Theologians ( and regular believers ) occasionally have too much thought about God’s qualities. We humans have a tendency to complicate things, and we can do that as well for God.
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A philosophical idea exists that, by its name, tries to avoid overcomplicating God. It’s referred to as holy convenience.
According to the Lexham Survey of Theology,” God’s ease implies that his nature and existence are similar, which indicates that there is no composition or division within the holy nature.” In other words, God is constantly and consistently everything He is.
In a , a , recent podcast interview with Alisa Childers, priest and author Jonny Ardavanis said,” God is not the items of a pie.” ” I believe that’s truly important to understand. He exhibits all of His qualities without fail.
According to a new Tabletalk devotional,” when we talk about divine qualities, we are talking about the characteristics that make God who He is.” Yet, it should be noted that unlike other things, God is never a collection of qualities. We are making distinctions when talking about God’s qualities to aid in understanding His becoming, but these qualities unfortunately are akin to and do not distinguish it.
Another new Tabletalk religious explains how God’s simplicity differs from the nature of both God’s creation and mythical creatures:
Animals do not occur in this way. For instance, humans have qualities that they can either gain or lose without losing their fundamental society. Think of the quality of knowledge. A man may be sensible, or they may be foolish, but they are still a human being in either case. The same cannot be said of God. He wouldn’t be God if He weren’t completely wise. He is” the only wise God” ( Romans ). 16: 27 ).
Divine coherence and ease also indicate that God’s presence is equivalent to His essence. Although we can come up with various kinds of orbs or characteristics, not every one of them really exists. An entity created being is a character that has life and not a character that is by itself. For example, we can understand the fabled half-man, half-goat creature known as a bird and what a faun is. Fauns, however, are certainly real. A faun’s life is distinct from its essence, which is what it is.
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How does the idea of holy clarity appear in torah? In Exodus 3: 13-14, the name God gives Himself to Moses, which is the most visible way to see it, manifests itself.
Therefore Moses said to God,” If I go to the people of Israel and say,” The God of your father has sent me to you,” and they ask,” What is his name?” What should I declare to them, exactly? God said to Moses,” I am who I am. And he declared,” I have sent you, I am.” to the Israeli people.
The Shema begins by expressing the simplicity and unity of God:” Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one” ( Deuteronomy 6: 4).
Connected: Sunday Thoughts: The Word and the Word
Not much in the New Testament expresses the holy clarity in a meaningful way. Some of Jesus ‘ words mention it, but they don’t directly address it. The New Testament contains a lot of details, but they don’t go into detail about God’s qualities at the expense of his ease. In” Daily Doctrine,” Kevin DeYoung puts it nicely:” I like how they put it.”
Clarity refers to the combination of goodness and mercy, justice, power, infinite, and immutability and thereby resulting in the creation of a single divine being. This may give God the greater of his qualities, and give each of his qualities a proportion of God. And that would make some traits more important and important than another.
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When Scripture places the passion of God at the center of its focus, it is perfectly acceptable to emphasize it. However, the statement” God is love” ( 1 John 4:18 ) does not have more metaphysical weight than” God is light” ( 1 John 1:15 ),” God is spirit” ( John 4:14 ), and” God is a consuming fire” ( Heb. 12: 29 ), or any other sacramental declarations about God ( whether or not the word is present ). God does not possess only certain qualities. There is nothing about him that binds him like a ship’s starfish. He’s never a crossword puzzle containing the attributes of God. He is not a game of pipe tape with a lot of characteristics attached to him.
Divine convenience aids in making the correct decisions regarding God.
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In Malachi 3: 6a, God declares,” For I the LORD do no change.” That is the very definition of holy simplicity, and that should inspire us to praise and praise Him.
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