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What are the Attributes of God?
The attributes of God differs in every religious tradition (even tough there are some similarities) including expansive powers and abilities, psychological characteristics, gender characteristics, and preferred nomenclature. The assignment of these attributes often differs according to the conceptions of God in the culture from which they arise. For example, attributes of God in Christianity, attributes of God in Islam, and the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy in Judaism share certain similarities arising from their common roots.
God is absolutely other than His creation. The Creator cannot by any means be the same kind of being as that which He created. Although this is self evident to sense and reason, some people still ask why we cannot directly see God.
Main articles: The Attributes of God
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The philosophy of religion recognizes the following as essential attributes of God:
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God’s incommunicable attributes
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God’s communicable attributes
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Essence Essence (Latin: essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it loses its identity. Essence is contrasted with accident: a property...
Ultimate Reality Ultimate reality is “something that is the supreme, final, and fundamental power in all reality.” Buddhism Main article: Buddhism In Theravada Buddhism, Nirvana is ultimate reality. Nirvana is described in negative terms; it is unconstructed and unconditioned. In some strands of Mahayana Buddhism, the Buddha-nature or the Dhammakaya is seen as ultimate reality. Other strands of Buddhism reject...
Outline of Attributes of God Different religious traditions have differing (though often similar) attributes of God, including expansive powers and abilities, psychological characteristics, gender characteristics, and preferred nomenclature. The assignment of these attributes often differs according to the conceptions of God in the culture from which they arise. For example, attributes of...
The Attributes of God The Attributes of God show variety of differences (though often similar) in different religious traditions, including expansive powers and abilities, psychological characteristics, gender characteristics, and preferred nomenclature. The assignment of these attributes often differs according to the conceptions of God in the culture from which they arise....
Some Attributes of God in Quran God is extensively described in the Quran. The Quran is one of the main source of knowledge about Allah’s Essences and Attributes. For example: “Say: He is God, the One; God, the Eternal, the Absolute; He begot no one, nor is He begotten; Nor...
The Attributes of God in Islam According to the religious methodology or the basic principles of religion, the Attributes of God in Islam consist of certain transcending and blessed concepts—whose transcendence and blessedness come from the Being Whom they describe; these describe God Almighty and are, in one sense, regarded...
Thirteen Attributes of Mercy The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy or Shelosh-‘Esreh Middot HaRakhamim (שְׁלוֹשׁ־עֶשְׂרֵה מִידּוֹת הַרַחֲמִים) as enumerated in the Book of Exodus (Exodus 34:6–7) are the Divine Attributes with which, according to Judaism, God governs the world. According to the explanation of Maimonides these attributes must not be regarded as qualities inherent in God, but as the method of...
Divine Providence in Judaism Divine providence in Judaism (השגחה פרטית Hashgochoh Protis or Hashgaha Peratit, lit. divine supervision of the individual) is discussed throughout rabbinic literature, by the classical Jewish philosophers, and by the tradition of Jewish mysticism. The discussion brings into consideration the Jewish understanding of nature, and its reciprocal, the miraculous. This analysis thus underpins...
Acatalepsy In philosophy, acatalepsy (“inability to comprehend” from alpha privative and “to seize”) is incomprehensibleness, or the impossibility of comprehending or conceiving a thing. It is the antithesis of the Stoic doctrine of katalepsis (i.e., the ability to apprehend). According to the Stoics, katalepsis was true perception, but to the Pyrrhonists and Academic Skeptics, no perception could be known to be true. All perceptions were...
Mission of God Mission of God or Missio Dei is a Latin Christian theological term that can be translated as the “mission of God,” or the “sending of God.” It is a concept which has become increasingly important in missiology and in understanding the mission of the church since the second half of the 20th century. Some of...
Divine Providence In theology, divine providence, or simply providence, is God‘s intervention in the Universe. The term Divine Providence (usually capitalized) is also used as a title of God. A distinction is usually made between “general providence”, which refers to God’s continuous upholding of the existence and natural order of the Universe, and “special providence“, which refers to God’s extraordinary...
Sovereignty of God in Christianity Sovereignty of God is the Christian teaching that God is the supreme authority and all things are under His control. God is the “sovereign Lord of all by an incontestable right [as the] creator . . . owner and possessor of heaven and earth.” Sovereignty...
Impassibility Impassibility (from Latin in-, “not”, passibilis, “able to suffer, experience emotion”) describes the theological doctrine that God does not experience pain or pleasure from the actions of another being. It has often been seen as a consequence of divine aseity, the idea that God is absolutely independent of any other being, i.e., in no way causally dependent. Being...
God is Love God is Love or Deus caritas est, subtitled De Christiano Amore (Of Christian Love), is a 2005 encyclical, the first written by Pope Benedict XVI, in large part derived from writings by his late predecessor, Pope John Paul II. Its subject is love, as seen from a Christian perspective, and God’s place within all love. Charity is one...
Immutability (theology) The Immutability of God is an attribute that “God is unchanging in his character, will, and covenant promises.” The Westminster Shorter Catechism says that “[God] is a spirit, whose being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth are infinite, eternal, and unchangeable.” Those things do not change. A number of Scriptures attest to...
Sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a “sacred artifact” that is venerated and blessed), or places (“sacred ground“). French sociologist Émile Durkheim considered the dichotomy between...
Holy The word Holy (from Old English: hālig meaning “wholeness”) denotes the presence of sacredness in an object, being, person, place or idea. It can also indicates an experience of numinosity, (from the adjective numenous “all-inspiring” or embued with sacredness). Alternatively, it refer to items set aside for divine liturgies. Holiness, or the state of being holy is...
Aseity Aseity (from Latin a “from” and se “self”, plus -ity) is the property by which a being exists in and of itself, from itself, or exists as so-and-such of and from itself. The word is often used to refer to the Christian belief that God contains within himself the cause of himself, is the first cause, or rather is...
Grace in Christianity In Western Christian theology, grace is “the love and mercy given to us by God because God desires us to have it, not necessarily because of anything we have done to earn it”. It is not a created substance of any kind. “Grace is favour, the free and undeserved help that God gives us...
Omnipotence Paradox The omnipotence paradox is a family of paradoxes that arise with some understandings of the term omnipotent. The paradox arises, for example, if one assumes that an omnipotent being has no limits and is capable of realizing any outcome, even logically contradictory ideas such as creating square circles. A no-limits understanding of omnipotence...
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