God

Question 1

Christian Monotheism

Answer 1

The belief that there is only one God which usually entails the belief that God is omnipotent and omniscient

Question 2

The emergence of monotheism in the OT

Answer 2

• In the OT it is evident that the belief in a God was not monotheistic to begin with- other Gods were acknowledged e.g. Yahweh
• Theologians point to one of the early names used for God in Genesis which is Elohim
• Biblical examples that support many Gods: Exodus 15:11, Exodus 20:3
• Thought that monotheism developed out of henotheism during the time of the Babylonian exile, which is seen in Isaiah 43:10

Elohim- plural word meaning God’s
Henotheism- the worship of one God without the denial of the existence of other Gods
Exodus 15:11- ‘Who among the God’s is like you, Lord?’
Exodus 20:3 ‘You shall have no other God’s before me’
Isaiah 43:10 ‘Before me no God was formed nor will there be one ater me’

Question 3

God as Trinity

Answer 3

• Christians experienced God as Father (creator), Son (redeemer) and Holy Spirit (sustainer and empowering presence of God.
• The doctrine of the Trinity was needed to explain the relationship between these 3 persons:
  1. Father, Son and Holy Spirit and 3 distinct persons
  2. Each person is fully God and the three are coexistent, coeternal and coequal
  3. There is only one God- God is not split into three parts
• The Church has never been able to adequately explain how God can be one and three- this concept is regarded as a mystery reflecting the idea that no human words could ever express the reality of God and holding the central notion that God exists as a community
• The disagreement within the church when deciding on the doctrine lead to the Great Schism in 1054 CE (the separation of churches in the East and West)

Question 4

Biblical foundations of the doctrine of the Trinity

Answer 4

• Whilst the term ‘Trinity’ is not used in the NT, biblical testimony points to the doctrine
• At Jesus’ baptism all three persons are noted- God the Father speaks from heaven saying ‘This is my beloved son’ and the Spirit descends on him like a dove
• Matthew 28 has the Great Commission, in which Jesus sends his disciples into the world to baptise all nations ‘in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
• Other passages speak clearly of Jesus being God, for example John 8:58- ‘Before Abraham was born I am’
• Narratives telling the birth of Jesus in John which speak of him being conceived of the Holy Spirit

Question 5

The importance of the doctrine of the Trinity

Answer 5

1. It brings together the central doctrinal truths of sin, atonement and redemption. God’s response to ‘the fall’ of Adam and Eve is explained in all 3 persons of the Trinity
   * God the Father sent his son to die in order to atone for the sins of humanity and so redeem them
   * The Son who was fully human and fully God was able to be the perfect sacrifice to achieve this
   * The Holy Spirit enabled his followers to live in relationship with God by bringing about a new birth and the ability to be raised to new and eternal life
2. It makes it possible for humans to have a personal relationship with God. This is seen to be an answer to the seeming contradiction between God being transcendent yet beng immanently involved in creation
   * God the Father, as Creator can be known through creation
   * God the Son can be known through the incarnation in the person of Jesus
   * God the Holy Spirit can be known as the indwelling, empowering presence of God in Christian experience
3. The Trinity is seen as a model for personhood- the relationship between the members of the Trinity is one of love
   * Augustine described the Trinity as a Lover, Loved and Love, none of which can exist without the others. As the Holy Spirit acted within the Trinity as a bond between the Father and the Son, he acted within humans to unite them in a bond of love with the Father, Son and themselved
   * Jurgen Moltmann emphasises the Trinity as a community of self giving and receiving love, modelling humanitys call to community and love

Question 6

Problems with anthropomorphising God

Answer 6

• Such language surely reduces God who is believed to be immaterial, omnipotent and transcendent
• To give emotions to God is problematic as these are things triggered in humans. If God is not physical in what way does God feel regret etc?
• Anthropomorphism comes out of human made language which is based on things within our experience of the universe. Any langaueg attributed to God must be inadequate
• This creates God in our image rather than the claim that we are in God’s image and begs the question as to whether such a God is worthy of worship
• This has been used to support the claims of the likes of Freud who sees the notion of a heavenly Father-figure an invention of wish-fulfilment for an emotional prop
• It opens faith to the accusation of being childish- a desire for a superhero with supersized human attributes. Dawkins speaks derisively of a ‘Sky Daddy’

Question 7

Anthropomorphic language regarding God as Personal

Answer 7

• God as personal does not mean God is a person
• To speak of God as personal needs to be understood as analogical language rather than a claim that God is a literal person- he is relational rather than a thing
• This allows God to be immanent which is supported byb the doctrine of the Trinity as interpreted by Augustine and Moltmann in which God is relational: a community of self-giving and receiving love
• It is also a concept foundational to Christian Ethics (e.g. Natural Law and Divine Command Theory) where morality is objective, given to us by a personal God

Question 8

Anthropomorphic language regarding God as Father

Answer 8

• This metaphor denotes attributes such as strength, guidance, protection, discipline, authority, love and in ancient cultures power
• The term is used of God in both the NT and OT, linked to God as Creator and often referring to Israel as God’s son.
• This takes on even greater significance when Jesus is described as God’s son and Jesus calls God ‘Abba’- an intimate familial term rather than the traditional Jewish concept of an Almighty Father
• This is the term Jesus used when asked how his disciples should pray and is found in what is known as ‘The Lords Prayer’- it suggests that Christians too can have a close father-child relationship with God
• The Apostles Creed outlines faith in God- ‘the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth’ and goes on to speak of ‘Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord’. This combines God’s role as Father of Creation and Father of Jesus

Question 9

Anthropomorphic langage regarding God as Love

Answer 9

• God’s omnibenevolence is critical to Christian belief about God along with God’s omnipotence and omniscience
• this is a belief attacked with the use of the Epicurean paradox, inconsistent triad and other theodicies
• Trust in God’s benevolence is based on biblical teaching:
  1. God’s love is the basis for the covenant relationship between God and Israel
  2. God’s love is understood in the giving of his Son for our salvation- ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believs in him shall not perish but have eternal life’ John 3:16
  3. Paul writes that of all the gifts of the Spirit, ‘the greatest of these is love’- 1 Corinthians 13
  4. Because God loves us, we should love others- exemplified by Jesus stating that that Greatest Commandment is to ‘love God’ and to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’
  5. Genesis 1- we are made in God’s image which reinforces the idea that we are made by love with the capacity to love

Question 10

Anthropomorphic and gender specific language about God- God as female

Answer 10

• anthropomorphic language used of God has been overhwelmingly masculine (father, king, lord) and whilst a minority of Christians see the Holy Spirit in feminine terms (spirit in Hebrew is feminine) the likes of Daphne Hampson point out that this third person of the Trinity is an abstract entity that is rarely given the prominence of the other two persons who are unequivocally male
• Hampson: ‘I have concluded that fundamental to the Abrahamic religions is the will to subvert women and establish men as the norm’
• such thinking can be said to explain Christian traditions such as excluding women from the priesthood and from Church leadership
• Feminist theologians point to the paradox within Christianity in which it is asserted
  1. God is spirit (not embodied therefore without sexual organs or hormones so not male)
  2. that Genesis 1:26-27 states that males and females are equally made in the image of God
• Moreover, there are biblical examples where God is referred to in feminine terms, for example Isaiah 66:13 says ‘as a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you’
• References to God in feminine terms is not entirely a modern phenomon- Julian of Norwich made frequent references to Jesus as Mother, Clement of Alexandria in the 2nd century wrote of Christians nursing at God’s breast
• Of course, all anthropomorphic language must be seen as metaphorical, thus God is not actually male or female- these are meant to be helpful images to allow us to relate to a personal God
• Feminist theologian Sallie McFague argues strongly that when metaphors become outdated and unhelpful, new ones must ne found that lead people to similar concepts of a personal and loving God. Thus she renamed the Trinity as Mother, Lover and Friend and rejects militaristic, authoritarian terms for God as unhelpful in this period of history
• Feminist theologians also point to Jesus’ radical treatment of women that defied accepted norms e.g. teaching them and entering into theological debate with them, women were the first people to witness Jesus’ resurrection
• Moreover, they see Jesus moving away from ‘hardcore’ patriarchy where God was referred to as ‘Father-Almighty’ and ‘King of the Universe’ replacing the distant authoritarian father figure with the more intimate familial ‘Abba’- prehaps the closest he could get to a more loving parent image in those times

Question 11

Anthropomorphic and gender specific language about God- God as male

Answer 11

• whilst insitence on patriarchal terms for God and rejection of feminine and inclusive terms is fiercely held by the majority
  *Others have rejected such arguments , arguing that Jesus did little to elevate the role of women and unarguably chose 12 male disciples
• The term ‘Abba’ is still male and when Jesus taught his disciples to pray he did so urging them to use that title