Some Attributes of God¹

I want to speak to you on this blessed night about the attributes of God. I am trying with you the theological lectures—even in a simplified manner—and how you receive them.
The attributes of God are of two kinds: some are essential attributes belonging to God alone, which no one else possesses; and other attributes in which man may share, but only to a small degree. For example, we say that God is merciful, and there are people who are merciful. But there is a very great difference between the mercy of God and the mercy of man. So what are the essential attributes of God?

(The essential attributes of God)

The Creator:
God alone is the Creator, and there is no creator except God.
And God creates—that is, He brings into existence from nothing. Thus He created the universe, and created man, and created life. All of that from nothing.
And He created by His command, by His word, or by His mere will. He said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Or He willed that something exist, so it existed, even without a command…
And in creation we see that God created kinds of creatures:
He created inanimate things like mountains and hills and the earth; and He created moving inanimate things like the planets and heavenly bodies whose movement has a special law that God established. And He created living beings such as trees, for they grow and give fruit or flowers… And He created animals and birds: they have life, and have a voice which trees do not, and they reproduce… And He created the angels, who are spirits, as it is said in the Psalm: “Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire” (Ps. 104:4). And He created man: he has body, soul, and spirit.
Even the living beings that God created are of various kinds in terms of their level and the multiplicity of their systems. For example, the ant is a living creature, but it does not have multiple systems like animals. And among living creatures are those that reproduce through eggs, and those that are mammals which nurse. And among them are those that do not reproduce, like the angels…

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Here we say that in everything man has reached in knowledge, invention, and intelligence, man in all of that was a maker, not a creator…
In everything he has reached in cloning, and banks of fertilized eggs, and the fax and mobile phone, and other things, he was merely a maker—from materials that God created and with a mind that God created. And man did not create anything from himself!! Nor did he make anything from nothing…
As for what poets, writers, and people of imagination have made—that man has a creative mind—this is a type of metaphor by which they mean that he makes something new, not the precise meaning of the word “create”…

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Another attribute of God which no one shares is that He is eternal.

The Eternal:
The word “eternal” means He has no beginning. As for all other beings among the creatures, they have a beginning. They begin from the time they were created. The whole world has a beginning in which it was created; therefore, it is not eternal. Likewise, man is not eternal, for his existence begins from the day God created him. Thus God alone is eternal, because He is not created and has no beginning.
But sometimes, in our enthusiasm, we say, “Our relationship with such-and-such a country is an eternal relationship”! By that we mean that it is very old. But no matter how old it is, it has a beginning; therefore, it is not eternal. Neither our country is eternal, because it is created, nor is the other country eternal, for it has a beginning…

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I will give you a light example to bring closer to you the meaning of the word “eternal.”
If we asked someone: “Since when has 1+1=2?” Since today? Yesterday? The day before yesterday? The answer would be: “Long before that.” And we ask: “Since a hundred years? A thousand years? A million years?” The answer would still be: long before that. And the discussion ends with it being a truth with no beginning—i.e., eternal…
And if we asked: “Since when is good better than evil?” and proceeded with the question as before, we would find the answer to be that it is a truth without beginning—i.e., eternal. But these are only eternal truths in thought.
But God is the eternal truth in actual existence, for He is the scientific explanation for the existence of the rest of the beings.

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Also among the attributes of God by which He is distinguished alone is that He is unlimited.

Unlimited:
God is the only being unlimited in regard to time, place, power, and knowledge…
• He is unlimited regarding time because He existed before time and before the measures of time were known.
He existed alone before all creation.
Time, in our understanding, has three divisions: past, present, and future. And God is eternal with no beginning and everlasting with no end, or He is an everlasting mystery, above the limits of time.
And regarding time, before God the past, present, and future are as one. He does not see the future later, but sees it from now. And He speaks of it as though He were speaking of the past, as He spoke of the sufferings of the Crucifixion in Psalm 22.
• And He is unlimited regarding place: He is present in every place, and there is no place that can contain Him. And as the poet said about God:
“The universe, how narrow it was to contain You—how then could the heart contain You?!”
God is present in heaven and on earth and in between. Therefore, He does not move from one place to another, because He is in every place. And He does not ascend nor descend, because He is in the place of ascent, and in the place of descent, and in between…

We read in the Holy Bible: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). So what are these heavens?

The first heaven:
It is where birds and airplanes fly. It is our atmospheric envelope.

The second heaven:
It is where the sun and distant heavenly bodies exist. No one has reached it. If an airplane approaches it, it burns.

The third heaven:
It is Paradise, into which Saint Paul the Apostle was caught up (2 Cor. 12:2,4).

As for the Heaven of heavens: it is above all these heavens and in it is the throne of God (Matt. 5:34). No one has ascended to it—not Enoch nor Elijah. And concerning it the Lord said to Nicodemus: “No one has ascended to heaven except He who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven” (John 3:13).
God is present in all these heavens, and on earth also, and in every place. But in heaven He is glorified, and also in His holy houses. And He also exists in the places of the wicked where they disobey Him, yet He accompanies them and records their deeds.

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And regarding power: God is the only One who is able to do all things. Therefore He is called Almighty.
Among the creatures are those who are only mighty. But God alone is able to do all things, and nothing is too difficult for Him. Among the manifestations of His power are miracles. They are called miracles because the human mind is unable to grasp them. These miracles do not contradict the mind, but they are a level above the level of the mind. Among the most important miracles are creation and the raising of the dead.
And God being unlimited in power contradicts the idea of multiple gods.
For if there were more than one god, does each one of them not have power over the others? Then he would not be able to do all things, and thus would not be divine. Or is there among them a god who has power over the rest, and he would be the true God, while the others would not be gods because of their weakness…

And just as God is unlimited in power, He is also unlimited in knowledge.
They say that the one with the most knowledge among people is the one who knows something about everything (in general culture) and knows everything about something (in specialization). And although no person has been found who knows something about everything and knows everything about something, yet God is distinguished as the One who alone knows everything about everything.
• Yes, God knows everything about everything and about every person.
And He alone has this complete and comprehensive knowledge. Therefore we say of Him that He is all-knowing. God knows the hidden and the visible. He knows what is inside the heart and mind, and He knows intentions. He knows what people have done and what they intend to do. And He also knows everything the devil does and will repay him according to his deeds.
• And the knowledge of God is without progression, unlike the knowledge of scientists of physics and chemistry, with what they call “steps of work.” And His knowledge is completely certain.
And God knows without instruments. In the medical field they need examinations, tests, analyses, MRI devices, various X-ray machines, and endoscopes. But God knows complete and comprehensive knowledge without instruments.
Oil exploration companies know the places where oil exists through drilling that may reach thousands of meters. But God knows that without drilling or exploratory tests, because He is the One who willed that oil exist in the places where it is found. Likewise concerning mines…
And scientists know the properties of materials through processes and analyses, by which they know where vitamins, minerals, protein, and all health-beneficial substances exist. But God knows all of that without any intermediaries, for He is the One who placed in those materials what they contain of properties.

Also among the attributes of God which He alone possesses: absolute perfection.

Absolute perfection:
Humans may reach degrees of relative perfection according to age, intelligence, ability, and what is given to each of them of grace from God.
But absolute perfection is God’s alone, as is the absolute generally.
Man may be characterized by wisdom, but God alone has absolute wisdom—the unlimited wisdom—for He is all-wise.
Man may be merciful, but his mercy is relative compared to the unlimited mercy of God, for He is all-merciful. Likewise God has unlimited justice… and so with the rest of His attributes and their absolute perfection.

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And the attributes of God do not contradict one another nor divide.
He is perfect in His justice as He is perfect in His mercy. There is no conflict between them as some imagine that the mercy of God boasts over His justice!!
No, for the justice of God is filled with mercy, and the mercy of God is filled with justice. God is just in His mercy and merciful in His justice. His justice is merciful justice, and His mercy is just mercy… and so with the rest of the attributes in their harmony…

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Another attribute of God is that He alone is worshipped.

The only One worshipped:
For true worship is to God alone, with all its details. He alone is the One to whom prayers are directed. And He alone is the center of faith among humans and among angels.
And every worship to another is false worship and is against sound faith, such as the worship of idols, the worship of nature, the worship of ancestors, the worship of spirits and demons, and the like—whatever those may be called as gods. As the Psalm says: “For all the gods of the nations are demons” (Ps. 95:5).

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1. Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Year 32 – Issues 33, 34 (5–11–2004)

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