God Eternal: Nature and Attributes Part 2

God is Unique

I have heard the statistic that 97 percent of Americans believe in God. This is probably accurate, but what would be interesting to know, is who Americans think God is and what is he like. I think most people in the U.S would agree that God is unique, in fact most people in the world may believe this is true, but what does Christianity mean by unique? This may not be an extensive definition but here it goes. By unique we mean that there is only one God, and what makes him God is his eternality, immutability, transcendence, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and that he is incorporeal (immaterial or spirit), and triune.

I would like to discuss each attribute individually and hopefully give a decent explanation and the implications of the view. Our first definition is “Eternality”, or God is eternal. He has always been and there has never been a time when he was not :

Psalm 90:1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Deuteronomy 33:27 The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemy before you, saying, 'Destroy him!,

Nehemiah 9:5 And the Levites-Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah-said: "Stand up and praise the LORD your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. [ Or God for ever and ever ] " "Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.

If God is not eternal, that means there was a time when he came to be. If he came to be, that would indicate he himself was created and not the only God or true God. His existence would be dependent, and this affects his being immutable because he came to be and was not at some point. He would not be omnipotent either because he does not sustain his own existence but is determined by something other than his own being. Also, an effect cannot be greater than it's cause.

There must be a first cause, or uncaused cause or what you have is an infinit regress of gods or causes, and that would lead us nowhere. Logically, God must be the uncaused cause by his very definition of being the only true God. There must be a source of eternal truth as well, or we have a serious dilema called relativism. If God is not eternal and therefore not immutable, and he is subject to change, what changes will occurr? God as well as ourselves can only guess.

I will address the other attributes in the coming weeks, but understanding the nature and the implications of the Christian view of God should be a fundamental striving for all believers. Their are more than enough good books on this important topic. I would suggest going to the following site and request the “Nature and Attributes of God” by Robert Passantino. It is a small but effective booklet, and for a small or large donation to this awsome ministry you can get a copy.
http://answers.org