This is not to say that God is not complete as a Being. He is totally complete, lacking nothing that is divine in His nature. But to speak of the simplicity of God is to speak of His complete unity in His essence. He is not made of parts, components, such as our bodies have or things He has created. He is only Spirit in His essential nature and His Being is all of His attributes eternally operating in a unified wholeness and all attributes are always expressed. It has been said that He IS His attributes. Are moral, intellectual, and emotional attributes change, His does not. So He cannot not be any one of His attributes all of the time.
Another way to think of this is that God is all that He has. He cannot increase or diminish any attribute of Himself because that would be a change in Himself. As humans, we speak of His attributes, but He really does not have separate attributes within Himself. He is all that He is because He is one divine essence.
You can read in Scripture many was that God says that He IS: a consuming fire, love, Spirit, light. One of the most telling things God says of Himself is how He named Himself to Moses: I AM WHO I AM. Ex. 3:14; a name that speaks to His simplicity, eternity, and self-existence. "ehyah asher ehyeh".
The God's simplicity of His Being helps us to grasp that He is a Being all to Himself. There is no other like Him. He alone is God, He is the beginning and the end of all things. All that we can say about who He is and all that He has revealed about Himself is Who He Is Always in totally and unity. There is no greater or lesser aspect of God. He is All in All.
This is not to say that God is not complete as a Being. He is totally complete, lacking nothing that is divine in His nature. But to speak of the simplicity of God is to speak of His complete unity in His essence. He is not made of parts, components, such as our bodies have or things He has created. He is only Spirit in His essential nature and His Being is all of His attributes eternally operating in a unified wholeness and all attributes are always expressed. It has been said that He IS His attributes. Are moral, intellectual, and emotional attributes change, His does not. So He cannot not be any one of His attributes all of the time.
Another way to think of this is that God is all that He has. He cannot increase or diminish any attribute of Himself because that would be a change in Himself. As humans, we speak of His attributes, but He really does not have separate attributes within Himself. He is all that He is because He is one divine essence.
You can read in Scripture many was that God says that He IS: a consuming fire, love, Spirit, light. One of the most telling things God says of Himself is how He named Himself to Moses: I AM WHO I AM. Ex. 3:14; a name that speaks to His simplicity, eternity, and self-existence. "ehyah asher ehyeh".
The God's simplicity of His Being helps us to grasp that He is a Being all to Himself. There is no other like Him. He alone is God, He is the beginning and the end of all things. All that we can say about who He is and all that He has revealed about Himself is Who He Is Always in totally and unity. There is no greater or lesser aspect of God. He is All in All.
This comment thread is locked. Please enter a new comment below to start a new comment thread.
Note: Comment threads older than 2 months are automatically locked.
Do you have a Bible comment or question?
Please Sign In or Register to post comments...
Report Comment
Which best represents the problem with the comment?