An Interesting Excercise

Binaca Chugger

Binaca Chugger

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Let us suppose a group of Christians were each assigned one attribute of God.  They were to research this attribute and be ready to prove why it is the greatest of His attributes and how all other of His attributes were dependent upon this one.  For example: Holiness manifests Justice.

Would any attribute actually be able to be proven to stand alone and be the source of all others, or would we find that all of the attributes are necessary for all of God to be God?  If the latter, is this why we could be guilty of the entire law though we only violated one command?

What think ye?
 
Who's Bianca? 
God is Light
God is Love
These two statements stand alone, in my mind.

Anishinabe

 
admin said:
Binaca Chugger said:
admin said:
Well Bianca... great thread. I see two umbrella attributes...

Holiness
Infinity
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What about Sovereignty?
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His Sovereignty is infinite and holy.

I don't make too much of making these controlling attributes. It is a good exercise. But it can lead to an imbalance of who God is.
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He asked us to say 'Thy will be done as in Heaven...'  Because it isn't.  One day, for a 1,000 years, His sovereignty will be 'so in earth'.  Then, shortly after that, it will be for ever.  So it seems His Mercy is greater than His Sovereignty.  Or, His Mercy is greater than His desire for recognition of His Sovereignty.


Anishinabe

 
rsc2a said:
God is not a composite of various attributes. God is a simple Being, not formed of parts, but every attribute we would assign to God is part of His essence. God is good, God is just, God is merciful, God is holy because He is God. He defines the characteristics. The characteristics do not define Him.

See also:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2010/03/25/the-simplicity-of-god/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_simplicity
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/1003.htm
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Much more than a simple being, but maybe I am drawing at straws.

I am not claiming that God is simply a summation of attributes, but rather am wondering if anyone can make the claim that one attribute of God is greater than all others.  As I thought through the question, I came to the conclusion that none of His attributes can stand alone or be the source of others.  Rather, each is only a slight glimpse of His grandeur.

I think it would be an interesting exercise to explain our inability to explain God.
 
Binaca Chugger said:
...am wondering if anyone can make the claim that one attribute of God is greater than all others.  As I thought through the question, I came to the conclusion that none of His attributes can stand alone or be the source of others.

I think it would be an interesting exercise to explain our inability to explain God.
Click to expand...

The word "greater" is probably the issue. It gives us a wrong impression. I like the term "controlling attribute" because it does not give the idea that one attribute is more important than another.

This exercise is helpful in that it helps us understand how our God is greater than all of the other gods this world erects.

Unlike the sovereign, Zeus, our God is a holy, merciful sovereign.
Unlike the all providing dollar, our God is the gracious, unlimited Provider.
 
Binaca Chugger said:
rsc2a said:
God is not a composite of various attributes. God is a simple Being, not formed of parts, but every attribute we would assign to God is part of His essence. God is good, God is just, God is merciful, God is holy because He is God. He defines the characteristics. The characteristics do not define Him.

See also:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2010/03/25/the-simplicity-of-god/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_simplicity
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/1003.htm
Click to expand...

Much more than a simple being, but maybe I am drawing at straws.

I am not claiming that God is simply a summation of attributes, but rather am wondering if anyone can make the claim that one attribute of God is greater than all others.
Click to expand...

No. Because God is simple, not complex. :)

[quote author=Binaca Chugger]As I thought through the question, I came to the conclusion that none of His attributes can stand alone or be the source of others.  Rather, each is only a slight glimpse of His grandeur.[/quote]

i.e. divine simplicity ;)
 
To express it mathematically:

God ≠ Love + Mercy + Justice + Holiness + Eternity + ...

God = Love = Mercy = Justice = Holiness = Eternity = ...
 
IMO, God is not a collection of attributes, but God has attributes that he wants known:

22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
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So God wants us to know about his wrath, his power, his glory, and his mercy. 

This is why I am supralapsarian.  How can God make known his wrath and mercy?  Only by deliberately allowing sin into his creation.  If he created everything as we will be someday (without sin and without inclination to sin), then we would know nothing of his wrath or mercy.  We would not know God as profoundly, and he apparently wants us to know him more profoundly. 

 
[quote author=Castor Muscular]So God wants us to know about his wrath, his power, his glory, and his mercy. 

This is why I am supralapsarian...[/quote]

Well, this reason and the fact that a determined universe is the only thing that makes any logical sense. ;)
 
FSSL said:
This exercise is helpful in that it helps us understand how our God is greater than all of the other gods this world erects.

Unlike the sovereign, Zeus, our God is a holy, merciful sovereign.
Unlike the all providing dollar, our God is the gracious, unlimited Provider.
Click to expand...

Good point!
 
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