Traditional Views of God

Pamphlet Reference:
I Believe in God (p.2-3)

The following words have traditionally been used to describe some of the attributes of God. Try to define or give your concept of what each means in a sentence or two. If possible, find some verse in the Bible that would support your view and share a comment or more. Answers will be posted starting March 29.

We have to immediately interject at this point that there are attributes which define God and there are attributes which even if God suspended or gave up would not make Him less than God. YES, God is powerful enough, omnipotent enough to even control, suspend, de-activate some of His powers (non-defining attributes only).

The "defining attributes" of God are those qualities which He can never limit nor surrender (e.g., Love, Truth, Life, Light, Faithfulness, etc). Otherwise, He actually ceases to be God. On the other hand, the "non-defining attributes" of God are those which He either He has the option to suspend, to limit or to dispense as He wills (e.g., omnipresence, omniscience, even omni-potence!).

Note also at this point that we do not agree that some qualities attributed to God by classical theology are biblical. For example, impassability which means that God has no passions does not have any foundation either in the Old Testament or the New Testament. Furthermore, the attribute of immutability ("God does not change") only applies to God's non-defining attributes.

We will attempt to put (ND) or (D) after the attributes below to classify it as Non-Defining or Defining.

God is OMNIPOTENT (ND) - This means that God is ALL(Omni) POWERFUL(Potent). God CAN do ANYTHING he desires to do. Note that divine omnipotence may mean absolute unlimited power. However, that is not the way the God of the Bible has chosen to manifest His sovereignty. Jesus Christ demonstrated that omnipotence or power can be witheld or liimited and yet power or omnipotence may still reside in Him who can limit it. Compare this to the divine attribute of LOVE. Love that is witheld is not true love. Hence, this is an attribute that can cannot limit without losing it. On the other hand, God can limit His power and still remain powerful.

God is OMNIPRESENT (ND) - This means that God is ALL-PRESENT. God CAN be ANYWHERE He desires to be. (Note here that the traditional view actually proposes that God IS EVERYWHERE. It implies that wherever God is absent, that place may not exist. This is subtle and Biblically an erroneous concept. Eternal life is living in the presence of God continuously, eternally. Eternal Death or Eternal Condemnation is living outside of God's presence. Hence, there are places where God's presence is not manifest or felt NOT because God cannot but because He HAS CHOSEN not to be there.)

God is OMNISCIENT (ND) - This means that God is ALL-KNOWING. God KNOWS anything and everything that He desires to know. (Note that the traditional concept of omniscience is such that God knows EVERYTHING including EVERY DETAIL of the PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE. Hyper-Calvinists, for example, believe that God knows exactly what time you will be drinking coffee tomorrow, how much sugar or cream to the last milliliter, how much you are going to drink, how much will be left over and whether or not you're going to clean your cup thoroughly, etc, etc. The definition we gave may include that. However, we proposed the qualifier "...that He desires to know." This is important to note when we explore the concept of the Biblical God. It will surprise you to know that according to Scripture, God has desired NOT TO KNOW everything. So He MAY NOT know that tomorrow you will choose to drink milk instead of coffee ONLY BECAUSE He HAS NOT desired to know that. Our wonderful and personal God DESIRES TO BE SURPRISED!!! There are many passages in Scripture that demonstrate this. So, take note of this nuance in definitions in our future discussions as they will really come in handy in our quest to know The God Whom we worship.)

God is OMNICOMPETENT (ND) - God is able to accomplish anything He sets out to do in the best possible way with the best possible means and methods with the most effective use of resources, not only because of His sovereignty and wisdom, but IN SPITE OF THE RISK He took in giving man free will such that man may choose to go against God's will.

This concept is new to theology and is a radical alternative to the concept of sovereignty (as compared to predetermination). God has sovereignly chosen to open the future even to Himself. Although there are many things that He has chosen to predetermine, He has not exhaustively predetermined everything. He has chosen not to know whether you will be faithful to Him in the next few hours or if you chose to go your own way apart from His will. Obviously, He has not predetermined what brand of soda you are going to drink 77 days from next Tuesday.

This indeed introduces an element of risk which an all-wise God has chosen to tread. But this risk exists and has continuously been depicted in Biblical literature as God showing genuine surprise and grieving over Israel's sins, and God rejoicing and blessing as a response to His children's faith and faithful obedience to specific commands.

Omnicompetence is a more spectacular display of sovereignty than that of the traditional veiws of Omniscience. Omnicompetence implies that God IS ABLE to multi-plan and muti-task and multi-undertake using the BEST POSSIBLE courses of action in response to events and actions that His children or the world undergo. It also proclaims that as a display of absolute sovereignty, God chose to be weak and powerless in the Incarnation and still be victorious in the end. Of course, the Bible also demonstrates that time and again God choses to intervene in human events and personal affairs, and then again mostly in loving response to the pleas and prayers of His children.

God is the ALPHA and OMEGA (D) - This means that God is eternal (He has an eternal past and an eternal future). He has no beginning. He has no end. Actually in Scripture the Old Testament (Isaiah 44:6 et al) makes this an attribute of God, while the New Testament (Revelations 1:8 et al) declares this as an attribute of our Lord Jesus Christ. Herein lies one of the reasons why Christians declare Christ to be God. Now, the subtleties of this concept - According to the traditional view which again is erroneous, this implies that God is timeless, He has NO PAST, PRESENT, nor FUTURE time frame of reference. Everything to God is as "real" as it is current or present. Everything God sees and knows is to Him a PRESENT reality. Hand in hand with the traditional concept of omniscience, God is NEVER surprised because everything to Him is a present reality or occurence. As we will learn in our quest for truth, this traditional concept has terrible implications or repercussions with our relationship with God. So please note that although we believe that God is eternal, we DO NOT believe that He is timeless according to the traditional view.

God is a PERSON (D) - This means not only that God has personality, but he has "human qualities" and we can relate to Him as one person to another. Note that I used the traditional view of saying "human qualities" but this is really erroneous. The Bible says that God created man IN HIS OWN IMAGE! Hence, before we say that God has human qualities (the traditional view calls this "anthropomorphism" or "like the form of man"), more accurately, we should Biblically declare that MAN HAS DIVINE QUALITIES (we call this "theomorphism" or "like the form of God")!!! It is very important to distinquish the difference. God has ALL HUMAN qualities EXCEPT THOSE HUMAN QUALITIES that are temporal or part of the curse during the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Hence, sin is NOT a divine quality since it was part of that curse. Mortality and disease are not DIVINE qualities. Humorously, pregnancy was part of the curse and sex is temporal. Hence, they are not divine qualities of God's personhood either.

The following two attributes of God are presented to show the difficulty of defining these properly if one held on to the traditional view that God is everywhere, knows everything, is timeless and is anthropomorphic. In contrast, we will show that because we believe that God has intentionally limited His powers and attributes and therefore has decided NOT to be everywhere, decided NOT to know everything, is eternal but not timeless, and that He created man in His own image, then the following two attributes have very deep personal meanings to anyone who desires to have an intimate relationship with God.

God is LOVE (D). This attribute is what separates the Judeo-Christian God from any other god. Pagan gods are known to be selfish, continually critical and angry with man, ready to dispense curses or judgments, beings who treat humans as their toys or trivial objects with no thought for their welfare or happiness. In stark contrast, the God of the Bible loves man. John 3:16, Romans 5:8 and John 15:13 give an idea of the extent of this love, that through Christ, God loved us to death.

There are at least three different and specific Greek words for "love", eros, phileo and agape. Eros, where the english word erotic comes from refers to love that is of the emotional and sensual kind. Phileo, where the word Philadelphia or english word filial comes from refers to affection or brotherly concern. Agape is the Greek word for charity or unconditional love. To compare and contrast the three kinds of love, we may simplify by saying, Eros implies "I love you IF..."; Phileo implies "I love you BECAUSE..."; while Agape implies "I love you IN SPITE OF..." This demonstrates the unconditional nature of agape love. In the three verses given above, the Bible uses agape. Note that in John 15:13, Jesus used agape for the the word "love" while He used the root word phileo for the word "friends". Note also that while this verse show Jesus love for His friends, Romans 5:8 shows His love for His enemies, and finally, John 3:16 shows His love for the whole world - - pure and unconditional. It doesn't matter who you are, God loves you anyway, and God loves you to the death! God loves because God is love. It is exactly who He is.

Finally, before we leave the attribute of LOVE, we have to note that TRUE LOVE involves RISK. If God was absolutely sure that He would never lose our love or devotion to Him regardless of what He would do to us whether good or bad, then there is no risk involved and His love for us would be in doubt. If I could totally control my wife and kids to love me, then I may not truly love them since I am risking NOTHING.

God is a JEALOUS (D) God. This is an obvious attribute of God because God declares it Himself in many passages of scripture starting with the Torah. Traditionalists simply are not able to deal with this attribute and demote this attribute to being an anthropomorphism.

Behold the following defintions of Jealous from http://www.selfknowledge.com/51802.htm:

1. Zealous; solicitous; vigilant; anxiously watchful. "I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts." Kings xix. 10. "How nicely jealous is every one of us of his own repute!" Dr. H. More.
2. Apprehensive; anxious; suspiciously watchful. "'This doing wrong creates such doubts as these, Renders us jealous and disturbs our peace." Waller. "The people are so jealous of the clergy's ambition." Swift.
3. Exacting exclusive devotion; intolerant of rivalry. "Thou shalt worship no other God; for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." Ex. xxxiv. 14.
4. Disposed to suspect rivalry in matters of interest and affection; apprehensive regarding the motives of possible rivals, or the fidelity of friends; distrustful; having morbid fear of rivalry in love or preference given to another; painfully suspicious of the faithfulness of husband, wife, or lover. "If the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife." Num. v. 14. "To both these sisters have I sworn my love: Each jealous of the other, as the stung Are of the adder." Shak. "It is one of the best bonds, both of chastity and obedience, in the wife, if she think her husband wise; which she will never do if she find him jealous." Bacon.

This is indeed a divine attribute but it has to be qualified in terms of the rest of Scripture. Paul says in Ephesians 4:26,27a, "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil." Yes, even God sets the example for anger. Anger is a divine behavior but it is not necessarily sin.

Likewise, Jealousy has its divine elements. We accept those common definitions sans the human sinful aspects of it. When we are jealous or zealous in protecting what we love, we display a divine attribute (we are made in God's image), but when we sin we demonstrate our mortality and human-ness not God's.

Note that these insights go directly against the grain of classical theology which tends to rationalize God's "human" behavior as anthropomorphisms (research this term!)

Other attributes

The Bible describes God in many ways. Here are some and use the Bible Gateway link to look them up.

1. He is perfect (D) and just (D) in all His ways; faithful and true. Deuteronomy 32:4
2. He is forgiving (D), gracious (D) and loving (D), slow to be angry, merciful. Nehemiah 9:17b
3. He is all-powerful (ND), righteous (D), just (D). Job 37:23; 42:2
4. He is great and mighty (ND); His wisdom cannot be measured (ND). Psalm 147:5
5. He is holy (D) and glorious (ND). Isaiah 6:3
6. He is eternal (D). Isaiah 41:4
7. He is everywhere (ND). Jeremiah 23:23,24
8. He is the Creator (D); nothing is too difficult for Him ND). Jeremiah 32:17
9. He is a righteous judge (D). 2 Timothy 4:8
10. He knows everything; nothing can be hidden from Him. (ND) Hebrews 4:13
11. He is the source of all good; He never changes, on His defining attributes. (D). James 1:17
12. He is light (D). 1 John 1:5
13. He is love (D). 1 John 4:8
14. He is sovereign. However, the execution or exercise of God's sovereignty is determined by His love, grace, and mercy. This is in direct contrast to the classical view (which is really unbiblical!) which presupposes that God's love is totally controlled by His sovereignty. (D)
    

Some of the most beautiful and comprehensive descriptions of God are found in the Psalms.What do the following Psalms say about Him?
Psalm 36:5-9 Psalm 103:1-14 Psalm 139:1-6

Doctrine: Cardinal vs. Peripheral

Let's make this an interactive discussion. What is CARDINAL Christian doctrine and what is PERIPHERAL Christian doctrine? Let's get your thoughts on this. We'll post the answer(s) on the 7th day of the original post (March 22).

March 20 - While waiting for the others to check in, let me start by re-introducing to you the Apostle's Creed:

"I believe in God the Father Almighty; Maker of Heaven and Earth; and in Jesus Christ His only (begotten) Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose from the dead; He ascended into heaven; and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen."

So, is the Apostle's Creed a statement of Cardinal doctrine? or Peripheral doctrine? Why? Why not?

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Cardinal comes from Greek word “kardia” meaning heart. Technically, these are doctrines that are directly related to a set of Christian beliefs which are necessary for personal salvation. In the history of the Christian church, rejection of any one of the cardinal doctrines condemns a member of the church as a heretic. Heretics during the Roman Catholic Inquisition were normally burned at the stake.
Peripheral comes from the Greek word "peri", the same word as perimeter, meaning "around". In computers, peripheral devices are not necessary for a computer to operate. Hence, peripheral doctrines are mostly traditional beliefs or practices of the church which have no direct bearing on one’s salvation. A Christian may or may not agree with these doctrines without endangering personal salvation.

The Apostle’s Creed was so named not because the apostles wrote them but it evolved in the early church as a summary of the doctrines that their immediate disciples believed was cardinal doctrine. Rejection of any one of its salient points puts one's eternal life in jeopardy. Its early originals were mostly baptismal confessions, i.e., candidates for Christian baptism were required to declare these set of beliefs in the same way that an oath is administered by our judicial system when a person takes the witness stand.

For our blog, please study the phrases of the creed carefully as we will be dealing with many of these in our future discussions. One good example is the phrase "born of the Virgin Mary".

Implicit in the phrase are the following cardinal beliefs:


1. Christ became fully human (This is called the Incarnation of Christ). Christ had to be human, otherwise, he could not die on the cross for our sins.
2. Mary was a virgin before Christ was born. Note that if she was not, then the divine lineage of Christ would be doubtful. God can accept ONLY a PERFECT sacrifice which no human can offer. Since Christ is God, then He is able to offer a PERFECT sacrifice. Christ is the spotless Lamb of God.

Why do we need to know the difference between Cardinal vs. Peripheral doctrine? Mainly because we need to determine everytime there is a discussion on doctrine whether we need to defend our faith or not. If someone disagrees with us on Cardinal doctrine, he is in danger of condemnation and we do our utmost to convince them otherwise. On the other hand, if someone disagrees with us on peripheral doctrine, we know we are just engaging each other in the arena of ideas and hence do not need to fight over it unnecessarily.

Each one is really free to believe what he thinks is right when it comes to peripheral doctrine. Everyone is also free to discuss his beliefs. However, no Christian has the right to impose peripheral beliefs on each other. Most churches have divided resentfully over peripheral issues and lost the blessing of true fellowship.

Examples of peripheral doctrine (NOT in the Apostle's Creed) are what food to eat (crabs or vegetables), whether or not to drink wine, what type of baptism is right (immersion, sprinkling, etc), whether a male baby should be circumcised or not, what clothes to wear in church, is it sin to wear make-up, pierce our bodies, wear tatoos, etc.

So let this be clear: a violation of Cardinal doctrine is heresy because it eliminates important and necessary components in God's Salvation Plan for man.

Solid Rock

Solid Rock is a Bible-based blog. It encourages a earnest seeking of God's presence and a passionate study of His Word, the Bible.

God CANNOT be known apart from revelation neither can His will be known apart from revelation. This means that all we know about God has to be something that has been revealed in Scripture. Because of this, the discipline we shall apply in the search for answers is called "a posteriori" reasoning.

In contrast to the "a priori" method of reasoning when it comes to learning God or Scripture, we do not approach Scripture with pre-conceived notions or ideas about God nor do we lose the beauty of His revelation by presuppostions or pre-empting His message with our opinions, no matter how well-intentioned they are.

A correct concept of life emanates from a correct concept of God. Those who miss out worship a God who has attributes that are "created" by their opinions of how God should be instead of who He really is. They miss out because they approach Scripture with colored lens that filter out so much of the TRUE colors of the Wonderful God Whom we worship and Who is finally revealed through Jesus Christ.

Through this blog site, we wish to lay down solid doctrinal and interpretive foundations for a meaningful, personal and independent study of God's Word, the Bible. With the help of God, we will try to simplify what seminaries teach and give each one of us the confidence to discuss the great truths of Scripture and the boldness to share these with others.

By the way, in all our discussions, any comments you wish to contribute are appreciated. Note that you don't need to contribute answers, you can also contribute questions. However, it would be best to limit your questions to the topics I presented. If you wish to suggest other topics to discuss, you can email me at rsarcos@yahoo.com and we will try to line it up for future discussion. If you believe, your suggested topic has some urgency, go ahead and mention that in your email.