DCox Online Library: Theology Proper (Study of God) Resources Page

Lutherans - 2 types: (1) quiescent/negative - attributes which have no effect on the world [Unity, Simplicity, Immutability, Infinity, Omnipresence, Eternity] and (2) operative/positive - attributes which operate on the world [Life, Knowledge, Wisdom, Will, Holiness, Justice, Truthfulness, Power, Goodness, Mercy, Love, Grace, Longsuffering, Patience].

Arminian-Wesleyan - 3 types: (1) absolute attributes - which belong to God apart from His creative work [spirituality, infinity, eternity, immensity, immutability, perfection] (2) relative attributes - which are those arising from the relation of Creator and creature and require the existence of creation [omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience, wisdom, goodness] and (3) moral attributes - which are proper to the relation between God and moral beings under his government [holiness, love, justice, righteousness, truth, grace].

Thomas Oden (Methodist in the Arminian-Wesleyan mindset) defines 4 groups: (1) Primary attributes - which belong to God's essence apart from God's creative work [Aseity, Independence, Necessity, Oneness, Simplicity, Immensity, Eternality, Incomparable Aliveness], (2) relational attributes - which arise necessarily out of the relation of God with the created order [Omnipresence, Omniscience, Prescience, Foreknowledge, Wisdom, Omnipotence] (3) Interpersonal attributes - those that arise out of personal and interpersonal analogies inasmuch as the revelation of God is personal, and human beings, the recipients of revelation are persons [Divine Selfhood, Personal Agency, All-Experiencing One, Congruent in Feeling, Sensibility, Emotivity, Affection, Spirituality, Invisibility, Freedom, Will] (4)Moral Attributes - which arise necessarily out of the relation of personal being capable of goodness and moral activity [Moral Purity, Holiness, Righteousness, Justice, Benevolence, Integrity, Congruence, Veracity, Faithfulness, Persistence, Love, Grace Mercy, Forbearance]

Reformed - (1) incommunicable attributes - [those which have nothing in common with the creature], (2) communicable attributes - [those which humanity can possibly bear some analogy]. A.A. Hodge makes the note that all of God's incommunicable attributes are present in man but in a different way. God is infinite in time and space, but we are finite and local. God is omniscience, all wise, and all powerful, and we have knowledge, some wisdom, and some ability (power). There is a relationship or element in which we share that attribute of God but not to the extent that God has it.

Louis Berkhof's list - (1) incommunicable attributes - [Self-existence, Immutability, Infinity (Perfection, Eternity, Immensity), Unity], (2) communicable attributes - [Spirituality, Intellectual Attributes, (Goodness, General Benevolence, Love, Grace, Mercy, Longsuffering, Holiness, Righteousness), Attributes of Sovereignty (will and power)]

Millard Erickson's list - (1) incommunicable attributes - [Spirituality, Personality, Life (self-existence), Infinity, (Immensity/Omnipresence, in relation to Time, Omniscience/Wisdom, Omnipotence) Constancy (Immutability)], (2) communicable attributes - [Moral Purity (Holiness, Righteousness, Justice, Integrity, Genuineness, Veracity, Faithfulness, Love, Benevolence, Grace, Mercy, Persistence)]

taken from Storms - Classifying the Divine Attributes

30.01.01 Omniscience (all knowing) <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Omniscience - Having total knowledge; knowing everything. (The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)

Essence of Omniscience of God - This term comes from two Latin words, omnis (all) and scientia (knowledge). It means that God has all knowledge. There is nothing that God does not know, past, present, or future. No person or being can be smarter than God nor fool (deceive) God. God never gained this knowledge by some means but all knowledge is inherently in God from eternity past.

God's knowledge is intuitive, not discursive - God's knowledge comes to Him innately and immediately. Our knowledge comes to us via discourses (observation, reasoning, comparison, induction, deduction, etc). God does not learn, He simply knows. He does not discover nor does He forget.

God's knowledge is simultaneous, not successive - God sees everything at once and in their totality, whereas we know only objects of knowledge that are presented to us, one after another through the course of living.

God's knowledge is independent, not dependent - God does not receive His knowledge from anyone or anything external to Himself. Isaiah 40:13-14.

God's knowledge is infallible, not subject to error - God by His nature is pure and true, and in God there can reside no error or impurity. God is always correct in what He knows and His process of thinking.

God's knowledge is infinite, not partial - "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world" Acts 15:18. God knows exhaustively all His own deeds and plans. He knows thoroughly all things. Nothing can escape His all piercing eye of knowledge. Psalm 139:1-4; Heb. 4:13; 1 Chron. 28:9a; Prov 15:3; Jer 17:9-10 (Jer 16:17; 1 Kings 8:39); Psa 69:5; Mat. 6:8; 1 John 3:20; Prov. 15:11; Jer. 18:23; Jer. 20:12.; Acts 1:24; Ezek 11:5; Isa 40:27-28.

As for God's knowledge of the inner man, see also John 2:25; 21:17; Jer. 11:20; 32:19; Luke 16:15; Rom. 8:27; Ps. 94:9-11; 1 Cor. 3:20; 1 Thess. 2:4; Rev. 2:23; 1 Sam. 16:7; Isa. 66:18; Deut. 31:21; Mt. 9:4; Acts 15:8.

As for God's knowledge of all our activities and ways, see also Job 23:10; 24:23; 31:4; Ps. 1:6; 33:13-15; 37:18; 119:168; Isa. 29:15; 1 Sam. 2:3; Mt. 10:30.

Adapted and taken from Sam Storms - Divine Omniscience

In addition this would extend to God understanding all things. Here God does not have to experience things to know them and understand them, for example, sin. God fully knows and understands sin in all of its ramifications without having to partake of that sin. This is essentially what all doctors do. They understand health, the correct functioning of the human body, and its dysfunction and disease without having to personally experienced each and every disease that they treat. This does not touch the fact that Jesus experienced sin in a non-personal way when He took our sins upon himself on the cross.

Our Reaction to God's Omniscience:

(1) Respect for the Authority of God - First of all we should obey, respect, and worship God because He is our Creator. But beyond being our "Owner" proper, God is Omniscience, and because of complete understanding of God over all things, God is to be respected and His Word is to be placed in an absolute and upheld place in our lives and thinking.

(2) God as inquiring Judge and Prosecutor - Perhaps the most damning or incriminating aspect of God's omniscience in relation to us is that God has given us commands, and we do not know or understand things better than God, and besides that, we as criminals cannot hide neither our persons nor our actions from an omniscient God.

(3) God's Omniscience and our Free Will - Some would try to make God's omniscience and foreknowledge a force which makes impossible any kind of free will on man's part. Our answer to this is first that God made man in God's image as a self-determining being. In other words, God gave man the ability to exercise a free will and live in the consequences of the decisions of that will. Part of the difficulty in understanding here comes in separating God from Creation. God is not essentially matter, but is separate from it. God existed before matter or the universe. God called matter into existence from nothing but His words. We measure time by the sun and rotation of the earth, and before those things existed, time was different, foreign to our way of understanding.

Explanation God on a Mountain - Consider God the Father sitting on a high mountain overseeing a lake flowing through a river to an ocean. God the Father can capture in one sight both the lake (eternity past), the winding river (time for us, creation through end of Revelation), and the ocean (eternity future) without ever moving his eye. Jesus left the mountain and came down to the river, and then returned, and equally the Holy Spirit came and will return one day. But God can see what is ahead and behind of the men who ride rafts down that river, and He can advise them from His vantage point of what is ahead. God the Father is always positioned in heaven in the Bible, and both God the Son and God the Spirit, and all men are directed to be subject to the will of God the Father in heaven. This is probably because God the Father in some aspect is dwelling outside of "time" and captures what was, what is, and what will be. The Apostle John went to heaven to receive his prophecy of the events of the end times.

Pink - The Attributes of God - The Knowledge of God
Pink - The Attributes of God - The Foreknowledge of God
Revival Theology Resources - Omniscience and the Openness of God (highly theological and difficult to understand)
Strauss, Richard - Perfect in Knowledge

Binney - Theological Compend (1875 Methodist) IIB Attributes of God (See point 1. d.) (b) 571K (57 pages)
Torrey, RA - What the Bible Teaches#The Omniscience of God
Pink, Arthur - Attributes of God#Immutability of God
Tozer - Knowledge Of The Holy#The Divine Omniscience

30.01.02 Immutability (unchangeable) <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Immutable - Not subject or susceptible to change. (The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)

Verses:
Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Essence of Immutability - God does not change, he is not voluble. God does not progress. He does not grow, he does not get wiser (that it impossible because he already is the sum total of all wisdom that ever could exist). For those obedient Christians, God never changes. But God does repent of the judgment He thinks to do to the disobedient when they repent and turn to God. With sinners, the fuse of His wrath is not endless but it is long (longsuffering and patience).

Our Reaction to God's Immutability - First of all, this is parallel to the faithfulness of God, so it should provoke a deep feeling of security and stability. God will not suddenly get mad with us beyond what is His nature. Everything runs the same even though there is coming an end to the patience of God.

God identifies as sin an eruption of emotion and actions that have no basis in previously dictated parameters. For example, Christ drove out the money changers in apparent controlled anger, because God had previously dictated their sin as being wrong. God also judged Noah's day and Sodom because they had broken previously dictated norms. Immutability does not mean lack of action (any action being a change). Immutability means that "rules of the game" never change. God's character and the way God deals is always the same. Final judgment of mankind is not a change in God, but a culmination of several of God's other attributes (Wrath, Holiness, Mercy (for some), etc.).

Pink - The Attributes of God - The Immutability of God
Spurgeon - Immutability of God (s).pdf 185K (12 pages)
Zanchius - Observations on the Divine Attributes: The Unchangeableness of Himself and His Decrees

Binney - Theological Compend (1875 Methodist) IIB Attributes of God (See point 1. f.) (b) 571K (57 pages)
Boyce - Abstract of Systematic Theology#The Immutability of God
Deffinbaugh - Attributes of God (b)#Immutability of God
Tozer - Knowledge Of The Holy#The Immutability of God

(offsite)
Strauss, Richard - I Change Not

30.01.03 Omnipotence (Power of God) <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Omnipotence - Having unlimited or universal power, authority, or force; all-powerful. (The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)

Essence of Omnipotence of God - This term signifies that God has all power. God has all power not in the sense that nobody else has any power, but rather that nobody can defeat God because His power is absolute over all other powers. God has endowed or granted powers to beings (Satan, angels, men, governments, etcetera) but that does not mean that God has automatically approved of what they do with their stewardship of power from God. God has also granted an independence in the from of a will, and a reckoning for each person with God over what he has been given.

¿Can God do something impossible? - Even though God can do all things, but all things that His will so desires. It is not in the interest of God to "make a four sided triangle" because God established the principle of triangles having three sides, and even though God can do anything, He follows the rules and principles that His will (in wisdom, goodness, and sovereignty) has established.

Charles Hodge, 19^th century Princeton theologian, makes this observation:

"It is . . . involved in the very idea of power, that it has reference to the production of possible effects. It is no more a limitation of power that it cannot effect the impossible, than it is of reason that it cannot comprehend the absurd, or of infinite goodness that it cannot do wrong. It is contrary to its nature. Instead of exalting, it degrades God, to suppose that He can be other than He is, or that He can act contrary to infinite wisdom and love. When, therefore, it is said that God is omnipotent because He can do whatever He wills, it is to be remembered that His will is determined by His nature. It is certainly no limitation to perfection to say that it cannot be imperfect" (Systematic Theology I:409).

These would appear to be those things God cannot do:

(1) the logically contradictory (God's inability to be illogical is prevented by his truth, righteousness, faithfulness, etc.);
(2) immoral actions (again, because of his moral excellency and consistency);
(3) actions appropriate to finite creatures;
(4) actions denying his own nature as God; and
(5) the alteration of his eternal plan.

(Augustine) ...to be able to do all that one wills to do is to be omnipotent. But to be unable to do what one does not will to do is not weakness, for power is the ability to do one's will, not the ability to do what is not one's will.

Taken from Storms - Divine Omnipotence

Our Reaction to God's Omnipotence - First of all we need to understand that God does not prevent beings with wills from acting. God influences their actions, but God does not absolutely overrule their ability to make improper or sinful decisions. That right goes with an independent will from God. Next we need to understand that when God speaks, especially in predicting the future or making promises, God's word is infinitely better than anyone else's, because God is all powerful. God does not predict the future as the term is commonly used. Predictions have a percentage of possibility of not coming true. That is because nobody can know the future, nor the forces that can change the obvious to make the impossible to come about. But God is in a different category, and He has already seen the future as the past. His "predictions" are information that he perceives as if it were presently happening, and with God this is the best sense, past and future is present with Him. All rebellion to God all powerful is futile, stupid, and will not end well.

Colossians 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Charnock - Power of God (a) 45K (18 pages)
Pink - The Attributes of God - The Power of God

Binney - Theological Compend (1875 Methodist) IIB Attributes of God (See point 1. e.) (b) 571K (57 pages)
Deffinbaugh - Attributes of God (b)#Power of God
Torrey, RA - What the Bible Teaches#The Omnipotence of God
Pink, Arthur - Attributes of God#Power of God
Tozer - Knowledge Of The Holy#The Omnipotence of God
Dabney, Robert (author profile) - Systematic Theology#God is All Powerful

(offsite)
Storms - Divine Omnipotence
Strauss, Richard - God is Able

30.01.04 Goodness <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Goodness - 1. The state or quality of being good. 2. The beneficial or nutritious part. (The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)

Essence of Goodness of God -

Our Reaction to God's Goodness -

Pink - The Attributes of God - The Goodness of God
Pink, Arthur - The Attributes of God - The Lovingkindness of God
Strauss, Richard - God is So Good

Binney - Theological Compend (1875 Methodist) IIB Attributes of God (See point 2. b.) (b) 571K (57 pages)
Deffinbaugh - Attributes of God (b)#Goodness of God
Pink, Arthur - Attributes of God#Goodness of God
Tozer - Knowledge Of The Holy#The Goodness of God
Dabney, Robert (author profile) - Systematic Theology#God's Benevolence

30.01.05 Wisdom <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Wisdom - 1. The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight. 2. Common sense; good judgment. 3a. The sum of learning through the ages; knowledge. b. Wise teachings of the ancient sages. 4. A wise outlook, plan, or course of action. (The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)

Essence of Wisdom of God -

Our Reaction to God's Wisdom -

Charnock - Wisdom of God (a) 43K (15 pages)
Strauss, Richard - Treasures of Wisdom
Zanchius - Observations on the Divine Attributes: His Eternal Wisdom and Foreknowledge

Binney - Theological Compend (1875 Methodist) IIB Attributes of God (See point 2. a.) (b) 571K (57 pages)
Deffinbaugh - Attributes of God (b)#Wisdom of God
Pink, Arthur - Attributes of God#knowledge of God foreknowledge of God
Tozer - Knowledge Of The Holy#The Wisdom of God

30.01.06 Eternity or Infinity of God <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Eternal - 1. Being without beginning or end; existing outside of time. 2. Continuing without interruption; perpetual. 3. Forever true or changeless. (The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)

Dictionary Definition of Infinite - 1. Having no boundaries or limits. 2. Immeasurably great or large; boundless. (The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)

Essence of Eternity of God -

Our Reaction to God's Eternity -

Charnock - Eternity of God (a) 26K (10 pages)
Binney - Theological Compend (1875 Methodist) IIB Attributes of God (See point 1. b. Eternity) (b) 571K (57 pages)
Torrey, RA - What the Bible Teaches#The Eternity of God
Tozer - Knowledge Of The Holy#God's Infinity
Dabney, Robert (author profile) - Systematic Theology#God's Eternity
Dabney, Robert (author profile) - Systematic Theology#God is Immense
Dabney, Robert (author profile) - Systematic Theology#God is Infinite

(offsite)
Strauss, Richard - From Everlasting to Everlasting

30.01.07 Holiness of God <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Holy - 1. Belonging to, derived from, or associated with a divine power; sacred. 2. Regarded with or worthy of worship or veneration; revered: a holy book. 3. Living according to a strict or highly moral religious or spiritual system; saintly: a holy person. 4. Specified or set apart for a religious purpose: a holy place. 5. Solemnly undertaken; sacrosanct. 6. Regarded as deserving special respect or reverence. (The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)

Essence of Holiness of God - The being of God is different from all other beings in creation. God therefore has both a unity with His creation (it is His by right of having made it) and a separation from His creation (in that although God is present everywhere in everything, but everything is not or does not share the essence of God). All creation is god is the concept of pantheism. God is separate and apart from His creation. What's more, God does commune, visit, watch, and participate in His creation, but God maintains a different kind of separateness from His creation in specifics in His creation by the concept of Holiness. This is concept that a person, action, or thing can be in a moment or action close to God (holy) or far from the presence of God (unholy). The concept of "profane" is that of being common, or not special in the eyes and concepts of God.

Our Reaction to God's Holiness - Understanding that God has a special closeness to certain things, people, actions, etcetera, and a certain distance from others, we should look with all our hearts to seek after and find and obtain and impose in our lives those things that bring that special nearness to God, and reject, abhor, and excise those things which bring a distance between God and His creation.

Pink - The Attributes of God - The Holiness of God
Strauss, Richard - The Holy One

Binney - Theological Compend (1875 Methodist) IIB Attributes of God (See point 2. c.) (b) 571K (57 pages)
Deffinbaugh - Attributes of God (b)#Holiness of God
Torrey, RA - What the Bible Teaches#The Holiness of God
Pink, Arthur - Attributes of God#Holiness of God
Tozer - Knowledge Of The Holy#The Holiness of God

30.01.08 Justice <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Justice - 1. The quality of being just; conformity to the principles of righteousness and rectitude in all things; strict performance of moral obligations; practical conformity to human or divine law; integrity in the dealings of men with each other; rectitude; equity; uprightness. 2. Conformity to truth and reality in expressing opinions and in conduct; fair representation of facts respecting merit or demerit; honesty, fidelity, impartiality; as, the justice of a description or of a judgment; historical justice. 3. The rendering to every one his due or right; just treatment; requital of desert; merited reward or punishment; that which is due to one's conduct or motives. 4. Agreeableness to right; equity; justness.

Essence of Justice of God - "Just" is a concept of right, proper, what should be. God never judges nor acts in such a way as being unfair, unrighteous, or improper. Although He does not do what we would do always, what he does is always marked, outlined, and saturated with a character of "justice", what is proper and correct (good).

Our Reaction to God's Justice - This should scare us if we are not acting in righteousness, by the same rule. It should comfort us when persecution, suffering, and injustice enters our lives, because God is able, and God will judge all unrighteousness, and this soothes my soul when it hurts from what others do to me, or problems in my live.

Binney - Theological Compend (1875 Methodist) IIB Attributes of God (See point 2. d.) (b) 571K (57 pages)
Tozer - Knowledge Of The Holy#The Justice of God

(offsite)
Strauss, Richard - Justice for All

30.01.09 Righteousness of God <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Righteousness - 1. Morally upright; without guilt or sin. 2. In accordance with virtue or morality. 3. Morally justifiable. (The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)

Essence of Righteousness of God -

Our Reaction to God's Righteousness -

Deffinbaugh - Attributes of God (b)#Righteousness of God
Torrey, RA - What the Bible Teaches#The Righteousness of God
Dabney, Robert (author profile) - Systematic Theology#God's Rectitude

30.01.10 Wrath of God <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Wrath - 1. Forceful, often vindictive anger. 2a. Punishment or vengeance as a manifestation of anger. b. Divine retribution for sin. (The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)

Essence of Wrath of God -

Our Reaction to God's Wrath -

Deffinbaugh - Attributes of God (b)#Wrath of God
Pink, Arthur - Attributes of God#Wrath of God

Grier - The Wrath of God
Pink - The Attributes of God - The Wrath of God
Strauss, Richard - The Grapes of Wrath

30.01.11 Grace of God <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Grace - 1. Seemingly effortless beauty or charm of movement, form, or proportion. 2. A characteristic or quality pleasing for its charm or refinement. 3. A sense of fitness or propriety. 4a. A disposition to be generous or helpful; goodwill. b. Mercy; clemency. 5. A favor rendered by one who need not do so; indulgence. 6. A temporary immunity or exemption; a reprieve. 7a. Divine love and protection bestowed freely on people. b. The state of being protected or sanctified by the favor of God. c. An excellence or power granted by God. (The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)

Essence of Grace of God -

Our Reaction to God's Grace -

Deffinbaugh - Attributes of God (b)#Grace of God
Pink, Arthur - Attributes of God#Grace of God
Tozer - Knowledge Of The Holy#The Grace of God

(offsite)
Strauss, Richard - The God of All Grace

30.01.12 Sovereignty of God (Will of God) <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Sovereignty - 1. Supremacy of authority or rule as exercised by a sovereign or sovereign state. 2. Royal rank, authority, or power. 3. Complete independence and self-government. 4. A territory existing as an independent state. (The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)

Essence of Sovereignty of God -

Our Reaction to God's Sovereignty -

Barnhouse - Sovereignty of God (a) 43K ( pages)
Murray - The Sovereignty of God
Pink - The Attributes of God - The Supremacy of God
Pink - The Attributes of God - The Sovereignty of God
Zanchius - Observations on the Divine Attributes: The Absolute Freedom and Liberty of His Will

Deffinbaugh - Attributes of God (b)#Sovereignty of God in History
Deffinbaugh - Attributes of God (b)#Sovereignty of God in Salvation
Pink, Arthur - Attributes of God#sovereignty of God

30.01.13 Nearness of God (Accessibility) <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Nearness - 1. To, at, or within a short distance or interval in space or time. 2. Just about; almost; nearly. 3. With or in a close relationship. (The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)

Essence of Nearness of God -

Our Reaction to God's Nearness -

Deffinbaugh - Attributes of God (b)#Nearness of God

30.01.14 Joy of God <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Joy - 1a. Intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness. b. The expression or manifestation of such feeling. 2. A source or an object of pleasure or satisfaction. (The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)

Essence of Joy of God - Joy is an emotion based in an inner realization of some thought that causes the joy. The point has been made that happiness comes about by external peace and good things that happen and joy is a result of inner spiritual peace and good things. Christ had absolute joy throughout his life, but he did not always have peace as seen by his confrontation with the unbelieving, and at times even the persecution of his soul by others. Joy is an inner stability and desirable quality that confronts and overwhelms problems and evil in one's life.

Our Reaction to God's Joy -

Deffinbaugh - Attributes of God (b)#Joy of God

30.01.15 Invisibility of God <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Invisibility - 1. Impossible to see; not visible: Air is invisible. 2. Not accessible to view; hidden: mountain peaks invisible in the fog. 3. Not easily noticed or detected; inconspicuous. (The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)

Essence of Invisibility of God - Probably most theologies will speak of this as the impossibility of God to be subdivided into parts. In other words, God is the simplest that He gets. We are made up of bodies, spirits, and souls, but God cannot be divided like that. This is counter set against the persons of God which are different but distinct. I would consider this a truth, i.e. God is not a composite of simpler things, but at the same time God defines himself as three persons. A true mystery if ever there was one.

Our Reaction to God's Invisibility -

Binney - Theological Compend (1875 Methodist) IIB Attributes of God (See point 1. g.) (b) 571K (57 pages)
Deffinbaugh - Attributes of God (b)#Invisibility of God

30.01.16 Forgiveness, Pardon of God, Mercy of God <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Forgive - 1. To excuse for a fault or an offense; pardon. 2. To renounce anger or resentment against. 3. To absolve from payment of (a debt, for example). (The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.) See 30.01.23 Mercy of God

Essence of Forgiveness of God -

Our Reaction to God's Forgiveness -

Deffinbaugh - Attributes of God (b)#Forgiving God
Torrey, RA - What the Bible Teaches#The Mercy of God

30.01.17 Truth of God (Veracity) <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Truth - 1. Conformity to fact or actuality. 2. A statement proven to be or accepted as true. 3. Sincerity; integrity. 4. Fidelity to an original or standard. 5a. Reality; actuality. b. often Truth That which is considered to be the supreme reality and to have the ultimate meaning and value of existence. (The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)

Essence of Truth of God -

Our Reaction to God's Truth -

Binney - Theological Compend (1875 Methodist) IIB Attributes of God (See point 2. f.) (b) 571K (57 pages)
Deffinbaugh - Attributes of God (b)#Truth of God

(offsite)
Strauss, Richard - Let God be True

30.01.18 Love of God <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Love - 1. A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness. 2. A feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person with whom one is disposed to make a pair; the emotion of sex and romance. 3a. Sexual passion. b. Sexual intercourse. c. A love affair. 4. An intense emotional attachment, as for a pet or treasured object. 5. A person who is the object of deep or intense affection or attraction; beloved. Often used as a term of endearment. 6. An expression of one's affection: Send him my love. 7a. A strong predilection or enthusiasm: a love of language. b. The object of such an enthusiasm. (The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)

Essence of Love of God -

Our Reaction to God's Love -

Bunyan, John - Saint's Knowledge of God's Love (a) 264K (50 pages).
Deffinbaugh - Attributes of God (b)#The Love of God
Torrey, RA - What the Bible Teaches#The Love of God
Pink, Arthur - Attributes of God#Love of God
Tozer - Knowledge Of The Holy#The Love of God

(offsite)
Strauss, Richard - God is Love

30.01.19 Glory of God <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Glory - 1. Great honor, praise, or distinction accorded by common consent; renown. 2. Something conferring honor or renown. 3. A highly praiseworthy asset: Your wit is your crowning glory. 4. Adoration, praise, and thanksgiving offered in worship. 5. Majestic beauty and splendor; resplendence: The sun set in a blaze of glory. 6. The splendor and bliss of heaven; perfect happiness. 7. A height of achievement, enjoyment, or prosperity: ancient Rome in its greatest glory. 8. A halo, nimbus, or aureole. (The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)

Essence of Glory of God -

Our Reaction to God's Glory -

Deffinbaugh - Attributes of God (b)#Glory of God

(offsite)
Strauss, Richard - The King of Glory

30.01.20 Omnipresent <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Omnipresence -

Ubiquitous - In contrast to the Omnipresence of God (everywhere at the same time), Satan can only be ubiquitous, which is an appearance of being everywhere at the same time.

Essence of Omnipresent - By omnipresent, we mean that God is not limited to one single location at a time. Here we refer to two spheres, time and place. God is not limited in time, nor in space (place). God does maintain a special localized presence apart from his omnipresence, and in the Bible, this is general designated as God the Father in heaven, God the Son generally in heaven in the Old Testament except for a few appearances as the Angel of the Lord, and coming to earth in the incarnation to go to Sheol (Hades - the place of the dead souls) for 3 days, then returning to the earth for a short period of time, going to heaven again, and reappearing on earth until Acts 1 when he officially "ascended" to heaven until the events of Revelation (coming again in the Rapture). The Holy Spirit's presence is bound by his particular distinguishing essence (being a "spirit" in opposition to the other two being a "Father" and a "Son"). Spirits are ethereal or non-definitive in their specific location usually (a cloud for example can only be generally located because it has no definite sides, top, bottom, except). The Holy Spirit is seen in creation and at various times throughout the Bible in men's lives and events, but this special present is generally to be maintained in Heaven throughout the Old Testament, and then coming to earth (in a special way as the Son came to earth) in the event of Pentecost until the rapture.

Our Reaction to God's Omnipresent - This attribute of God should cause us security because nothing can be hid from God who is everywhere seeing, observing, and potentially judging everything and every power or person.

Binney - Theological Compend (1875 Methodist) IIB Attributes of God (See point 1. c. Omnipresence) (b) 571K (57 pages)
Torrey, RA - What the Bible Teaches#The Omnipresence of God
Tozer - Knowledge Of The Holy#God's Omnipresence

(offsite)
Strauss, Richard - The Lord is with Us

30.01.21 Faithfulness of God <top of page>

Dictionary Definition of Faithfulness -

Essence of Faithfulness of God -

Our Reaction to God's Faithfulness -

Pink - The Attributes of God - The Faithfulness of God
Strauss, Richard - Great is Thy Faithfulness

Torrey, RA - What the Bible Teaches#The Faithfulness of God
Pink, Arthur - Attributes of God#Faithfulness of God
Tozer - Knowledge Of The Holy#The Faithfulness of God

30.01.22 Greatness of God <top of page>

Essence of Greatness of God -

Our Reaction to God's Greatness -

Pink, Arthur - Attributes of God#supremacy of God

30.01.23 Mercy of God <top of page>

Essence of Mercy - Mercy is always in a legal context, where there are laws, a judge (decider of infringement, punishment, etc). For mercy to exist, there must be infraction of the law by us, and a most necessary element of mercy is that the law breaker absolutely HAS TO ADMIT HIS GUILT before the judge and specifically ask for mercy, and the judge has at his disposition the ability to not enforce the punishment of the law.

Our Reaction to God's Mercy - Humility, brokenness, "not pushing our luck".

Pink, Arthur - Attributes of God#Mercy of God
Tozer - Knowledge Of The Holy#The Mercy of God

(offsite)
Strauss, Richard - Rich in Mercy
Strauss, Richard - He will abundantly Pardon

30.01.24 Patience, Longsuffering <top of page>

Essence of Patience, Longsuffering -

Our Reaction to God's Patience, Longsuffering -

Pink, Arthur - Attributes of God#Patience of God
Strauss, Richard - Slow to Anger

30.01.24 Jealousy of God <top of page>

Essence of Jealousy of God - This addresses the exclusiveness of God in our relationship to Him. Most clearly and simply understand, God allows no other gods before Him, and that extends to even things that become idols in our lives, or anything that infringes on God's priority, direction, authority, love, etc. in our lives.

Our Reaction to God's Jealousy -

(offsite)
Strauss, Richard - A Jealous God

30.01.26 Incomprehensibility

Essence of Incomprehensibility - Simply put, God is above us in His being, function, person, etc. such that we cannot comprehend God. Comprehension has an element of dominion over the thing. If you fully comprehend how to fly a plane, repair the mechanics of a car, etc. then you have a certain kind of power over that thing. God fully understands everything, every little thing that is in man and that makes up man such that God has complete dominion over man, but we do not and cannot exercise the same over God.

Our Reaction to God's Incomprehensibility - Faith enters in on some points where God simply informs us of things about God and we have absolutely no options except to accept these things which we do not fully or sometimes even partially understand, or rebel against God.

Binney - Theological Compend (1875 Methodist) IIB Attributes of God (See point 1. h.) (b) 571K (57 pages)

30.02 Names of God <top of page>

Lin, Timothy (page) - God's Biblical Name (Yahweh) and what it means for us (a) 19K (3 pages)

Berkhof (Author Profile) - Summary of Christian Doctrine#The Names of God

30.03 Trinity (One Triune God) <top of page>

Strauss, Richard - The Most High Rules

30.06 Knowing God <top of page>

Lin, Timothy (page) - How we Know God (a) 107K (4 pages)

Berkhof (Author Profile) - Summary of Christian Doctrine#The Essential Nature of God
Boice or Boyce - Abstract of Systematic Theology#The Knowledge of God
Torrey, RA - What the Bible Teaches#The Person of God
Tozer - Knowledge Of The Holy#God Incomprehensible

30.07 Nature or Being of God <top of page>

Boice or Boyce - Abstract of Systematic Theology#The Being of God
Boice or Boyce - Abstract of Systematic Theology#Spirituality God
Simmons, Thomas - Systematic Study of Bible Doctrine#The Nature and Attributes of God
Dabney, Robert (author profile) - Systematic Theology#Simplicity of God's Substance

30.07.01 God is a Spirit <top of page>

Torrey, RA - What the Bible Teaches#God is a Spirit
Dabney, Robert (author profile) - Systematic Theology#God a Spirit

(offsite)
Strauss, Richard - God is a Spirit

30.08 Decrees of God <top of page>

Allen, Arthur - The Decrees of God
Pink - The Attributes of God - The Decrees of God

Pink - Attributes of God#Decrees

30.09 Works of God <top of page>

Providence

Boston - Of The Providence Of God

Creation-Creator

Hodge, AA - GOD -- His Nature And Relation To The Universe

30.10 The Fear of God <top of page>

Bunyan, John - Treatise on the Fear of God (a) 355K (70 pages).

30.11 The Worship of God <top of page>

Pink, Arthur - Attributes of God#Contemplation of God

30.12 God the Father

Finlayson - God the Father

Cox, David - Names and Titles of God the Father

30.98 Recommended Bibliography

Bavinck, Hemman. The Doctrine of God. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1951.
Berkhof, Louis. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1949.
Boettner, Loraine. Studies in Theology. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian Reformed Publishing, 1953.
Buswell, James Oliver, Jr. A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion. 2 vols. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1962.
Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Systematic Theology. 8 vols. Dallas, Texas: Dallas Theological Seminary Press, 1948.
Chamock, Stephen. The Existence and Attributes of God. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1958.
Clarke, William Newton. The Christian Doctrine of God. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1909.
Culver, Robert Duncan. The Living God. Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1978.
De Haan, Dan. The God You Can Know. Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1982.
Hodge, Charles. Systematic Theology. 3 vols. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1952.
Hook, Phillip. Who Art in Heaven. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1979.
Kerr, William F., ed. God, What Is He Like? Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1977.
Packer, J. I. Knowing God. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1973.
Pentecost, J. Dwight. The Glory of God. Portland, Oregon: Multnomah Press, 1978.
Phillips, J. B. Your God Is Too Small? New York: The Macmillan Company, 1954.
Pink, Arthur W. The Attributes of God. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1975.
Rees, Paul Stromberg. Stand Up in Praise to God. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1960.
Shedd, William G. T. Shedd’s Dogmatic Theology. 3 vols. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Strauss, Lehman. The First Person. Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, 1967.
Strong, Augustus Hopkins. Systematic Theology. (zip) 3 vols. Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell.
Thiessen, Henry Clarence. Lectures in Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1949.
Toon, Peter. God Here and Now. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1979.
Tozer, A. W. The Knowledge of the Holy. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1961.

Page Summary: Biblical studies on theology proper, the study of God, attributes of God, general works, Names of God, special studies on the Trinity, the question of the existence of God, Providence (Will of God), Knowing God, Nature or Being of God, Worship and fear of God.

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30.00 Whole works on Theology Proper <top of page>

30.01 Attributes of God <top of page>