Systematic Theology, Part 16

Here is a continuation of Chapter 11,  The Character of God; his Incommunicable attributes.  (i.e. How is God different from us).

d.  The challenge from process theology. (At first reading, this sentence is all new to me!)

Well, it means, Does God process and change over time?  The Bible says no but new theological ideas say yes, anything living must process and change. Part of their motivation is that humans through history add to God's experiences, and thus we humans mean something to God and who he is.   This, according to Grudem, does not stand up to scripture. 

Wayne Grudem says, "Scripture is clear that our ultimate significance comes not from being able to change the being of God, but from the fact that God has created us for his glory and that HE counts us as significant." 

Hebrews 1 says, " You, Lord, did found the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands, they will perish, but you remain; they will all grow old like a garment....they will be changed.  But you are the same, and your years will never end."  

e. God is both Infinite and personal.

God is not subject to us or creation, YET he interacts with us personally.  Wow, what a beautiful truth. 

Grudem points out that no other theological/religious system has a God image that is both personal and infinite, usually it is either/or. 

f. The importance of God's unchangeableness. If God could change, then he would either change for the better or the worse.  Either way, he would make us wonder whether there is something untrustable about him after/before changing.   He could ultimately change his plan for humanity, or if he could change, he could change into something totally evil.  And that is why we stand on the truth of the Bible that God doesnt change. 

3.  Eternity. God has not beginning, end, or "sucession of moments" in his own being, yet he sees events in time and acts in time.  Grudem says, " God knows all things, past, present, and future, and knows them all equally vividly." 

God is timeless in his own being.   God has a continually present existence, "I AM."  God sees events in time and acts in time. 

Will time stop in Heaven?  Although we will be in eternity, things will continue to progress...very interesting topic!

God is omnipresent.  God does not have any size or dimension, and is present everywhere, yet God acts differently in different places. 

God can be present to punish, to sustain, or to bless.  For example in the Old Testament, God made his presence known in the temple, and in the new covenant, there is no one place on earth that God has chosen as his particular dwelling place, for we can worship him anywhere.   The usual principle is that when God is "present" in scripture, it is to bless, and when he is "removed," it is because he removes his blessing. 

God's unity.  God is not divided into parts, yet we see different attributes of God emphasized at different times.   God is not a sum of a bunch of character traits, he is each of those things, unified and completely integrated whole person who is infinitely perfect in all of these attributes.  We must be careful to not overemphasize one characteristic, or set one aspect against another, as all are important.