Introduction to Attributes of God: The Knowability, The Incomprehensibility and the Unity of God

- The Greek word “theos” (θεος) means God.

Theology:

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Define Uses of Theology:

We are about to embark on a study in Systematic theology that I think every Christian should study – Theology Proper, more specifically, the Attributes of God. Maybe I just dropped some words on you that are foreign to your vocabulary – Systematic, Theology, Theology Proper, Attributes – so let’s define some of these terms before we move on.

Theology:

- We are about to embark on a study in Systematic theology that I think every Christian should study – Theology Proper, more specifically, the Attributes of God.

Define Uses of Theology:

- We are about to embark on a study in Systematic theology that I think every Christian should study – Theology Proper, more specifically, the Attributes of God.

- First off, when you look at the word theology, you will see that is has something in common w/ a whole lot of different sciences.

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- Maybe I just dropped some words on you that are foreign to your vocabulary – Systematic, Theology, Theology Proper, Attributes.

- We are about to embark on a study in Systematic theology that I think every Christian should study – Theology Proper, more specifically, the Attributes of God.

- It has that common suffix “ology” like in psychology or biology or sociology.

First off, when you look at the word theology, you will see that is has something in common with a whole lot of different sciences. It has that common suffix “ology” like in psychology or biology or sociology. Well, “ology” comes from the Greek word “logos” (λογος) We see this word in "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” That Greek word λογος is translated to the English word - word. In other words, it means word, message, or idea. you could go as far as to say it means logic, that is where the English word logic is derive. If you think about the word logic in connection to λογος for a minuet it has a remarkable nugget to it. Man is made in the image of God; God the Son is called the λογος why can man alone speak? – because of this thing called λογος – word/logic.

- Maybe I just dropped some words on you that are foreign to your vocabulary – Systematic, Theology, Theology Proper, Attributes.

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So, when we study biology, we are looking at a word, or idea, or concept, or the logic of life. When you study sociology, you are looking at a word or logic of society. Well it is the same thing with theology. Furthermore, the Greek word “theos” (θεος) means God. So, when you study theology you are studying a word or concept of God. To study a word or concept could be better described by science. Therefore, Theology can be defined as the science of God and of the acts of God and His creation.

- Well, “ology” comes from the Greek word “logos” (λογος).

- Maybe I just dropped some words on you that are foreign to your vocabulary – Systematic, Theology, Theology Proper, Attributes.

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- Maybe I just dropped some words on you that are foreign to your vocabulary – Systematic, Theology, Theology Proper, Attributes.

- Let’s define some of these terms before we move on.

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- We see this word in

Theology Defined:

- Let’s define some of these terms before we move on.

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- The Greek word “theos” (θεος) means God.

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Now within that science of God there are several ways, or you could say, systems of studying theology. Two of the most common are Biblical Theology and Systematic Theology. Now these two methods of study are not the antithesis of one another. Sometimes when one thinks of the term Biblical Theology, in a broad sense, they think it to mean theology done right. When one says, “Systematic Theology” that is not to say it is unbiblical; likewise, when one says, “Biblical Theology,” that is not to say that it is unorganized, or chaotic. The opposite of systematic, is not biblical but un-systematic or chaotic. The truth is both that Biblical Theology is systematic, and that Systematic Theology is biblical.

Theology Defined:

- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. –

- The Greek word λογος is translated to the English word - word.

- Theology is made up by two Greek words: “theos” (θεος) means God & “logos” (λογος) means word.

- First off, when you look at the word theology, you will see that is has something in common w/ a whole lot of different sciences.

- The Greek word “theos” (θεος) means God.

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What is the difference then? The most obvious is that while Biblical Theology implements a chronological approach, outlining the history of revelation, Systematic Theology approaches the Bible as a finished product in which God has spoken his last word. In other words, Biblical Theology, seeks to extract all that can be learned from a book, a Testament (i.e. Old or New Testament) a specific author (i.e. Pauline theology). It also follows the important historical circumstances. In other words, it arranges biblical doctrines according to their chronology and historical background. Furthermore, it traces the progressive Revelation of a particular era. And because a particular era, book, or author, does not teach everything there is to know about a specific topic or doctrine, Biblical Theology is limited to its hermeneutic. Therefore, Biblical Theology has a direct relationship to exegesis (which means to extract the meaning out of the text), it seeks to analyze a text, that is, its grammar and logical context, (its grammatical relationships) historical context, geographical context (etc.). Again, that is not to say that Systematic Theology does not implement some of the same exegetical methods. Biblical theology is a narrower focus of study, emphasizing the study of a particular era or writer. For example, Biblical theology asks, “How does our understanding of a topic develop throughout biblical history (i.e. prayer?)” and then look at how we have historically understood prayer, for example, in the Pentateuch and traces this understanding through God’s progressive revelation by looking at what Isaiah taught about prayer etc. Biblical theology draws conclusion along the way about how people’s thinking about a specific topic have changed as more truth was revealed. To say it another way, Biblical Theologians might “ask what the patriarchs said, or Mosses or the prophets or Paul or John say about a specific topic?” Whereas Systematic Theology categorizes doctrine by seeking to answer the question: “what does the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, teach about a specific topic?” It then examines every passage on that specific topic. The final product will be the totality of what God’s truth teaches about a specific topic. Systematic Theology could be defined as scientifically arranging, comparing the facts of divine revelation. A final thought about Systematic Theology; some theologians associate Systematic Theology with the idea of imposing a theological system (i.e. Calvinism or predestination) on biblical truth and manipulating everything else around it, but that is not the case and can only be done when studying theology unbiblically by taking things out of context and not applying the same consistent proper hermeneutic.

- It has that common suffix “ology” like in psychology or biology or sociology.

- First off, when you look at the word theology, you will see that is has something in common w/ a whole lot of different sciences.

- It means word or message, depending on the context.

You might be thinking How does this pertain to our study? Without getting to far off topic causing us to not even get into a study on the Attributes of God allow me to, briefly, justify why I bring all this up. When it comes to studying theology (well anything for that matter) we have at least two perspectives. One is called embedded theology, and the other is called deliberated theology. Their names self-identify their meanings. Embedded theologies are theological perspectives that one has never studied but they still hold to them and believe them. This might be because it has been told to you your whole life (these could be family traditions, church theological positions etc.). These might be things that make perfect sense to you, so much sense that you have never deliberately studied them (i.e. Baptism, fasting, church membership, the way to be saved – can you clearly explain the gospel? – God’s sovereignty, the Trinity, etc. etc.). You have always felt there was no need to study them, in-depth, because it is so obvious that your perspective is the correct one. I am sure I do not need to express the dangers that fall into this bracket. But I do want to assure you, we all have embedded theological perspectives on one thing or another. The next perspective is deliberated theology. Deliberate theology can be defined simply by saying studying with the deliberate attention to learn and understand what a certain doctrine truly teaches, not just what one thinks it teaches.

- At its most basic meaning Theology means the study of God.

- So, when we study biology, we are looking at a word, or a message, or concept, or the logic of life.

Again, you might be thinking “well that is obvious, and I already knew that, so why are you rambling on just get to the point.” So here it is. When one starts to study theology, they must take into consideration all their presuppositions[1] as well as their embedded and deliberate theological perspectives. This is precisely the reason many theologians start out their systematic theologies with the doctrine of Scripture - to establish not only the authority of the Bible as well as all the subcategories that go with it; but also, to lay the foundational presupposition for all the doctrines that follow – and then move to the Doctrine of God. Think about this for a minute, what kind of theological perspective would you hold differently if you studied eschatology (the doctrine of End Times) before you had convictions that the Bible was the inerrant word of God. Or what about if you studied the doctrine of redemption (the process of man being saved) before you studied the doctrine of God. You might primarily study passages that talk about the sovereignty of God in salvation and come to the determinations that your choices do not have any real merit, therefore leading you to have a fatalistic or deterministic position. Or even worse (if it could be much worse) would be to conclude that you are sovereign over God and He has to choose to save you because you chose Him. In both situations you would have a presupposition that could taint your understanding of the being of God. Therefore, in our Systematic study of the attributes of God we must understand that we are seeking to understand what the overall Bible teaches from Genesis to Revelation. Each passage must be understood clearly in its context. As this study progresses you will see that Systematic Theology uses a consistent hermeneutic that applies the proper interpretation tools to the literary text that the genre requires to establish the complete Doctrine willed by God the Father carried out by God the Son and empowered by God the Spirit.

- Well, “ology” comes from the Greek word “logos” (λογος).

- It has that common suffix “ology” like in psychology or biology or sociology.

(T.S) Before we start into our study, I want to bring to your attention 2 forms of theology that everyone does whether, they realize it or not.

- When you study sociology, you are looking at a word or message of society.

Embedded vs. Deliberate Theology:

- We see this word in

Embedded vs. Deliberate Theology:

(T.S) Before we start into our study, I want to bring to your attention 2 forms of theology that everyone does whether, they realize it or not.

- Well it is the same thing with theology.

- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. –

This needs to be written.

- One is called embedded theology & the other is called deliberated theology.

Embedded vs. Deliberate Theology:

- The Greek word λογος is translated to the English word - word.

- One is called embedded theology & the other is called deliberated theology.

- So, when you study theology you are studying a word or message of God.

- Their names self-identify their meanings.

- To study a word or message could be better described by science.

- Embedded theologies are theological perspectives that one has never studied but they still hold.

This needs to be written.

- Their names self-identify their meanings.

- It means word or message, depending on the context.

- So, when we study biology, we are looking at a word, or a message, or concept, or the logic of life.

- However, the way you go about studying Theology is much different than the way you go about studying any other science.

- This might be because it has been told to you your whole life.

- Embedded theologies are theological perspectives that one has never studied but they still hold.

- These could be family traditions, church theological positions etc.

- This might be because it has been told to you your whole life.

- These could be family traditions, church theological positions etc.

In our study, we will be looking at the Attributes of God under the systematic heading of the Doctrine of God, more specifically Theology Proper. But what is Theology Proper? Theology Proper is a category of study within Systematic Theology. It denotes the study of the existence of God, the attributes of God, the nature of God as well as the works of God. Theology Proper is also known as Paterology. Theology proper comes from two Greek words “pateras” (πατηρ) meaning Father and “logos,” meaning “word or study” thereby meaning the study or the Father. Therefore, Theology Proper focuses on God the Father. The use of the word proper is not to suggest that all other study of theology is improper, it distinguishes the study of God from the study of theology in general. Theology Proper seeks to answer questions about the Being of God. Theology Proper is also distinct from the science of God the Son (Christology) and the science of God the Spirit (Pneumatology) even though the study of the Trinity is a sub-heading under Theology Proper.

- When you study sociology, you are looking at a word or message of society.

- In all other sciences, the thing you are studying is subjective to you or under you.

- These could be family traditions, church theological positions etc.

So, now that we have a basic understanding of a few of the differences in theology, let’s dig into the foundation before we climb the mountain of God’s Attributes so that we can get a better view of our purpose in this study.

- But, in the study of theology you are place under the subject you are studying.

- Well it is the same thing with theology.

- These might be things that make perfect sense to you.

But how can we gain that true knowledge about God? Can we really know God? How much can we know about Him?

- Theology can be defined as the science of God & of the acts of God & His creation.

- These might be things that make perfect sense to you.

- So much sense that you have never deliberately studied them.

- So, when you study theology you are studying a word or message of God.

Before we start into our study, I want to bring to your attention 2 forms of theology that everyone does whether, they realize it or not.

- So much sense that you have never deliberately studied them.

“Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty” ()?

(T.S) Before we start into our study, I want to bring to your attention 2 forms of theology that everyone does whether, they realize it or not.

- For example, God’s sovereignty, the Trinity, Baptism, fasting, church membership, the way to be saved – Can you clearly explain the gospel?

- To study a word or message could be better described by science.

- For example, God’s sovereignty, the Trinity, Baptism, fasting, church membership, the way to be saved – Can you clearly explain the gospel?

- You have always felt there was no need to study them, in-depth, because it is so obvious that your perspective is the correct one.

- However, the way you go about studying Theology is much different than the way you go about studying any other science.

- You have always felt there was no need to study them, in-depth, because it is so obvious that your perspective is the correct one.

- In all other sciences, the thing you are studying is subjective to you or under you.

- I am sure I do not need to express the dangers that fall into this bracket.

Under this heading we are going to look at how we can know about God as well as how we can know Him personally. But this stirs up the question can we really know all there is to know about God? According to Luis Berkhof,

- I am sure I do not need to express the dangers that fall into this bracket.

- One is called embedded theology & the other is called deliberated theology.

- You have always felt there was no need to study them, in-depth, because it is so obvious that your perspective is the correct one.

What is the difference between Embedded and Deliberate theology?

- But, in the study of theology you are place under the subject you are studying.

- I am sure I do not need to express the dangers that fall into this bracket.

- But I do want to assure you, we all have embedded theological perspectives on one thing or another.

Abraham Kuyper calls attention to the fact that theology as the knowledge of God differs from all other knowledge. In the study of all other sciences man places himself above the object of his investigation and actively elicits from it his knowledge by whatever method may seem most appropriate, but in theology he does not stand above but rather under the object of his knowledge. In other words, man can know God only in so far as (…) [God] actively makes Himself known” (Berkhof 34).

- Their names self-identify their meanings.

- But I do want to assure you, we all have embedded theological perspectives on one thing or another.

- Embedded theologies are theological perspectives that one has never studied but they still hold.

- Theology can be defined as the science of God & of the acts of God & His creation.

In other words, it is necessary for God to reveal himself to us if we are to know anything about God.

- But I do want to assure you, we all have embedded theological perspectives on one thing or another.

- The next perspective is deliberated theology.

- Deliberate theology can be defined simply by saying:

- The next perspective is deliberated theology.

(T.S) Before we start into our study, I want to bring to your attention 2 forms of theology that everyone does whether, they realize it or not.

- Deliberate theology can be defined simply by saying:

- This might be because it has been told to you your whole life.

Studying with the deliberate attention to learn & understand what a certain doctrine truly teaches, not just what you think it teaches.

Historically Christianity, has believed that on one hand God is incomprehensibly, that is, fully understandable, or inexhaustibly. He is infinite, and we are finite. But on the other hand, we can know some truths about God and those truths are a requisite unto salvation.

- These could be family traditions, church theological positions etc.

- Deliberate theology can be defined simply by saying:

Studying with the deliberate attention to learn & understand what a certain doctrine truly teaches, not just what you think it teaches.

- You might be thinking “well that is obvious & I already knew that, so why are you rambling on just get to the point.”

- These might be things that make perfect sense to you.

- You might be thinking “well that is obvious & I already knew that, so why are you rambling on just get to the point.”

- One is called embedded theology & the other is called deliberated theology.

Studying with the deliberate attention to learn & understand what a certain doctrine truly teaches, not just what you think it teaches.

- Their names self-identify their meanings.

God could have created everything and not let us know him at all. I do not know if we appreciated that enough. How would we know about Him if He didn’t let us know Him? We could have been stuck in the dark and have known nothing about Him (as some worldviews presume). So, I think, anything that we know about God we should start out by saying, WOW this is amazing that the Creator of the universe has let us know anything about Him. Well, we know that God has reveal Himself to His creation in two ways, general revelation, that is through His creation and special revelation – the Bible.

- So here it is.

- So much sense that you have never deliberately studied them.

- So here it is.

- You might be thinking “well that is obvious & I already knew that, so why are you rambling on just get to the point.”

- [When we start to study theology, we must set aside all of our embedded theological perspectives.

- Embedded theologies are theological perspectives that one has never studied but they still hold.

- For example, God’s sovereignty, the Trinity, Baptism, fasting, church membership, the way to be saved – Can you clearly explain the gospel?

Even general revelation requires God to reveal Himself to us for us to know God exist. Paul affirms this when he says everyone in the world is without excuses because we all know that God exist. Paul said in ,

- [When we start to study theology, we must set aside all of our embedded theological perspectives.

- So here it is.

- [When we start to study theology, we must set aside all of our embedded theological perspectives.

- You have always felt there was no need to study them, in-depth, because it is so obvious that your perspective is the correct one.

- This might be because it has been told to you your whole life.

- Think about this for a minute.

"For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse.”

- Think about this for a minute.

So, Paul is saying that when one looks at the creation – the plants, the animals the land and water, the stars – all of Creation – they all tell of the glory of God. Because of how wonderfully made they are. But that is general revelations all people know this is true rather they “suppress this truth” (Roman 1:18) or not they have no excuse the Word of God says. But this is not a saving knowledge. One is not saved by the acknowledgement that God exist. If we are going to know God personally for salvation that is going to take a special revelation.

- What kind of theological perspective would you hold if you studied eschatology - the doctrine of End Times - before you had convictions that the Bible was the inerrant word of God.

- I am sure I do not need to express the dangers that fall into this bracket.

- What kind of theological perspective would you hold if you studied eschatology - the doctrine of End Times - before you had convictions that the Bible was the inerrant word of God.

- Think about this for a minute.

- These could be family traditions, church theological positions etc.

- What kind of theological perspective would you hold if you studied eschatology - the doctrine of End Times - before you had convictions that the Bible was the inerrant word of God.

- But I do want to assure you, we all have embedded theological perspectives on one thing or another.

- These might be things that make perfect sense to you.

- Or what about if you studied the doctrine of redemption - the process of man being saved - before you studied the doctrine of God.

- You might primarily study passages that talk about the sovereignty of God in salvation & come to the determinations that your choices don’t have any real merit;

But think about that for a minute, if you didn’t have God reaching out to you, you would never find out about salvation – how could you? If we are going to know God for salvation He needs to reveal Himself to us. So, in Jesus said,

(T.S.) The next perspective is deliberated theology.

- Or what about if you studied the doctrine of redemption - the process of man being saved - before you studied the doctrine of God.

- So much sense that you have never deliberately studied them.

- You might primarily study passages that talk about the sovereignty of God in salvation & come to the determinations that your choices don’t have any real merit;

- Deliberate theology can be defined simply by saying:

"All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

therefore, leading you to have a fatalistic or deterministic position.

- For example, God’s sovereignty, the Trinity, Baptism, fasting, church membership, the way to be saved – Can you clearly explain the gospel?

- You might primarily study passages that talk about the sovereignty of God in salvation & come to the determinations that your choices don’t have any real merit;

therefore, leading you to have a fatalistic or deterministic position.

- You have always felt there was no need to study them, in-depth, because it is so obvious that your perspective is the correct one.

- Or even worse (if it could be much worse) would be to conclude that you are sovereign over God & He has to choose to save you because you chose Him.

Studying with the deliberate attention to learn & understand what a certain doctrine truly teaches, not just what you think it teaches.

therefore, leading you to have a fatalistic or deterministic position.

- Or even worse (if it could be much worse) would be to conclude that you are sovereign over God & He has to choose to save you because you chose Him.

- I am sure I do not need to express the dangers that fall into this bracket.

- Or even worse (if it could be much worse) would be to conclude that you are sovereign over God & He has to choose to save you because you chose Him.

The smartest people in the world might say that they can know God through there wisdom. According to this verse, Jesus said that is not true. If we are to know God, we will have to rely on Jesus’ initiative. And that is why Paul said in ,

- You might be thinking “well that is obvious & I already knew that, so why are you rambling on just get to the point.”

- In both situations you would have a presupposition that could taint your understanding of the being of God.]

"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

- But I do want to assure you, we all have embedded theological perspectives on one thing or another.

- Therefore, in our Systematic study of the attributes of God, we must understand that we are seeking to understand what the overall Bible teaches from Genesis to Revelation.

- So here it is.

- Therefore, in our Systematic study of the attributes of God, we must understand that we are seeking to understand what the overall Bible teaches from Genesis to Revelation.

- In both situations you would have a presupposition that could taint your understanding of the being of God.]

- [When we start to study theology, we must set aside all of our embedded theological perspectives.

- Each passage must be understood clearly in its context.

- Therefore, in our Systematic study of the attributes of God, we must understand that we are seeking to understand what the overall Bible teaches from Genesis to Revelation.

And in He said,

- The next perspective is deliberated theology.

- Each passage must be understood clearly in its context.

- As this study progresses you will see that Systematic Theology uses a consistent hermeneutic that applies the proper interpretation tools to the literary text that the genre requires to establish the complete Doctrine willed by God the Father carried out by God the Son & empowered by God the Spirit.

- Deliberate theology can be defined simply by saying:

- Think about this for a minute.

"For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.”

- As this study progresses you will see that Systematic Theology uses a consistent hermeneutic that applies the proper interpretation tools to the literary text that the genre requires to establish the complete Doctrine willed by God the Father carried out by God the Son & empowered by God the Spirit.

Studying with the deliberate attention to learn & understand what a certain doctrine truly teaches, not just what you think it teaches.

- What kind of theological perspective would you hold if you studied eschatology - the doctrine of End Times - before you had convictions that the Bible was the inerrant word of God.

(T.S.) So, what is an Attribute.

The Relationship of the Attributes to the Being of God:

- Or what about if you studied the doctrine of redemption - the process of man being saved - before you studied the doctrine of God.

- You might be thinking “well that is obvious & I already knew that, so why are you rambling on just get to the point.”

(T.S.) But can we really know God?

The Relationship of Essence and Substance to God’s Attributes:

The wisdom of the world cannot save you and that is because human beings have a tendency to misinterpret the revelation of God found in nature. And that is another reason why we need God to reveal himself to us. says,

Define Attributes:

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”

- You might primarily study passages that talk about the sovereignty of God in salvation & come to the determinations that your choices don’t have any real merit;

First off, I cannot emphasize enough that an attribute does not add to God which might be the natural assumption because the word attribute gives the idea of adding something. Augustus Strong’s sheds light on this when he said,

I agree with Berkoff when he said,

- So here it is.

The Knowability and Incomprehensibility of God:

therefore, leading you to have a fatalistic or deterministic position.

The attribute is the whole essence acting in a certain way. The centre of unity is not in any one attribute, but in the essence.… The difference between the divine attribute and the divine person is, that the person is a mode of the existence of the essence, while the attribute is a mode either of the relation, or of the operation, of the essence” (Strong 246).

- Under this heading we are going to look at how we can know about God as well as how we can know Him personally.

- When we start to study theology, we must set aside all of our embedded theological perspectives.

“It would be a mistake to conceive of the essence of God as existing by itself and prior to the attributes, and of the attributes as additive and accidental characteristics of the Divine Being. They are essential qualities of God, which inhere in His very Being and are co-existent with it. These qualities cannot be altered without altering the essential Being of God. And since they are essential qualities, each one of them reveals to us some aspect of the Being of God” (Berkhof 46).

They see things in nature that reveal God, but they misinterpret them. They see God but “they don’t honor Him as God” () “They exchanged they truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans1:23). We see this all the time in Trible religions, they see the invisible attributes of God within creation and then they worship them. We see this a lot in the Old Testament, that’s because people misinterpret creation.

- But this stirs up the question, can we really know all there is to know about God?

That being said, I still believe it is fruitful, inasmuch as, understanding some truths about our majestic incomprehensible Triune God.

Or how about when people misinterpret the meaning of space? How many of you have heard someone, when they are looking at the stars, say WOW the universe is so big, and we are so small there must be other creatures out there. They misinterpret the meaning of the stars. gives us the correct interpretation of the heavens.

It is commonly said in theology that God’s attributes are God Himself, as He has revealed Himself to us that is, God’s attributes are His properties. For this reason, I find it easier to view the attributes as a type of character property that is immutable. God’s attributes can be defined as: those essential distinguishing character properties of God, that He has revealed to His creation, that are inseparable from the Godhead. In other words, they are the stuff that describe His total character.

- Or even worse (if it could be much worse) would be to conclude that you are sovereign over God & He has to choose to save you because you chose Him.

- Think about this for a minute.

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

- In both situations you would have a presupposition that could taint your understanding of the being of God.]

- Abraham Kuyper said,

Although the being of God cannot be separated from the attributes of God (without God ceasing to be God) I want to address the being of God in relation to the substance that makes His essence. Although we are laying the foundation for the attributes of God, which can be understood as the substance or the properties of the being of God it will be helpful to understand the difference between essence and substance.

(T.S.) So, how does this stuff describe His character?

- What kind of theological perspective would you hold if you studied eschatology - the doctrine of End Times - before you had convictions that the Bible was the inerrant word of God.

- Therefore, in our Systematic study of the attributes of God, we must understand that we are seeking to understand what the overall Bible teaches from Genesis to Revelation.

Essence (or nature) is that which makes something what it is; without it, it would cease to be, and it is what distinguishes it form another. Whereas, substance is that out of which something is made. In other words, substance is the stuff that makes it what it is. To say it another way, with a tangible example, the essence of a human is its humanity which distinguishes it from other animals; whereas, one of the substances that make an animal a human being is its rationality. A well known and simpler way to put it is by looking at the essence of a triangle which has three parts if you take one of those parts away it ceases to be a triangle.

- Or what about if you studied the doctrine of redemption - the process of man being saved - before you studied the doctrine of God.

So, how can we correctly interpret the creation? We have to encounter the special revelation - we need the Bible and we need God to personally make Himself known to us.

Unity/Simplicity of God

- theology as the knowledge of God differs from all other knowledge. In the study of all other sciences man places himself above the object of his investigation and actively elicits from it his knowledge by whatever method may seem most appropriate, but in theology he does not stand above but rather under the object of his knowledge. In other words, man can know God only in so far as (…) [God] actively makes Himself known” (Berkhof 34).

- In other words, it is necessary for God to reveal himself to us if we are to know anything about God.

We’ve gone over the misconceptions of misinterpretation, and human wisdom.

- You might primarily study passages that talk about the sovereignty of God in salvation & come to the determinations that your choices don’t have any real merit;

- Each passage must be understood clearly in its context.

What God is not.

Essence is that which makes something what it is. Substance is that out of which something is made. A wooden chair is made of wood, so the wood is its substance, but the wood isn't its essence. The design of the chair together with the wood is what makes it what it is, its essence. But in God, essence and substance have to be one because he is simple, unified supremely being. He is pure act. That is, he is what he does. He loves and is love. He knows and is knowledge. He lives and is life.

We know that General revelation reveals God and His attributes but that isn’t enough to save us – we need God to reveal Himself to us personally through His special revelation.

God’s Revealing Revelation:

Do you want to talk about what has been covered so far before we move on to what an attribute is and is not?

therefore, leading you to have a fatalistic or deterministic position.

Let me clarify what I mean by simplicity or unity and then illustrate what God is not. Then we will move on to what God is and how we will categized God’s attributes. By simplicity I am not speaking of a simpleton or foolishness. Nor am I speaking about something easily understood, but I am meaning not a conglomeration of parts – “God is not like man” (, ) made up of parts. He is complete unity within His being and attributes – which gives us some insight into how he can be tri-unity, but the Doctrine of the Trinity is for another day.

- As this study progresses you will see that Systematic Theology uses a consistent hermeneutic that applies the proper interpretation tools to the literary text that the genre requires to establish the complete Doctrine willed by God the Father carried out by God the Son & empowered by God the Spirit.

What is the difference between Embedded and Deliberate theology?

As I said earlier, God and His attributes are one. And although, at times, Scripture might only mention one attribute – for instance, “God is holy” () “God is just” () “God is love” () “God is Wrathful” () “God is Spirit” () - yet Scripture never puts them in opposition of each other; nor does it imply that we should single on out from the others. For example, in , when Mosses is interceding for Israel he asked God to show him His glory (v.18), God told Moses that no one could see His glory and live (v.20). His glory is so incomprehensible that it would destroy a finite being. So, God put Mosses in the cleft of a rock (v.21) and then in it says, (PowerPoint)

- Historically, Christianity believes that on one hand God is incomprehensibly.

But can we really know God?

- Or even worse (if it could be much worse) would be to conclude that you are sovereign over God & He has to choose to save you because you chose Him.

(T.S.) So, what is an Attribute.

How would you define them?

Can we really know God?

- In both situations you would have a presupposition that could taint your understanding of the being of God.

Define Attributes:

How much can we know about God?

- He is infinite, and we are finite.

"The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

- Under this heading we are going to look at how we can know about God as well as how we can know Him personally.

First off, I cannot emphasize enough that an attribute does not add to God which might be the natural assumption because the word attribute gives the idea of adding something. Augustus Strong’s sheds light on this when he said,

- But on the other hand, we can know some truths about God & those truths are a requisite unto salvation.

Notice, when God describes His glory He proclaims what He is. To say it another way, there is no such thing as beauty outside of God and God isn’t just glory He defines glory. There isn’t such a thing called glory that God has: God is glory and merciful, gracious, love, and just. This speaks into the non-contingency of God (meaning not relying on something else to be in existence). But we will get into that in the upcoming lessons.

Can we know everything there is to know about God?

- Therefore, in our Systematic study of the attributes of God, we must understand that we are seeking to understand what the overall Bible teaches from Genesis to Revelation.

- Each passage must be understood clearly in its context.

The attribute is the whole essence acting in a certain way. The centre of unity is not in any one attribute, but in the essence.… The difference between the divine attribute and the divine person is, that the person is a mode of the existence of the essence, while the attribute is a mode either of the relation, or of the operation, of the essence” (Strong 246).

(Illustration) Therefore, we should not think of God’s attributes as a conglomeration of parts or substance that individually make up His being, as if to say: Here is God’s love, and here is his wrath, there is His holiness, there is his grace, etc. etc. However, many people see God as being a collection of individual parts. We hear this when someone asks us “If God is so good why is so much injustice?”

- But this stirs up the question, can we really know all there is to know about God?

General Revelation:

It is commonly said in theology that God’s attributes are God Himself, as He has revealed Himself to us that is, God’s attributes are His properties. For this reason, I find it easier to view the attributes as a type of character property that is immutable. God’s attributes can be defined as: those essential distinguishing character properties of God, that He has revealed to His creation, that are inseparable from the Godhead. In other words, they are the stuff that describe His total character.

(Illustration) We also don’t want to see God’s attributes as something that is added to His being or outside of his being. God’s attributes are not additions to His being. Many people imaging God’s being and then think of His attributes as a type of personality or character that is clothing who He really is. Then, when you add the idea that we can’t know ourselves until we know God, as Calvin said, it’s no wonder so many view God in a way that limits Him to human characteristics.

- [God could have created everything & not let us know Him at all.

We must affirm that God is incomprehensible because God is infinite, and we are finite. But that doesn’t mean that we cannot know some things about God. It just means that we are unable to fully understand God.

- As this study progresses you will see that Systematic Theology uses a consistent hermeneutic that applies the proper interpretation tools to the literary text that the genre requires to establish the complete Doctrine willed by God the Father carried out by God the Son & empowered by God the Spirit.

- Abraham Kuyper said,

(T.S.) So, how does this stuff describe His character?

- “Theology as the knowledge of God differs from all other knowledge. In the study of all other sciences, man places himself above the object of his investigation and actively elicits from it his knowledge by whatever method may seem most appropriate, but in theology he does not stand above but rather under the object of his knowledge. In other words, man can know God only in so far as (…) [God] actively makes Himself known.” - Abraham Kuyper

(PowerPoint) Charles Hodges warns us about misunderstanding the unity of the attributes. He said,

- I do not know if we appreciated that enough.

But to be fair, this is a Christian worldview and not everyone holds to this view. John Frame explained this in his Systematic Theology. He, most excellently, described the difference between the way Christians and non-Christians see God’s Transcendence – that is God being high and lifted up beyond the physical or normal levels, far away (; ; ; ) and the way they see God’s immanence (closeness or being within). Frame said,

- How would we know about Him if He didn’t let us know Him?

In attempting to explain the relation in which the attributes of God stand to his essence and to each other, there are two extremes to be avoided. First, we must not represent God as a composite being, composed of different elements; and, secondly, we must not confound the attributes, making them all mean the same thing, which is equivalent to denying them all together.

Unity/Simplicity of God

- Under this heading we are going to look at how we can know about God as well as how we can know Him personally.

In the biblical understanding, God’s transcendence over the world is his control and authority, his immanence in the world his covenantal presence. Non-Christian thought, too, often acknowledges some “transcendent reality.” But on the non-Christian view, transcendence refers to a reality that is so far beyond us, so mysterious to us, that we cannot have certain knowledge about it. And for non-Christian thought, immanence means that supreme authority and power is vested in the world, not in something beyond the world. So biblical transcendence (1) contradicts nonbiblical immanence (4), and nonbiblical transcendence (3) contradicts biblical immanence (2). To know God rightly, we must view the world as Scripture does, not as non-Christian thought does (Frame 701).

- It’s necessary for God to reveal himself to us if we are to know anything about God.

What God is not.

- We could have been stuck in the dark and have known nothing about Him.

I’m sure I don’t need to emphasize the importance of understanding this difference, but what does the Bible teach us about the incomprehensibility of God? God is incomprehensible but that doesn’t mean we can’t know anything about God. The Bible tells a lot about God, we just can’t know Him fully. There are many passages that talk about the incomprehensibility of God. Let’s look at a few passages. says,

- But this stirs up the question, can we really know all there is to know about God?

Therefore, it may be easier to understand the meaning of attributes as character properties that are not only connected but inter weaved through each other.

What God is.

Let me clarify what I mean by simplicity or unity and then illustrate what God is not. Then we will move on to what God is and how we will categized God’s attributes. By simplicity I am not speaking of a simpleton or foolishness. Nor am I speaking about something easily understood, but I am meaning not a conglomeration of parts – “God is not like man” (, ) made up of parts. He is complete unity within His being and attributes – which gives us some insight into how he can be tri-unity, but the Doctrine of the Trinity is for another day.

- So, I think, when we start to study God we should start out by saying,

"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.”

- Historically, Christianity believes that on one hand God is incomprehensibly.

- Abraham Kuyper said,

(Illustration) According to question 4 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism: “God is Spirit, Infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth (Williamson 16). What this means is that God is infinite in His Being, His wisdom, His power, His holiness, His justice, His goodness, and His truth. At the same time, He is eternal in His Being, His wisdom, His power, His holiness, His justice, His goodness, and His truth. At the same time, He is unchangeable in His Being, His wisdom, His power, His holiness, His justice, His goodness, and His truth.

Unsearchable means you can’t get to the end of it; you can’t find it all out. So, can we ever know about all of God’s greatness? – No, this Passage says it is unsearchable! But we know God is great. What about

- theology as the knowledge of God differs from all other knowledge. In the study of all other sciences man places himself above the object of his investigation and actively elicits from it his knowledge by whatever method may seem most appropriate, but in theology he does not stand above but rather under the object of his knowledge. In other words, man can know God only in so far as (…) [God] actively makes Himself known” (Berkhof 34).

- WOW this is amazing that the Creator of the universe has let us know anything about Him.]

- He is infinite, and we are finite.

As I said earlier, God and His attributes are one. And although, at times, Scripture might only mention one attribute – for instance, “God is holy” () “God is just” () “God is love” () “God is Wrathful” () “God is Spirit” () - yet Scripture never puts them in opposition of each other; nor does it imply that we should single on out from the others. For example, in , when Mosses is interceding for Israel he asked God to show him His glory (v.18), God told Moses that no one could see His glory and live (v.20). His glory is so incomprehensible that it would destroy a finite being. So, God put Mosses in the cleft of a rock (v.21) and then in it says, (PowerPoint)

"Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.”

- In other words, it is necessary for God to reveal himself to us if we are to know anything about God.

- But on the other hand, we can know some truths about God & those truths are an essential unto salvation.

- We know that God has reveal Himself to His creation in two ways, general revelation, that is through His creation & special revelation – the Bible. Can anyone differentiate…?

"The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

To say it another way, which brings nuance to our understanding of God’s unity, is that God’s Attributes are completely integrated, that is, they define one another. But this isn’t to say they are the same thing as one another (as the earlier quote from Hodges stated we need to be careful not to do). We can say the God is Holy, Just, Loving, and Merciful (etc. etc.). In other words, God’s holiness is a just-loving-merciful-holiness, His justice is holy-loving-merciful-justice, His love is holy-just-merciful-love. His mercy is a holy-just-loving-mercy (etc., etc.).

Let me make explicitly say what I have been implying. The unity of God is one of His attributes. Like many theologians, I think it is helpful to illustrate attribute unity by looking at a grid. Now, I know that many times when we try to use illustrations to describe God, people fall into heresy because no finite illustration can fully describe our infinite God. So, I am sure there are flaws in this illustration. Therefore, don’t label me a heretic and look to ways to cut down this illustration.

- Even general revelation requires God to reveal Himself to us for us to know God exist.

Notice, when God describes His glory He proclaims what He is. To say it another way, there is no such thing as beauty outside of God and God isn’t just glory He defines glory. There isn’t such a thing called glory that God has: God is glory and merciful, gracious, love, and just. This speaks into the non-contingency of God (meaning not relying on something else to be in existence). But we will get into that in the upcoming lessons.

Are you ever going to be able to measure God’s understanding or power? – No, He knows far more than we will ever know, and he is more powerful than we can imagine (because we are finite, and He is infinite). Continuing in the Old Testament says,

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

- Historically, Christianity believes that on one hand God is incomprehensibly.

- Paul affirms this when he says everyone in the world is without excuses because we all know that God exist.

(Illustration) Therefore, we should not think of God’s attributes as a conglomeration of parts or substance that individually make up His being, as if to say: Here is God’s love, and here is his wrath, there is His holiness, there is his grace, etc. etc. However, many people see God as being a collection of individual parts. We hear this when someone asks us “If God is so good why is so much injustice?”

- [God could have created everything & not let us know Him at all.

(Illustration) To see how God’s attributes are interwoven and unified, think of a grid of lines with the lines representing the attributes of God. To use the same attributes as listed above, you might see the vertical lines as God's holiness Then you might view the Horizonal lines as His justice. We might see the diagonal lines going from the upper left corner to the lower right corner as His love. Furthermore, we could see the diagonal lines going from the upper right corner to the lower left corner as His mercy. We could go on and on drawing line. The point of intersections shows the unity within the being of God.

- I do not know if we appreciated that enough.

(Illustration) We also don’t want to see God’s attributes as something that is added to His being or outside of his being. God’s attributes are not additions to His being. Many people imaging God’s being and then think of His attributes as a type of personality or character that is clothing who He really is. Then, when you add the idea that we can’t know ourselves until we know God, as Calvin said, it’s no wonder so many view God in a way that limits Him to human characteristics.

- He is infinite, and we are finite.

Do you want to talk about that for a minute before we move onto Categorization?

Again, we can’t fully understand God’s thought or ways of doing things. From a practical stand point, not just an intellectual one, we have all seen something happening (and we know God has control over His Creation), but we can’t figure out, for the life of us, why things worked out the way they did. But then sometimes God does reveal to us His reason but many times He does not. The New Testament Confirms the Incomprehensibility of God as well. Paul says in ,

Paul said in ,

- But on the other hand, we can know some truths about God & those truths are a requisite unto salvation.

- For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse. –

"Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”

- How would we know about Him if He didn’t let us know Him?

(PowerPoint) Charles Hodges warns us about misunderstanding the unity of the attributes. He said,

(T.S) But how do we categorize God’s attributes, and should we categorize them?

- We could have been stuck in the dark and have known nothing about Him.

So, again we see that we can’t fully know God’s wisdom, or His knowledge and this verse says that His judgments are unsearchable, that is you just can’t get to the end of it because it is unfathomable. And His ways are inscrutable. The Greek word ἀνεξιχνίαστος (anexichniastos) literally means “incomprehensible.” So, Paul goes through 11 chapters of deep rich theological truths about God and the plan of Salvation and God’s plan through history then he looks back and says, O my goodness this is more than any human being could search out and understand.

In attempting to explain the relation in which the attributes of God stand to his essence and to each other, there are two extremes to be avoided. First, we must not represent God as a composite being, composed of different elements; and, secondly, we must not confound the attributes, making them all mean the same thing, which is equivalent to denying them all together.

Categorization:

- So, Paul is saying that when one looks at the creation: the plants, the animals, the land, the stars – all of Creation – they all tell of the glory of God;

- God could have created everything & not let us know Him at all.

So, what can’t we know? – We can’t fully know His greatness, His thought, His power, His judgments and the list goes on and on. But I don’t want to spend all our time on the incomprehensibility of God when we are only laying the foundation for a study on the Attributes of God. But let’s look at a few more passages anyway. In Paul says,

Category Summarization:

- So, I think, when we start to study God we should start out by saying,

Therefore, it may be easier to understand the meaning of attributes as character properties that are not only connected but inter weaved through each other.

because of how wonderfully made they are.

There is no single way to categorize the attributes and many theologians do it in different ways. All the categories have their faults and the main fault is that they divide God’s attributes into two parts so that we can somewhat understand them. The first classification of attributes focusses on God Himself and the second one focuses on God in relation to His creation. Most of the different classifications don’t express different modes of classifications but are different modes of designating the same classification. In other words, most of the classifications say they same thing in different ways.

- WOW this is amazing that the Creator of the universe has let us know anything about Him.]

- But that is general revelations all people know this is true rather they “suppress this truth” (Roman 1:18) or not they have no excuse the Word of God says.

- I do not know if we appreciated that enough.

"…the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.”

What God is.

A few different classifications are:

- How would we know about Him if He didn’t let us know Him?

Again, this passage says that no one can comprehend the thoughts of God or fully understand God. Some may say because the Spirit of God indwells in the Christian he can know some things about God that the un-believer does not know and that is true, but this is still not to say that we can know all there is to know about God. He is incomprehensible, that is we cannot fully comprehend Him. There is nothing in Scripture that says we can know all there is to know about God. Some people have tried to say that there is a verse in the Bible that says we will fully know God. They base this on a misunderstanding of ; and that says,

- We know that God has reveal Himself to His creation in two ways, general revelation: through His creation & special revelation – the Bible.

(Illustration) According to question 4 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism: “God is Spirit, Infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth (Williamson 16). What this means is that God is infinite in His Being, His wisdom, His power, His holiness, His justice, His goodness, and His truth. At the same time, He is eternal in His Being, His wisdom, His power, His holiness, His justice, His goodness, and His truth. At the same time, He is unchangeable in His Being, His wisdom, His power, His holiness, His justice, His goodness, and His truth.

- But this isn’t saving knowledge.

Can anyone differentiate…?

To say it another way, which brings nuance to our understanding of God’s unity, is that God’s Attributes are completely integrated, that is, they define one another. But this isn’t to say they are the same thing as one another (as the earlier quote from Hodges stated we need to be careful not to do). We can say the God is Holy, Just, Loving, and Merciful (etc. etc.). In other words, God’s holiness is a just-loving-merciful-holiness, His justice is holy-loving-merciful-justice, His love is holy-just-merciful-love. His mercy is a holy-just-loving-mercy (etc., etc.).

1. natural (pointing inward) and moral: objections: Moral attributes are just as natural in God as in others.

- Even general revelation requires God to reveal Himself to us for us to know God exist.

- We could have been stuck in the dark and have known nothing about Him.

- We’re not saved by the acknowledgement that God exist.

"For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.” ().

- If we are going to know God personally for salvation that is going to take a special revelation.

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” ().

Let me make explicitly say what I have been implying. The unity of God is one of His attributes. Like many theologians, I think it is helpful to illustrate attribute unity by looking at a grid. Now, I know that many times when we try to use illustrations to describe God, people fall into heresy because no finite illustration can fully describe our infinite God. So, I am sure there are flaws in this illustration. Therefore, don’t label me a heretic and look to ways to cut down this illustration.

- So, I think, when we start to study God we should start out by saying,

2. absolute (belongs to essence) and relative (considered in relation to creation) Objections: seems to assume that we can know God’s personality apart from having a relationship with him.

- Paul affirms this when he says everyone in the world is without excuses because we all know that God exist.

Paul said in ,

3. immanent (operating within) or intransitive (do not go forth) and emanant or transitive (go forth and produce effects) for instance omnipotence, justice, benevolence. Objections: If some immanent how could we know about them?

Some see these texts to mean that since we have the “Mind of Christ” “will fully know God as God fully knows us.” However, this is a misunderstanding of what the Greek word ἐπιγινώσκω (epiginosko) means in . The word ἐπιγινώσκω is much like the word γινωσκω (ginosko) they both mean to “know” but ἐπιγινώσκω means to “know with more emphasis” – to know. It does not mean omniscient or knowing everything. But what it does mean that we will know God more than we can know Him now. Furthermore, says,

(Illustration) To see how God’s attributes are interwoven and unified, think of a grid of lines with the lines representing the attributes of God. To use the same attributes as listed above, you might see the vertical lines as God's holiness Then you might view the Horizonal lines as His justice. We might see the diagonal lines going from the upper left corner to the lower right corner as His love. Furthermore, we could see the diagonal lines going from the upper right corner to the lower left corner as His mercy. We could go on and on drawing line. The point of intersections shows the unity within the being of God.

Special Revelation:

WOW this is amazing that the Creator of the universe has let us know anything about Him.

Romans 1:19–20 ESV

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Do you want to talk about that for a minute before we move onto Categorization?

- But think about that for a minute, if you didn’t have God reaching out to you, you would never find out about salvation – how could you?

"But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—”

- We know that God has reveal Himself to His creation in two ways, general revelation, that is through His creation & special revelation – the Bible.

- For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse. –

4. incommunicable and communicable

(T.S) But how do we categorize God’s attributes, and should we categorize them?

- So, Paul is saying that when one looks at the creation: the plants, the animals, the land, the stars – all of Creation – they all tell of the glory of God;

If it would have meant that we would know everything about God or all there is to know about God that would make us omniscience. I know if you are reading out of the New American Standard Translation they actually translated the Greek word ὅσος (hosos) to the words “all that” but the grammar is not emphasizing the muchness of that phrase. In other words, ὅσος does not mean “all” it means “as great as” or “much”, “many”, “long”, “to the degree that.” Finally, if Paul was going to say we would have all knowledge of God he would have used one of the several Greek word for “all” like πᾶς which is translated “all” 835 times because it literally means “all” or “whole” or “every.” Nevertheless, we can and should continue to learn more and more about God and enjoy learning about Him forever and ever.

- If we are going to know God for salvation, He needs to reveal Himself to us.

It is obvious that we must categorize the attributes if we are going to study them, but the way we categorize them has implications. It is possible to categorize them in such a way that one would be over emphasized while others are not emphasized enough. Although we are not coving all the attributes during our introductory study, we are going to use the most common categorization, namely, the Incommunicable and communicable.

- Even general revelation requires God to reveal Himself to us for us to know God exist.

- So, in Jesus said,

Categorization:

We always have to come back to the understanding that we cannot fully know God; He is infinite, and we are finite. But that is not to say that we cannot know some things about God. We can know some truths about God:

This categorization is self-explanatory. Incommunicable would be attributes that God does not share and communicable would be one He does share. And although this categorization is helpful, the problem with this categorization is that no attribute is completely communicable, and no attribute is completely incommunicable. For instance, we have power that God has shared with us, but we are not omnipotent (which is one of the communicable attributes). Or we could say, God is omnipresent, that means He is everywhere. Omnipresence is one of God’s incommunicable attributes – He doesn’t share that with us. But we can be influential in more than one place at a time. So, we need to study these with the understanding that this categorization has flaws. As Grudem says,

- Paul affirms this when he says everyone in the world is without excuses because we all know that God exist.

because of how wonderfully made they are.

Paul said in ,

It is better to say that those attributes we call “communicable” are those that are more shared with us. Those attributes we call “incommunicable” are better defined by saying that they are attributes of God that are less shared by us.

- But that is general revelations all people know this is true rather they “suppress this truth” (Roman 1:18) or not they have no excuse the Word of God says.

- All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. -

Category Summarization:

- For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse. –

For instance, we know that:

There is no single way to categorize the attributes and many theologians do it in different ways. All the categories have their faults and the main fault is that they divide God’s attributes into two parts so that we can somewhat understand them. The first classification of attributes focusses on God Himself and the second one focuses on God in relation to His creation. Most of the different classifications don’t express different modes of classifications but are different modes of designating the same classification. In other words, most of the classifications say they same thing in different ways.

(T.S) I’m sure your wondering what attributes we are going to study over the next several weeks.

- But this isn’t saving knowledge.

Misconceptions of Human Wisdom:

- We’re not saved by the acknowledgement that God exist.

“God is holy” ()

- The smartest people in the world might say that they can know God through there wisdom.

Attributes to be covered:

A few different classifications are:

- So, Paul is saying that when one looks at the creation: the plants, the animals, the land, the stars – all of Creation – they all tell of the glory of God;

- If we are going to know God personally for salvation that is going to take a special revelation.

because of how wonderfully made they are.

- According to this verse, Jesus said that is not true.

Incommunicable Attributes:

“God is just” ()

1. natural (pointing inward) and moral: objections: Moral attributes are just as natural in God as in others.

- If we are to know God, we will have to rely on Jesus’ initiative.

“God is love” ()

But that is general revelations all people know this is true rather they “suppress this truth” (Roman 1:18) or not they have no excuse the Word of God says.

2. absolute (belongs to essence) and relative (considered in relation to creation) Objections: seems to assume that we can know God’s personality apart from having a relationship with him.

Unity

Independence

- That’ s why Paul said in ,

But this is not a saving knowledge.

“God is Wrathful” ()

- But think about that for a minute, if you didn’t have God reaching out to you, you would never find out about salvation – how could you?

3. immanent (operating within) or intransitive (do not go forth) and emanant or transitive (go forth and produce effects) for instance omnipotence, justice, benevolence. Objections: If some immanent how could we know about them?

Unchangeableness

- If we are going to know God for salvation, He needs to reveal Himself to us.

4. incommunicable and communicable

“God is Spirit” ()

One is not saved by the acknowledgement that God exist.

- The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. -

- In He said,

If we were to think about just one thing about God, maybe God’s love, could we know all there is to know about God’s love? - No. But what we do know is true. We cannot know all there is to know about God’s justice, love, wrath etc. However, many of these truths about God He wants us to imitate but we cannot do it perfectly. But he gives us the ability to grow in the grace and knowledge of Himself (). For instance, says,

It is obvious that we must categorize the attributes if we are going to study them, but the way we categorize them has implications. It is possible to categorize them in such a way that one would be over emphasized while others are not emphasized enough. Although we are not coving all the attributes during our introductory study, we are going to use the most common categorization, namely, the Incommunicable and communicable.

- So, in Jesus said,

If we are going to know God personally for salvation that is going to take a special revelation.

Omnipresence

Matthew 11:27 ESV

All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

- For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. -

"so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”

Communicable:

- All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. -

This categorization is self-explanatory. Incommunicable would be attributes that God does not share and communicable would be one He does share. And although this categorization is helpful, the problem with this categorization is that no attribute is completely communicable, and no attribute is completely incommunicable. For instance, we have power that God has shared with us, but we are not omnipotent (which is one of the communicable attributes). Or we could say, God is omnipresent, that means He is everywhere. Omnipresence is one of God’s incommunicable attributes – He doesn’t share that with us. But we can be influential in more than one place at a time. So, we need to study these with the understanding that this categorization has flaws. As Grudem says,

It is better to say that those attributes we call “communicable” are those that are more shared with us. Those attributes we call “incommunicable” are better defined by saying that they are attributes of God that are less shared by us.

Look at that verse, it says that we can increase in knowledge, so we can know more and more about God as we “grow in His grace and knowledge” (). We can know all these true facts about the being of God, but more importantly, the Bible tells us that we can know God intimately. Jesus, In His high priestly prayer really emphasizes this intimate relationship. In john 17:3 Jesus said,

Spirituality

Misconceptions by Misinterpretation:

But think about that for a minute, if you didn’t have God reaching out to you, you would never find out about salvation – how could you? If we are going to know God for salvation He needs to reveal Himself to us. So, in Jesus said,

(T.S) I’m sure your wondering what attributes we are going to study over the next several weeks.

- The wisdom of the world cannot save you.

"And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (, ESV)

"All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

Omniscience

- The smartest people in the world might say that they can know God through there wisdom.

Will

- According to this verse, Jesus said that is not true.

Attributes to be covered:

Notice the emphasis on knowing God not just knowing about God. Just in case someone has the crazy idea that Jesus was only praying for the Apostles, I will tell you anyone whose name is in book of life of the Lamb who has been slain () Jesus personally prayed for at His Hight Priestly prayer to the Father. It is only a few verses down. I am willing to bet that you have read this verse several times but never noticed you name in the Gospel of John. Jesus prayed in

- Because of the fall, it’s our natural tendency to misinterpret the revelation of God found in nature.

- If we are to know God, we will have to rely on Jesus’ initiative.

Incommunicable Attributes:

Sovereignty

- That is another reason why we need God to reveal himself to us.

"As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

The smartest people in the world might say that they can know God through there wisdom. According to this verse, Jesus said that is not true. If we are to know God, we will have to rely on Jesus’ initiative. And that is why Paul said in ,

- That’ s why Paul said in ,

Omnipotence

O brothers and sisters, do you see the riches of the glory of the grace of God – Jesus, the King of kings the Lord of Lords prayed for you. Do not let this study on the Attributes of God become an intellectual expertise. The Creator of the Universe chose to reveal Himself to you! Therefore, God’s incomprehensibility means we cannot inexhaustibly know God in this life or the next, but we can intimately know true things about God. Stop and think about that for a moment, your Creator is greater than we will ever comprehend. I think this is really good for us to understand that God is greater than we can ever comprehend, and we will spend all eternity basking in His glory. This should give you such a feeling of ow and reverence towards God.

"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

says,

Unity, Independence, Unchangeableness, Omnipresence

Communicable:

Holiness

And in He said,

- For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. –

But how could we possibly understand the confusing complexities of God?

1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

"For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.”

Goodness

- They see things in nature that reveal God, but they misinterpret them.

- In He said,

Spirituality, Omniscience, Will, Sovereignty, Omnipotence, Holiness, Goodness, Grace, Love, Wrath

Grace

- For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. -

- They see God, but they don’t honor Him as God -

1 Corinthians 1:21 ESV

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.

The wisdom of the world cannot save you and that is because human beings have a tendency to misinterpret the revelation of God found in nature. And that is another reason why we need God to reveal himself to us. says,

- They exchanged they truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator - Romans1:23.

I agree with Berkoff when he said,

Love

Can you think of any other I

- The wisdom of the world cannot save you.

Wrath

“It would be a mistake to conceive of the essence of God as existing by itself and prior to the attributes, and of the attributes as additive and accidental characteristics of the Divine Being. They are essential qualities of God, which inhere in His very Being and are co-existent with it. These qualities cannot be altered without altering the essential Being of God. And since they are essential qualities, each one of them reveals to us some aspect of the Being of God” (Berkhof 46).

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”

- We see this all the time in Trible religions.

That being said, I still believe it is fruitful, inasmuch as, understanding some truths about our majestic incomprehensible Triune God.[2]

- Because of the fall, it’s our natural tendency to misinterpret the revelation of God found in nature.

They see things in nature that reveal God, but they misinterpret them. They see God but “they don’t honor Him as God” () “They exchanged they truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans1:23). We see this all the time in Trible religions, they see the invisible attributes of God within creation and then they worship them. We see this a lot in the Old Testament, that’s because people misinterpret creation.

- They see the invisible attributes of God within creation and then they worship them.

Although the being of God cannot be separated from the attributes of God (without God ceasing to be God) I want to address the being of God in relation to the substance that makes His essence. Although we are laying the foundation for the attributes of God, which can be understood as the substance or the properties of the being of God it will be helpful to understand the difference between essence and substance.

- We see this a lot in the Old Testament, that’s because people misinterpret creation.

Or how about when people misinterpret the meaning of space? How many of you have heard someone, when they are looking at the stars, say WOW the universe is so big, and we are so small there must be other creatures out there. They misinterpret the meaning of the stars. gives us the correct interpretation of the heavens.

- That is another reason why we need God to reveal himself to us.

- [Or how about when people misinterpret the meaning of space?

says,

Essence (or nature) is that which makes something what it is; without it, it would cease to be, and it is what distinguishes it form another. Whereas, substance is that out of which something is made. In other words, substance is the stuff that makes it what it is. To say it another way, with a tangible example, the essence of a human is its humanity which distinguishes it from other animals; whereas, one of the substances that make an animal a human being is its rationality. A well known and simpler way to put it is by looking at the essence of a triangle which has three parts if you take one of those parts away it ceases to be a triangle.

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

So, how can we correctly interpret the creation? We have to encounter the special revelation - we need the Bible and we need God to personally make Himself known to us.

How many of you have heard someone, when they are looking at the stars, say WOW the universe is so big, and we are so small there must be other creatures out there.

- For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. –

Essence is that which makes something what it is. Substance is that out of which something is made. A wooden chair is made of wood, so the wood is its substance, but the wood isn't its essence. The design of the chair together with the wood is what makes it what it is, its essence. But in God, essence and substance have to be one because he is simple, unified supremely being. He is pure act. That is, he is what he does. He loves and is love. He knows and is knowledge. He lives and is life.

Romans 1:18 ESV

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

We’ve gone over the misconceptions of misinterpretation, and human wisdom.

- They see things in nature that reveal God, but they misinterpret them.

Do you want to talk about what has been covered so far before we move on to what an attribute is and is not?

They misinterpret the meaning of the stars.]

- They see God, but they don’t honor Him as God -

- gives us the correct interpretation of the heavens.

(T.S.) So, what is an Attribute.

We know that General revelation reveals God and His attributes but that isn’t enough to save us – we need God to reveal Himself to us personally through His special revelation.

- The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. -

- They exchanged they truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator - .

But can we really know God?

First off, I cannot emphasize enough that an attribute does not add to God which might be the natural assumption because the word attribute gives the idea of adding something. Augustus Strong’s sheds light on this when he said,

How much can we know about God?

- So, how can we correctly interpret the creation?

- We see this all the time in Trible religions.

- We have to encounter the special revelation - we need the Bible & we need God to personally make Himself known to us.

The attribute is the whole essence acting in a certain way. The centre of unity is not in any one attribute, but in the essence.… The difference between the divine attribute and the divine person is, that the person is a mode of the existence of the essence, while the attribute is a mode either of the relation, or of the operation, of the essence” (Strong 246).

- They see the invisible attributes of God within creation and then they worship them.

Can we know everything there is to know about God?

- We see this a lot in the Old Testament, that’s because people misinterpret creation.

It is commonly said in theology that God’s attributes are God Himself, as He has revealed Himself to us that is, God’s attributes are His properties. For this reason, I find it easier to view the attributes as a type of character property that is immutable. God’s attributes can be defined as: those essential distinguishing character properties of God, that He has revealed to His creation, that are inseparable from the Godhead. In other words, they are the stuff that describe His total character.

- We’ve gone over the misconceptions of misinterpretation, and human wisdom.

We must affirm that God is incomprehensible because God is infinite, and we are finite. But that doesn’t mean that we cannot know some things about God. It just means that we are unable to fully understand God.

- [Or how about when people misinterpret the meaning of space?

(T.S.) So, how does this stuff describe His character?

- General revelation reveals God and His attributes but that isn’t enough to save us.

How many of you have heard someone, when they are looking at the stars, say WOW the universe is so big, and we are so small there must be other creatures out there.

But to be fair, this is a Christian worldview and not everyone holds to this view. John Frame explained this in his Systematic Theology. He, most excellently, described the difference between the way Christians and non-Christians see God’s Transcendence – that is God being high and lifted up beyond the physical or normal levels, far away (; ; ; ) and the way they see God’s immanence (closeness or being within). Frame said,

- We need God to reveal Himself to us personally, through His special revelation.

They misinterpret the meaning of the stars.]

The Relationship of the Attributes to the Being of God:

In the biblical understanding, God’s transcendence over the world is his control and authority, his immanence in the world his covenantal presence. Non-Christian thought, too, often acknowledges some “transcendent reality.” But on the non-Christian view, transcendence refers to a reality that is so far beyond us, so mysterious to us, that we cannot have certain knowledge about it. And for non-Christian thought, immanence means that supreme authority and power is vested in the world, not in something beyond the world. So biblical transcendence (1) contradicts nonbiblical immanence (4), and nonbiblical transcendence (3) contradicts biblical immanence (2). To know God rightly, we must view the world as Scripture does, not as non-Christian thought does (Frame 701).

Let me clarify what I mean by simplicity or unity and then illustrate what God is not. Then we will move on to what God is and how we will categized God’s attributes. By simplicity I am not speaking of a simpleton or foolishness. Nor am I speaking about something easily understood, but I am meaning not a conglomeration of parts – “God is not like man” (, ) made up of parts. He is complete unity within His being and attributes – which gives us some insight into how he can be tri-unity, but the Doctrine of the Trinity is for another day.

I’m sure I don’t need to emphasize the importance of understanding this difference, but what does the Bible teach us about the incomprehensibility of God? God is incomprehensible but that doesn’t mean we can’t know anything about God. The Bible tells a lot about God, we just can’t know Him fully. There are many passages that talk about the incomprehensibility of God. Let’s look at a few passages. says,

- gives us the correct interpretation of the heavens.

The Relationship of Essence and Substance to God’s Attributes:

"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.”

- The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. -

I agree with Berkoff when he said,

As I said earlier, God and His attributes are one. And although, at times, Scripture might only mention one attribute – for instance, “God is holy” () “God is just” () “God is love” () “God is Wrathful” () “God is Spirit” () - yet Scripture never puts them in opposition of each other; nor does it imply that we should single on out from the others. For example, in , when Mosses is interceding for Israel he asked God to show him His glory (v.18), God told Moses that no one could see His glory and live (v.20). His glory is so incomprehensible that it would destroy a finite being. So, God put Mosses in the cleft of a rock (v.21) and then in it says, (PowerPoint)

Psalm 19:1 ESV

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.