The Attributes of God - Aseity

What does “aseity” mean?

The English word “aseity” comes from the Latin asetias (self-existence) and a se (of itself). In theology, the term “aseity” indicates that God does not have an external origin. God is without beginning and He is uncreated. Therefore, God is from Himself. God does not depend on anyone or anything to exist.

Mark Jones: He is not in need of us, we are in need of Him.

Westminster Theological Dictionary: The view that God is entirely sufficient and not dependent upon anything else.

Exodus 3:13-15 “13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

The most common name for God in the Old Testament is Yahweh. It appears more than 6,800 times. In Judaism, in an effort to not break the third commandment -which was to not to use the name of God in vain (Exodus 20:7) - they reduced God’s name revealed in Exodus 3 to Moses to its 4 consonants (YHWH) in Scripture. Whenever a Jew read Scripture and saw the tetragrammatron they would replace the word Yahweh with “Adoni.” They saw God’s name extremely holy and sacred.

In the days of the ancient Near East, names often reflected an attribute of that person. God’s name Yahweh is derived from the Hebrew verb “to be” ( Hb. haya). In Hebrew, the verb “to be” is always active. Unlike Greek or English, the verb “to be” in Hebrew is never denote just existence or active presence. Rather, in Hebrew it is always active. That is, God’s name is “to be.” It is the reason why God says “I AM WHO I AM.” It reflects God’s self-existence.

Alec Moyter: The presence of God is not a bare “is” but a living force, vital and personal. In no situation is he an ornamental extra; in every situation he is the key active ingredient.

John Currid: He determines his own existence and he is independent of anything else for his being. He is autonomous of creation.