THE DOCTRINE OF GOD
Attributes and Works
KEY TERMINOLOGY
• Attributes: to ascribe to the Lord those things
that are his, Psalm 29:1,2, “Ascribe to the Lord
the glory due to his name”
• Perfections: the “things” ascribed to God by
way of eminence, I Peter 2:9, “declare the
praises of him”
• Properties: the things that are God’s, with
reference to the persons of the Trinity
• Predicates: God’s attributes in relation to
Creation
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THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
• To speak of God is to speak of his Attributes
• His attributes are real, not merely descriptive:
– God is more than loving; God IS LOVE
– Attributes differ “neither realiter, nor nominaliter, but
virtualiter” C. Hodge, ST, 1:373
• God is not a composite of Attributes, but is a
“simple” being
• The Attributes are coextensive with his being“Substance and attributes are inseparable.”
C. Hodge, ST, 1:371
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THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
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•
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•
•
•
ABSOLUTE
IMMANENT
INCOMMUNICABLE
NEGATIVE
NATURAL
METAPHYSICAL
INTRANSITIVE
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•
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RELATIVE
TRANSIENT
COMMUNICABLE
POSITIVE
MORAL
ETHICAL
TRANSITIVE
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THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD, Berkhof
• ABSOLUTE
• RELATIVE
– Attributes considering
the essence of God in
itself
– Self-existence,
immensity, eternity
• IMMANENT or
INTRANSITIVE
– Attributes considering
the essence of God in
relation to creation
– Omnipresence,
Omniscience
• TRANSIENT or
TRANSITIVE
– Those which go forth
and produce effects
outside of God, such as
– Omnipotence,
benevolence, justice
– Those which do not “go
forth,” such as
– Immensity, simplicity,
eternity
Can we have knowledge of God in himself?
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THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD, Berkhof
• NATURAL, NON-MORAL• MORAL, ETHICAL
– Attributes which
or METAPHYSICAL
qualify God as a moral
being
– Truth, goodness,
mercy, justice, holiness
– Attributes that belong to
the constitutional nature
of God, as distinguished
from his will
• POSITIVE
– Self-existence, simplicity, – Those in which
infinity
something is affirmed
• NEGATIVE
– Power, knowledge,
holiness, justice,
– Those in which something
goodness and truth
is denied
– Simplicity, infinity,
eternity, immutability
Are not moral attributes natural to God?
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THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD, Berkhof
• INCOMMUNICABLE• COMMUNICABLE
– Attributes for which
there is nothing
analagous in the
creation, such as
– Aseity, simplicity,
immensity, eternity
– Attributes to
which the human
spirit bears some
analogy, such as
– Power, goodness,
mercy, righteousness
Does this distinction withstand scrutiny? Grudem
suggests “less shared or more shared” as distinction
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CATEGORIES OF ATTRIBUTES
• God in himself
– Self-Existence
– Immutability
– Infinity
• God in relation to
creation
• Perfection
• Eternity
• Immensity
• Knowledge
• Wisdom
• Veracity
– Moral
• Goodness
• Holiness
• Righteousness
– Unity
• Oneness
• Simplicity
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– Spirituality
– Intellectual
– Sovereignty
• Will
• Power
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THE ATTRIBUTES
per Shorter Catechism, Q. 4
• God is
– A Spirit, Infinite, Eternal, Unchangeable in his
being
•
•
•
•
•
•
Wisdom
Power
Holiness
Justice
Goodness
Truth
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THE WORKS OF GOD
• The Decrees of
God
• Creation
• Providence
• Miracles
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THE WORKS OF GOD
Opera Ad ExtraGod in relation
to creation
Opera Ad IntraGod in
himself
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THE DECREES OF GOD
• The Final Cause of
all is the Glory of
God, Antecedent
Will
• The means towards
those ends are the
Consequent Will of
God
• The Decree is the
determination to
employ those ends
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• Definition: “The
decrees of God are
his eternal purpose,
according to the
counsel of his will,
whereby for his own
glory he hath
foreordained
whatsoever comes
to pass.” S.C. Q. 7
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PREDESTINATION AND ELECTION
• PREDESTINATION
– Cosmic
– Absolute and
Unconditional
– Extends to all
events in detail
– Basis of all human
action
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• ELECTION
– Soteriological
– Absolute and
Unconditional
– Applies to all acts/
events re salvation
– Basis of human act
of faith
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BIBLICAL DATA: DECREE OF GOD
• Psalm 139:16, “All the days ordained for me
were written in your book before one of them
came to be”
• Psalm 33:11, “the plans of the Lord stand firm
forever”
• Isaiah 14:24, “the Lord Almighty has sworn,
Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I
have purposed, so it will stand”
• Ephesians 1:5,11 “he predestined us . . . In
accordance with his pleasure and will . . . .
having been predestined according to the plan
of him who works out everything in conformity
with the purpose of his will”
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THE DECREES OF GOD
• Includes even the minute details, Matthew
10:29,30, “not one of them [sparrows] will fall . .
. apart from the will of your Father”
• Includes the wicked acts of men
– Luke 22:22, “the Son of Man will go as it has been
decreed”
– Acts 2:23, “this man was handed to you by God’s set
purpose and foreknowledge”
– Acts 4:27-28, “They did what your power and will had
decided beforehand should happen”
• Are Immutable, Isaiah 14:24,27, “I have
purposed, so it will stand” (Cf. 46:9-10)
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THE DECREES OF GOD
• Human responsibility: WCF 3.1 “God
from all eternity did, by the most wise
and holy counsel of his own will, freely
and unchangeably ordain whatsoever
comes to pass: yet so, as thereby
neither is God the author of sin,
nor is violence offered to the will
of the creatures, nor is the liberty
or contingency of second causes
taken away, but rather established.”
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CALVINISM-HYPER-CALVINISM
CONTINUUM
100%
The sovereignty of God
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PELAGIANISM-ARMINIANISM
CONTINUUM
100%
Human Freedom
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COVENANTAL CALVINISM
100%
Human Freedom
200%
Solution
100%
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The sovereignty of God
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WORKS OF GOD: CREATION
• The Father creates,
Hebrews 1:2
• The Son creates, John
1:3
• The Holy Spirit creates,
Genesis 1:2
• The biblical concept of
creation is an action of
God alone in which he
brings into existence
that which had no
existence prior to his
creative word.
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THEORIES OF CREATION
• Old Earth
– Day-Age- Each day is a period of
indeterminate time
– Literary Framework- There is a literary
process at work
• Paralleling days 1-4, 2-5, 3-6
• God accommodating himself to our ability
• Young Earth
– Mature Creation- Appearance of Age
– Flood Geology- Catastrophism explains the
geological phenomena
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IRREDUCIBLE MINIMUM
IN CREATION
• All that is came from the hand of
God
• All life forms came, ultimately, from
the the creative power of God
• Adam and Eve were created by the
direct act of God
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WORKS OF GOD:
PROVIDENCE
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• “God’s works of
providence are,
his most holy,
wise, and
powerful
preserving and
governing all his
creatures, and all
their actions.”
S.C. Q 11
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PROVIDENCE
• Creation anticipates Providence
• All Christians profess belief in providence;
Calvinists extend it to every detail of life
• Providence means that God enters into his
creation and upholds it- preservation and
government
• Providence is universal and all-inclusive
– Ordinary Providence, Jonah 1:3, the boat
– Extraordinary Providence, Jonah 1:4, great wind
– Supernatural Providence, Jonah 1:17, the fish
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MYSTERY OF PROVIDENCE
• Agency and Responsibility (second causes) are
established by God’s providence
• Biblical Examples:
– Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God
intended it for good”
– Isaiah 10:5ff, “Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my
anger . . . I send him against a godless nation . . . But
this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in
mind”
– Acts 27:22-25, “keep up your courage, because not one
of you will be lost . . . it will happen just as he (God)
told me”
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MYSTERY OF PROVIDENCE
• The Moral (Revealed/Preceptive) Will of God- tells
us what pleases God
• The Decretive (Secret) Will of God- this is what
God has decreed to come to pass
• Choices ordained by God are nonetheless real
choices- herein lies the paradox!
• Necessity versus Compulsion, ICR 2.3.5,
“Therefore if the fact that he [God] must do good
does not hinder God’s free will in doing good; if
the devil, who can do only evil, yet sins with his
will- who shall say that man therefore sins less
willingly because he is subject to the necessity of
sinning?”
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MIRACLES
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MIRACLES
• Definition: “a less common kind of God’s
activity in which he arouses people’s awe and
wonder and bears witness to himself”
• Purpose- always related to redemption; signs
of authentication
• Appearance- at times of revelatory activity
(Exodus, prophets, incarnation, apostolic
period)
• Miracles appear as exceptions to the normal
providential activity of God (God’s acts by
“fiat” rather than by precedence)
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THE DOCTRINE OF GOD
Attributes and Works