Lesson 7 Flashcards
- How does the Westminster Larger Catechism help bring understanding to the attributes of God?
A. WLC Q/As 6-7 provide a standard summary of catholic and Reformed teaching about God.
WLC brings us understanding of God’s attributes by listing both his incommunicable and communicable attributes.
a. [Incommunicable] {in and of himself infinite in being, glory, blessedness, and perfection; all-sufficient, eternal, unchangeable, incomprehensible, everywhere present, almighty}
b. [Communicable] {knowing all things, most wise, most holy, most just, most merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth}
1. WLC 6 What do the scriptures make known of God?
a. The scriptures make known
i. what God is,
ii. the persons of the Godhead,
iii. his decrees,
iv. and the execution of his decrees
v. in God’s works of nature, grace, and glory
2. WLC 7 What is God?
a. [Incommunicable] {in and of himself infinite in being, glory, blessedness, and perfection; all-sufficient, eternal, unchangeable, incomprehensible, everywhere present, almighty}
b. [Communicable] {knowing all things, most wise, most holy, most just, most merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth}
3. The biblical prooftexts for WLC 7 suggest a solid foundation for the church’s teaching.
a. John 4:24
b. Exod. 3:14; Job 11:7-9
c. Acts 7:2
d. 1 Tim. 6:15
e. Matt. 5:48
f. Gen. 17:1
g. Ps. 90:2
h. Mal. 3:6; James 1:17
i. 1 Kings 8:27
j. Ps 139:1-13
k. Rev. 4:8
l. Heb. 4:13; Ps. 147:5
m. Rom. 16:27
n. Isa. 6:3; Rev. 15:4
o. Deut. 32:4
p. Exod. 34:6
B. Controversy
1. A number of contemporary approaches disregard, distort, or deny a classical, catholic, and Reformed understanding of the attributes of God (James Dolezal).
a. Process theology (or bipolar theism): Denies most
b. Historicist approaches (e.g., Jürgen Moltmann, Robert Jenson, Paul Hinlicky): Deny some (e.g., impassibility, timeless eternity)
c. Open theism: Denies some (e.g., independence, omniscience)
d. Karl Barth’s Christocentric theism: Denies or distorts some (e.g., independence, immutability, impassibility)
e. More traditional evangelical approaches: Disregard or distort some (e.g., simplicity, independence, immutability, impassibility)
2. Each of the preceding fits on a scale from “hard” to “soft” forms of “theistic mutualism” (Dolezal)
a. According to Dolezal, theistic mutualism “denotes a symbiotic relationship in which both parties derive something from each other”
b. This is in contrast to classical theism, which holds “The underlying and inviolable conviction . . . that God does not derive any aspect of his being from outside himself and is not in any way caused to be” ( YHWH)
3. Theistic mutualists share common “personalist” and “historicist” assumptions
- What is the root of the controversy surrounding contemporary approaches to the attributes of God?
C. The root of controversy
1. Each of the above approaches rejects classical metaphysics, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and in turn rejects a traditional approach to the divine names/attributes (e.g., the threefold way).
2. In its place, they seem to work, to varying degrees and with various levels of intentionality, with an alternative approach to the divine names/attributes summarized by Edward Feser (as cited in Dolezal):
- With what do proponents of these contemporary approaches replace the traditional approach?
- In its place, they seem to work, to varying degrees and with various levels of intentionality, with an alternative approach to the divine names/attributes summarized by Edward Feser (as cited in Dolezal):
- Critique: Each of the aforementioned approaches fails in some way or another to distinguish the linguistic fact that God speaks about himself in human language (anthropomorphism) from the metaphysical fact that God is not made in our image but rather we are made in his (theomorphism).
D. While the Bible ascribes attributes to the triune Lord in an anthropomorphic way (a linguistic matter), the triune Lord does not have attributes in an anthropomorphic way (a metaphysical matter). - Consider the sentence, “Albert is wise.”
a. In Albert, subject (“Albert”) and predicate (“wise”) are ontologically distinct. Albert’s wisdom is an “accident.”
b. Albert’s wisdom is distinguishable from Albert’s other attributes, e.g., his kindness, his strength, etc. Albert’s wisdom is only a “part” of what he is.
c. Albert’s wisdom can increase, decrease, or disappear altogether without Albert ceasing to be Albert.
d. 1:1 correspondence between Albert and his wisdom
3. In sum
a. Though we may and must attribute various perfections to the triune God (a linguistic reality), we must recognize that God does not have his attributes in the way that creatures have their attributes (a metaphysical reality).
b. God’s being is not ontologically distinct from God’s attributes.
i. Indeed, his identity as YHWH (who he is), the independent and infinite one, determines the nature of all of his attributes (what he is): recall WLC 7.
c. God’s attributes are not distinct from each other.
i. The distinction between various attributes exists in our minds, not in God.
- What are the incommunicable attributes of God? Briefly describe each
B. Self-existence or independence
1. “I am who I am” (Exod 3:14; 7-14; 33:19; 34:6ff).
2. Description: “That attribute of God by which he is the self-sufficient ground of his own existence and being. Negatively expressed, independence says only what God is not” (Vos).
a. Self-existence; self-sufficiency; “autogathon” (Turretin)
3. Exposition
a. God is “independent, not only in his existence [Acts 17:25; John 5:26] but consequently also in all his attributes and perfections, in all his decrees and deeds.
b. He is independent in his intellect (Rom. 11:34-35),
c. in his will (Dan. 4:35; Rom. 9:19; Eph. 1:5; Rev. 4:11),
d. in his counsel (Ps. 33:11; Isa. 46:10),
e. in his love (Hos. 14:4),
f. in his power (Ps. 115:3), and so forth” (Bavinck, 2:150).
C. Infinity: “His greatness is unsearchable” (Ps 145:3)
1. Infinity is not mere negation but rests upon God’s unfathomable fullness, “the depth of the riches” (Rom 11.33).
2. Exposition
a. As with independence, so with infinity. He is infinite in his being (Job 11:7-9; 36:26; Ps 145:3; Rev 4:8).
b. He is infinite in his intellect (Isa 40:28),
c. in his will and counsel (Ps 36:6; Rom 11:33; Eph 3:8-9),
d. in his love (Exod 34:6; Ps 136; Eph 2:7; 3:18-19),
e. and in his power (Eph 3:20).
D. Eternity: “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come” (Rev 4:8)
1. Exposition
a. Eternity is infinity with respect to time.
b. Unlike temporal creatures, God has no beginning (Ps 90.2; Titus 1.2; Heb 1.2) and no end (Ps 102.27).
c. God transcends time in the fullness and eternal present of his life (John 8.58).
d. The eternal God is the creator of time whose eternity embraces time within his sovereign, secure, and caring hand (Pss 90.1, 2; 102.25-26).
e. “Days” and “years” are applied metaphorically to God (Gerhard).
2. Contemporary debate: “Everlasting God” (Nicholas Wolterstorff); two-phase view (William Lane Craig); narrative infinity (Robert Jenson)
E. Immensity and omnipresence: “Heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you” (1 Kings 8:27)
1. Exposition
a. Immensity is infinity with respect to space.
b. 1 Kings 8:27; Jer 23:23-24; Psalm 139:7-12; Acts 17:24-28
c. Once again “radical transcendence”
d. God is “closer to me than I am to myself” (Augustine, Confessions 3.6.11)
F. Immutability (and impassibility): “with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17)
1. Exposition
a. Ps 102:26-27
b. The infinite and independent one cannot change/be changed (immutability) or be acted upon by anything outside himself (impassibility).
c. God is immutably perfect: no increase or decrease is possible when it comes to God’s unfathomable perfection: Job 22:2-3; 356:-7; 41:11 (Rom 11:35!); 1 Chronicles 29:10-22
d. God is immutably committed to his saving purpose for his people: “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed” (Mal 3:6; James 1:17 18)
2. Further on impassibility
a. Modern criticism: “apathetic God”; “only the suffering God can help”
b. God is Spirit (John 4:24), “without body, parts, or [physical] passions” (WCF 2.1)
c. God is light (1 John 1:5), without sinful passions, not susceptible to being moved by temptation (James 1:13)
d. God is independent, not susceptible to being moved to be, think, will, or act by anything outside of himself (see above; also Rom 11:33-36)
e. Passions no, affections yes
f. External causation/movement no, external interaction yes (“mixed relations”)
i. A God who relents (Gen 6:6; Exod 32:14; 1 Chr 21:15; Ps 106:45; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2; 1 Sam 15:11-29: relenting = anthropomorphism; so Num 23:19)
ii. Jeremiah 18’s parable (God moves/changes the creature according to his sovereign will) and policy (how God moves/changes the creature via his covenantal Word): The anthropomorphic description of God “relenting” is a way of speaking about God’s sovereign and unchanging providential policy of interacting with his people. The possibility of a changed course of action is implicit in God’s warnings, indeed it is often the reason for God’s warning, as Jonah well understood (!) and Israel did as well (Joel 2:14).
iii. When God engages us in covenantal discourse, he speaks in our language, as a man in order to changes us/move us according to his unchanging, sovereign purpose.
g. Only the God with whom there is “no shadow due to change” can help (David Bentley Hart): “his steadfast love endures forever”; “the impassible suffers” (Cyril of Alexandria): God’s immovable/impassible love moves him to assume our nature and suffer for us as one of us
G. Unity: “YHWH is one” (Deut 6:4)
1. Description: God’s unity or oneness may be “differentiated into the unity of singularity and the unity of simplicity” (Bavinck). The first denies the existence of any God besides God. The second denies any composition in God.
2. Exposition: unity of singularity
a. God is not one among a class of others. He is unique and incomparable: 1 Sam 2:2, numerically one: Deut 4:35; Mark 12:32
b. Singularity of being, wisdom, will, purpose, and power (contra “social trinitarianism”)
c. Contra mere “ethical monotheism” or “soteriological monotheism”
3. Exposition: unity of simplicity
a. As noted above, God is (identical with) his perfection and God is wholly (unmixed) perfection: 1 John 1:5. See also James 1:5.
b. God is not composed of attributes upon which he depends. God is not wise because he has wisdom but because he is God. God is not powerful because he has power but because he is God. God is not loving because he has love but because he is God. God does not exist because he has existence but because he is YHWH, the self-existent one (Exod 3:14), the transcendent fullness of being, power, and goodness in and of himself.
c. Among other things, divine simplicity teaches us that the goods we need/desire from God cannot be separated from God himself (see John 6:34-35)
4. Unity and Trinity
a. “In God all things are one where no relation of opposition intervenes” (Anselm). The only real distinction in God is the distinction between the persons of the Trinity.
b. Socinians deny divine simplicity in order to undermine the Trinity (Turretin).
c. Again, contra social trinitarianism
d. God is simple in his being and tripersonal in his modes of being; he is thus most simple, most communicable (Bonaventure)
- What are the communicable attributes of God? Briefly describe each.
Spirit/living/immortal: “God is Spirit” (John 4:24), “the living God” (Jer 10:10)
1. Description: God’s spirituality
(a) negatively stated, means that God is without body (Luke 24:39), location (John 4:24), or visibility (1 Tim 1:17). Positively stated,
(b) “God’s spirituality . . . means his living activity. As Spirit, God is distinguished from man, indeed all that is created, that is flesh, that is powerless and inert in itself. Spirit is thus what lives and moves of itself. Jeremiah 17:5; Isaiah 31:3 [supremely: John 5:26].”
(c) “God can also in this sense be called Spirit insofar as he is the enlivener and source of life for the creature [Ps 104:30].”
(d) “The spirituality implies that he is a rational being, with understanding, will, and power [Isa 40:13-14]” (Vos).
Knowledge: “The Lord is a God of knowledge” (1 Sam 2:3)
1. Description: “That perfection by which, in an entirely unique manner, through his being and with a most simple act, he comprehends himself and in himself all that is or could be outside of him” (Vos). Matt 11:27; 1 Cor 2:10-11; Ps 139:16; Prov 8; Rom 11:33-35; Heb 4:13
2. Exposition
a. God’s knowledge is “first in nature and order” (SPT 6.32)
b. God’s knowledge is independent (Rom 11:34-35) and infinite [= omniscience] (Rom 11:33)
c. Necessary knowledge: God’s knowledge of himself and of all things he is able to accomplish outside of himself (= possibility)
d. Free knowledge: God’s knowledge of what he has freely chosen to accomplish outside of himself, i.e., knowledge of his eternal decree (Isa 46:8-11; cf. idols: Isa 41:21-24, 26)
3. Debate
a. Middle knowledge (counterfactuals of creaturely freedom)
b. Conditional knowledge (contemporary Arminianism)
c. Open theism
Will: “the blessed and only sovereign” (1 Tim 6:15); “him who works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph 1:11)
“God’s will is the other faculty of God’s life [besides knowledge]; it is the act that follows upon God’s knowledge, whereby the knowing God wills and approves himself and all good things, as they accord with his nature and the structure of his mind, and whereby he necessarily disapproves of the things that are opposite to them.”
1. By God’s will God delights in himself and decrees all things outside of himself.
2. Exposition
a. Although God’s will is simple, we may nevertheless distinguish the objects of God’s will.
“Just as God’s knowledge is twofold (necessary and free), so also his will must be distinguished as being in part his ‘propensity toward himself’ and in part his ‘propensity toward his creatures’.”
b. God’s natural or necessary will
c. God’s free or decretive will is not only spontaneous (not determined by external influence or internal poverty); it is also undetermined: God is free to decree or to refrain from decreeing the world (liberty of contradiction) and God is free to decree this or that world (liberty of contrariety), as must be the case due to God’s self-sufficiency and infinite power.
d. Because God’s decree is the free expression of his sovereign will, it is a purposive act: “everything acting by its intellect and will acts for the sake of an end” (Thomas Aquinas). Moreover, because God’s inherent goodness is the supreme object of his will, the glory of God’s goodness is the supreme end toward which he directs all that he decrees:
e. God does not decree all things in order to increase his goodness (which would be impossible) but in order to communicate to creatures a share in his goodness.
f. God’s free or decretive will is eternal (Isa 46:10) and independent, unconditioned by anything outside of himself (Exod 33:19; Rom 9:11, 16-18; 11:33-36), and unchangeable (Ps 33:11).
g. God’s decretive will is not coextensive with his power (Matt 3:9, contra pantheism). However, God’s decretive will is absolutely effective: whatever God wills, he does (Pss 115:3; 135:6), and that without opposition (Job 42:2). He “works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph 1:11).
h. Further distinctions regarding God’s concerning things outside of himself
i. God’s will of good-pleasure: what God intends to accomplish outside of himself (= God’s will of decree)
3. Debate
a. God’s conditional will (Arminianism, etc.): antecedent and consequent wills
E. Power: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2)
- Scripture teaches God’s omnipotence affirmatively: God is the Almighty (Rev 4:8); effectively: with God all things are possible: Matt 19:26; and negatively: nothing is too difficult for God: Gen 18:14; Jer 32:27; see also Job 42:2 (Johann Gerhard)
- Exposition
a. What God’s knowledge perceives as possible (due to his almightiness), and what God’s will decrees will be actual, God’s power effectively brings to pass through his own agency and through the agency of secondary causes.
b. Absolute vs. ordained power: Absolute power (potentia absoluta) is “the omnipotence of God limited only by the law of noncontradiction.” Ordained power (potentia ordinata) is “the power by which God creates and sustains the world according his pactum within himself and creation” (e.g., Jer 31:35-36) (Richard Muller).
c. Things impossible for nature vs. things impossible by nature:
d. So many of the qualifications we make related to omnipotence have to do with addressing our uses of the word “impossibility” (thus Bonaventure, 48-49): e.g., God “cannot lie” (Titus 1:2)
F. Goodness: “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name YHWH” (Exod 33:19);
1. Exposition
a. God is the supreme, metaphysical good: Ps 16
b. God is supreme, unchanging, unmixed goodness in himself and toward us: James 1:5, 17; 1 John 1:5
c. God’s goodness expresses itself in manifold forms: love, grace, justice, etc. (Exod 34:6-7)
G. Love: “God is love” (1 John 4:8)
“Love is an essential attribute of God by which the Lord delights in himself in that which is good, it being well-pleasing to him, and uniting himself to it consistent with the nature and object of his love.” (Brakel)
2. Exposition
a. The natural love of God: “the manner in which God delights in himself as the supreme manifestation of goodness” (Brakel)
b. The volitional love of God: “the manner in which God delights in his creatures” (Brakel)
c. The volitional love of God may be further divided into God’s love of benevolence vs. God’s love of delight: “The love of benevolence precedes all good works of man, whereas the love of God’s delight concerns itself with men who, presently either are partakers of or perform that which is good” (Brakel)
d. God’s triune love for us (i.e., “volitional love”): 2 Cor 13:14
i. Love as goodwill
ii. Love as self-sacrificial gift or “grace”
iii. Love as common possession of/sharing in the good or “fellowship” (with the triune God, the supreme good)
iv. This text also provides a model of our love for our neighbors
H. Grace: “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9)
- Exposition
a. Gratia gratis dans (grace as a gracious gift): “God’s perfection as being the fountain from which all his benefits issue forth.”
b. Gratia gratis data (grace as a gracious receipt): “the received benefits themselves”
c. John 3:16; Rom 8:32 - Debate
a. John Barclay, Paul and the Gift
I. Mercy
An essential attribute whereby God is inclined to come to the aid of a creature in his misery”
J. Longsuffering and Patience
“This is an essential attribute of God whereby he refrains himself from pouring out his full wrath upon the sinner, thus postponing his punishment—meanwhile bestowing benefits upon him.” (Brakel)
1. Exod 34:6 [אֶ֥רֶךְ אַפַּ֖יִם]; Rom 2:4; 9:22; 1 Tim 1:16 (“perfect patience”)
2. NB: God’s love, grace, mercy, and patience exhibit themselves in both general and special forms, the first toward all creatures, the second toward the objects of his saving mercy.
K. Truth and Faithfulness
“The trustworthiness of God is not only an attribute of the intellect but also of the will. . . He is a God faithful and without deceit (Deut. 32:4; Jer. 10:10; Ps. 31:6; 2 Chron. 15:3). It implies (1) that he is the real, the true God in contrast to false gods, the idols, which are ‘vanities’ (Deut. 32.21; etc.); and (2) that as such he will always stand by his words and promises and prove them true, so that he will be seen as completely trustworthy. He is not a human that he should lie or change his mind (Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29). All that proceeds from him bears the stamp of truthfulness” (Bavinck).
L. Righteousness and Justice
“The righteousness of God can be considered either in and of itself as referring to the justice, perfection, and holiness of the character of God; or in view of its manifestation toward the creature. As such the righteousness of God consists in giving each his worthy due, either by punishment or reward” (Brakel).
1. Exposition
a. There is no “justice by way of mutual exchange” between God and creatures. “Since none of our works are perfect, there can be no proportionate relationship between work and a remuneration. God always being independent, is not indebted to anyone” (Brakel). Luke 17:10; Rom 11:35
b. Dispositive justice: God “arranges all his actions and works externally according to the norm of equity and justice and is the utterly just governor and master of the entire universe” (Gerhard). Pss 89:14; 97:2
c. Retributive justice: God’s rewards and punishments for the righteous and the unrighteous (Gen 18:25; Pss 96:10; 98:9; see also Ps 51; Rom 1:18-3:26)
What is a communicable attribute?
Communicable attributes are attributes of YHWH, and are therefore independent and infinite in nature.
Explain God’s communicable attribute Knowledge, what is the debate, and how do you counter it.
* “The Lord is a God of knowledge” (1 Sam 2:3)
* God’s knowledge is “first in nature and order”
* God’s knowledge is independent (Rom 11:34-35)
* infinite [= omniscience] (Rom 11:33)
* Necessary knowledge: God’s knowledge of himself and of all things he is able to accomplish outside of himself
* Free knowledge: God’s knowledge of what he has freely chosen to accomplish outside of himself, i.e., knowledge of his eternal decree
Debate
a. Middle knowledge (counterfactuals of creaturely freedom)
b. Conditional knowledge (contemporary Arminianism)
c. Open theism
Counter
Explain God’s communicable attribute of God’s Will, what is the debate, and how do you counter it.
the blessed and only sovereign” (1 Tim 6:15); “him who works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph 1:11)
* b. God’s natural or necessary will (also called his approving will [voluntas Approbans]) is wholly spontaneous, not determined by anything outside of himself or by internal poverty; by God’s natural or necessary will God delights wholly in himself and rests wholly in himself, the blessed Trinity (John 17:24-26).
* c. God’s free or decretive will is not only spontaneous (not determined by external influence or internal poverty); it is also undetermined: God is free to decree or to refrain from decreeing the world (liberty of contradiction) and God is free to decree this or that world (liberty of contrariety), as must be the case due to God’s self-sufficiency and infinite power.
* d. Because God’s decree is the free expression of his sovereign will, it is a purposive act: “everything acting by its intellect and will acts for the sake of an end”
* God does not decree all things in order to increase his goodness (which would be impossible) but in order to communicate to creatures a share in his goodness.
* f. God’s free or decretive will is eternal (Isa 46:10)
* independent, unconditioned by anything outside of himself (Exod 33:19; Rom 9:11, 16-18; 11:33-36),
* unchangeable (Ps 33:11).
* g. God’s decretive will is not coextensive with his power
* God’s decretive will is absolutely effective: whatever God wills, he does (Pss 115:3; 135:6)
Debate
* a. God’s conditional will (Arminianism, etc.): antecedent and consequent wills
* b. Barthian views of God’s will and God’s nature
Counter
Explain God’s communicable attribute of God’s Grace, what is the debate, and how do you counter it.
Grace: “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9)
* a. Gratia gratis dans (grace as a gracious gift): “God’s perfection as being the fountain from which all his benefits issue forth.”
* b. Gratia gratis data (grace as a gracious receipt): “the received benefits themselves” John 3:16; Rom 8:32
Debate
* a. John Barclay, Paul and the Gift
Counter
WLC Q. 6. What do the Scriptures make known of God?
A. The Scriptures make known what God is,p the persons in the Godhead,q his decrees,r and the execution of his decrees.
WLC Q. 7. What is God?
A. God is a Spirit,in and of himself infinite in being, glory, blessedness,and perfection; all-sufficient, eternal, unchangeable,incomprehensible, every where present, almighty, knowing all things, most wise, most holy, most just, most merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.
