Divine Attributes

There is a wise, intelligent, and powerful creator responsible for the creation of human beings as well as the entire world. The name we commonly ascribe to the creator is “God.” Now that we have ascertained die existence of God, the next step is to grasp a better understanding of God. We may. therefore, ask, “What are the attributes of God?”

The topic of God’s attributes occupies a prominent place in all religions. Most religions presuppose God’s existence, and as such they concern themselves exclusively with propounding God’s attributes. Most theologians interpret this treatment of God’s attributes as indicating that they are comprehensible to human reason. Of course, this does not mean that all people enjoy the same level of comprehension in understanding them.

It is a general philosophical principle that in order to bestow something onto another being, one must first be in possession of that which is being imparted.To bestow something to another implies that one possesses that which one bestows. Based on this general principle, God must possess all those perfections that He bestows onto His creatures, albeit at an infinitely higher degree.

The Way to Know God’s Attributes

Religions ascribe a multiplicity of names and attributes to God, often furnishing rational arguments in support of these names and attributes. Philosophers and theologians tend to take the necessary being as the primary attribute of God and by analyzing it arrive at a number of other Divine Attributes.

Furthermore, should we succeed in demonstrating that God is Absolutely Perfect. we would be warranted in ascribing all attributes of perfection to Him - such as knowledge and power - in an infinite and absolute capacity.

Lastly, another way to arrive at God’s attributes is induction. By studying the perfection of creatures, we conclude that the Creator must necessarily possess those perfections, although to an infinitely greater extent. Of course, the inductive way for gaining knowledge of the Divine Attributes requires special caution and care.

Although we judge that God must possess the perfections He imparts to the creatures, we also know that He is incorporeal and infinite. He is not bound by the limitations of the creatures. As such, before ascribing to God the attributes we arrive at inductively, we must negate of them all of their negative connotations pertaining to the finale and deficient creatures of the material world. This is a very delicate task, as we are accustomed to the privations and deficiencies of the material world in which we have been brought up, and so it could be very difficult to wean our minds from them.

The beings we are associated with arc material and thus bound by the limitations of the material world. Material beings are confined to a certain time and place and partake of a specific shape with particular dimensions. As such, our minds generally think in the context of time and space. Now, to free our minds from this context so as to conceive God, who transcends time and space and the world of finite existence, requires special care and diligent mental effort.

Now that we have learned the different approaches to examining God’s Attributes. one may ask what is the most concise form in which God’s attributes may be expressed.The answer consists of the following two sentences:
1. God possesses all perfections infinitely;

2. God’s existence is free of any and all imperfections.