God’s Essential Attributes That Belong to Him Alone
God’s Essential Attributes That Belong to Him Alone¹
There are attributes that God shares with some of His creation. In God they are absolute and unlimited, whereas in created beings they are relative and limited. An example of this is wisdom.
God is characterized by wisdom, and many human beings are described as wise. But God’s wisdom is absolute and unlimited, while human wisdom is limited. It is a relative wisdom, in proportion to what God has granted them of intelligence and good judgment…
What we say about wisdom in this regard, we also say about power, mercy, beauty, knowledge, and similar attributes…
Eternity
However, there are attributes that are unique to God alone, which no creature shares with Him no matter how exalted it may be. Among these essential attributes is eternity.
God alone is eternal, having no beginning. There is no other eternal being, because all other beings have a beginning. Their beginning is the day they were created, the day they came into existence, the day they were born… Before that, none of those creatures existed.
This entire universe, with all that is in it of continents, regions, and lands, and all that is in it of suns, moons, and planets—this whole universe is created and has a beginning, and nothing in it is characterized by eternity.
Therefore, it is wrong to say, for example, “Our relationship with such-and-such a country is an eternal relationship.” Neither that country nor we can be described as eternal. What is meant, of course, is that it is a very ancient relationship. But no matter how ancient it is, it has a beginning. Therefore, it is not eternal.
Creation
Among God’s essential attributes also is that He is the Creator.
He alone is the Creator, and He alone has created everything. The term “created” means that He brought into existence from nothing, from non-being.
As for the astonishing things attributed to the human mind, it has made them but has not created them. It made them from the material that God created, and it made them with a formidable intelligence with which the human mind is endowed. But the human mind is created by God, and the intelligence of that mind is a gift from God.
God, therefore, is the One who created matter and created the mind and intelligence. The mind used matter and intelligence in the field of technology and others, and made all those astonishing industries. God alone remains the Creator.
God did not create only matter and everything material; rather, He also created the spirit and the mind. He created the angels, and they are spirits.
He created life, and as Creator He is also able to withdraw this spirit that He granted to life. Therefore, He is the Giver of life and the Taker of life. In His hand are life and death. He is the One who created nature, and He is able to annihilate it.
Necessary Existence
Also among God’s attributes alone is that He is of necessary existence. Some say of this attribute that He exists by necessity, meaning that necessity requires His existence. For all existing things necessitate the existence of a higher, omnipotent Being who brought them into existence and was the cause of their existence. Therefore, some philosophers describe Him as “the First Cause,” that is, the original cause for bringing all existing things into being.
There is no being other than God that can be described as having necessary existence, or whose existence is required by necessity. Since all other beings are created and have a beginning, and did not exist before this beginning, then they do not exist by necessity. As long as there was a time before their creation in which they did not exist, then their existence was not necessary.
Unlimited
Among God’s attributes also is that He is unlimited.
He is unlimited in power, that is, He is able to do all things.
He alone is able to do all things; neither humans nor angels share with Him in this attribute. Angels have great power, but they are not able to do all things. Humans, no matter how great their power, are not able to do all things. It is sufficient that death has overcome them all.
Among the manifestations of God’s power to do all things is His performance of miracles.
God is also unlimited with regard to place. He is present everywhere, and no place can contain Him.
He is always present in every location. This is an attribute that belongs to Him alone. No one can be present in two places at the same time. And since God exists everywhere, He observes everything that happens in it. In this sense we say that He is the Examiner of hearts and the Reader of thoughts.
God is also unlimited with regard to knowledge. He knows everything about everything. This subject alone requires a separate article.
Other Attributes
Among God’s attributes is that He does not change,
and that He is living, ever-living, having immortality in His very essence.
I wish to suffice with this for now, because the unlimited God is greater than can be encompassed by speaking about Him in a small article such as this.
(To be continued)
¹ An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III published in Akhbar Al-Youm newspaper on 10-6-2006.
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