood for you and rise from the dead.

Post # 8 The Doctrine Of God - An Introduction To God's Attributes Along With Examples

Introduction:

    In the opening post of this series http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/07/post-1-doctrine-of-god-map-to-explore.html, we laid out a "map" of the doctrine of God. We have journeyed thus far in our study,

I. The existence of God in posts 1-5.

II. The knowability of God, posts 6-7.

    In today's posts we shall introduce, define, categorize, and give examples of God's attributes.

What are God's attributes?

    Wayne Grudem notes about God's character and attributes in his book "Systematic Theology", page 185,

    "When we come to talk about the character of God, we realize that we cannot say everything the Bible teaches us about God's character at once. We need to decide which aspect of God's character to discuss first, which aspect to discuss second, and so forth. In other words, we need some way to categorize the attributes of God."

    It is here we understand that when we refer to "God's character", we are talking about God's being and attributes. We mustn't think of God's being as seperate from His attributes, but instead understand that God's being is acted out, relayed, and truly the substance of His attributes of perfections. To flesh this point out some more, consider the definition of attributes given by James P. Boice in his "Abstract of Theology", page 65,

    "The attributes of God are those peculiar virtues that mark or define the mode of His existence or which constitue His character". 

    W.G.T. Shedd in Volume 1 of His Dogmatic Theology (the term "dogmatic" is an older term for what is called today "systematic theology") describes God's attributes in this helpful way,

"Divine attributes are modes either of the relation or of the operation of divine essence."

    Shedd's point here is that when I am focusing on one of God's attributes, say His "love", I am not dealing with a part of God. Rather, I am dealing with the totality of God as He is, by nature, the loving God. God doesn't just merely "have love", He is love (1 John 4:8). This operating of God's being applies to all of His attributes, and how they work together. God's attributes of holiness and love, for example, tells me He is a lovingly holy God and a holy loving God. He cannot be loving without being holy and vice-versa.     

Categorizing God's attributes.

    Shedd, Boyce, Grudem, and most theologians group God's attributes into two categories. 

    First, there are what are referred to as "incommunicable attributes", meaning they are unique to God and generally not shared in common with creation in general and human beings in particular. 

    The second category is that of "communicable attributes", which is to say, according to Grudem, "those attributes which God's shares or communicates with us". 

    To illustrate, if I catch a cold from someone, such a disease is said to be "communicable", meaning I take on (have communicated) the virus, its symptoms, and pathology. On the otherhand, my recent appendectomy is incommunicable, meaning that my family members will not also have appendicitis because I had mine. 

What are some examples of incommunicable and communicable attributes?

    I like how Wayne Grudem handles these two categories, since in many other systematic theologies, the two are treated as hard and fast categories. Grudem notes the following,

"However, upon further reflection we realize that this distinctions (incommunicable and communicable attributes), although helpful, is not perfect. This is because no attribute of God is completely communicable, and there is no attribute of God that is completely incommunicable."

    When we look at God's holiness for example, this perfection of God speaks to God's transcendence, that is, how He operates outside the system of creation, is its source, and is beyond the limitations of time and space. We see this aspect of God's holiness in Isaiah 6, where the thrice holy God is beyond the heights and access of the angelic hosts crying out His name, as well as the prophet Isaiah who is well aware of his uncleaness before God. 

    Truly holiness is what sets God apart from all other beings. Yet, we also know too that God calls His people "to be holy, as I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16). The title given to God's people in the Old Testament and New Testament is that of "saints", which quite literally means "holy ones" (see the opening of 1 Corinthians 1:1-2). 

    It is apparent that Grudem's point makes sense of such attributes as holiness being in some cases "incommunicable" and in other cases "communicable". 

    The Westminister Confession of Faith devotes its second article to what it calls "Of God and the Holy Trinity". In the opening paragraph, one of the most beautiful descriptions of God outside the Bible is given, listing off some of God's attributes. The edition I consulted here https://thewestminsterstandard.org/the-westminster-confession/#Chapter%20II

"There is but one only, (Deut. 6:4, 1 Cor. 8:4–6) living, and true God, (1 Thess. 1:9, Jer. 10:10) who is infinite in being and perfection, (Job 11:7–9, Job 26:14) a most pure spirit, (John 4:24) invisible, (1 Tim. 1:17) without body, parts, (Deut. 4:15–16, John 4:24, Luke 24:39) or passions; (Acts 14:11,15) immutable, (James 1:17, Mal. 3:6) immense, (1 Kings 8:27, Jer. 23:23–24) eternal, (Ps. 90:2, 1 Tim. 1:17) incomprehensible, (Ps. 145:3) almighty, (Gen. 17:1, Rev. 4:8) most wise, (Rom. 16:27) most holy, (Isa. 6:3, Rev. 4:8) most free, (Ps. 115:3) most absolute; (Exod. 3:14) working all things according to the counsel of His own immutable and most righteous will, (Eph. 1:11) for His own glory; (Prov. 16:4, Rom. 11:36)". 

    Interested readers who want to dig further may see what the Westminister Confession of Faith's portrayal of attributes look like when arranged under the categories of "communicable" and "incommunicable" by seeing the endnote at the end of this post here.1

Wayne Grudem has listed out how he categorizes God's attributes in his systematic theology. I find it instructive that when comparing lists among theologians, we can have a way at least to approach a study of the Divine attributes in an orderly and devotional way. 

Grudem's list of incommunicable attributes:

(Being attributes)

1. Independence.

2. Unchangeableness.

3. Eternity.

4. Omnipresence.

5. Unity (Simplicity).

6. Aseity (Self-Sufficiency).

7. Spirituality.

8. Invisibility.

(Intellectual attribute)

9. Omniscience (Knowledge).

Grudem's list of communicable attributes:

(Intellectual attribute)

1. Wisdom (notice how this could be also incommunicable).

(Moral attributes)

2. Truthfulness.

3. Goodness

4. Love

5. Mercy, Grace, Patience/

6. Holiness

7. Peace (or Order)

8. Righteousness, Justice

9. Jealousy

10. Wrath

(Will and purpose attributes)

11. Will

12. Freedom

(More incommunicable attributes)

13. Omnipotence (Power, Sovereignty)

14. Perfection

15. Blessedness

16. Beauty

17. Glory

Closing thoughts

    In today's post we introduced the third major section of our series on the doctrine of God, going from talking of His existence and knowability to His attributes. In the next post we will begin looking more closely at God's incommunicable attrbiutes by considering God's Divine Independence.

Endnote featuring the Westminster Confession's listing of attributes

"There is but one only ( Deut 6:4;1 Cor 8:4,6) living and true God, (Jer 10:10; 1 Thes 1:9), who is..." 

    Now notice the list of incommunicable attributes given,

1. infinite in being and perfection,( Job 11:7-9; 26:14).

2. a most pure spirit, (John 4:24).

3. invisible, (1 Timothy 1:17).

4. without body, parts, ( Deut 4:15-16; John 4:24 with Luke 24:39).

5. without passions, (Acts 14:11, 15).

6. immutable, (Mal 3:6; James 1:17). 

7. immense,  (1 Kings 8:27; Jer 23:23-24)

8. eternal (Psa 90:2; 1 Tim 1:17).

9. incomprehensible, (Psa 145:3).

10. almighty, (Gen 17:1; Rev 4:8).

11. most wise, (Rom 16:27).

12. most holy, (Isa 6:3; Rev 4:8).

13. most free, ( Psa 115:3).

14. most absolute, (Exodus 3:14).

15. working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will (Eph 1:11) for his own glory (Prov 16:4; Rom 11:36).

    The second paragraph of the same article mentions other incommunicable attributes. I'll comment briefly on some of these.

16. God hath all life (John 5:16, i.e. the immortality of God).

17. All glory, (Acts 7:2, i.e. God's glory refers to how He makes His character visible to our sight).

18. Goodness, (Psalm 119:68, which could be incommuicable, unique to God, but which is also shared with us in a communicable way).

19. Blessedness ( Rom 9:5; 1 Tim 6:15, this attribute of God speaks of the enjoyment He has in being God, the source of His own pleasure).

20. In and of himself; and is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made, (Acts 17:24-25, also called "independence" or "Divine Aseity", meaning God exists in and of Himself, without dependance on anything).

    As noted above already, some of these are totally incommunicable (for example, God alone is immutable or unchangeable, eternal, infinite in being and perfection). Whereas some others can be somewhat incommunicable and communicable (such as most wise in an incoomunicable way and human beings capable of exercising wisdom in a communicable way). 

    The Westminster Confession goes on in its section on God's attributes by listing what we know as "the communicable attributes",

1. most loving, (1 John 4:8,16).

2. gracious (Exodus 34:6-7).

3. merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin (Exodus 34:6-7).

4. the rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6).

5. and withal most just and terrible in his judgments, (Nehemiah 9:6-7

6. hating all sin, (Psalm 5:5-6)

7. and who will by no means clear the guilty, (Exod 34:7; Nahum 1:2-3).

    The Westminister Confession presses on describing what all God does in creation, providence, and redemption. This gives us at least a sampling of many of the attributes of God we read of in Scripture.