Attributes of God PDF Free Download

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Book overview

   The Attributes of God are the character traits of God as revealed to us in the Scriptures. They are classically distinguished between communicable and incommunicable divine attributes, between those character traits that are significantly reflected in human persons and those that have virtually no reflection in human persons. The Old Testament names of God often signified both the otherness (transcendence) of God and also his nearness (immanence). God character was manifest in both directions. Reformed theology distinguishes between the communicable and incommunicable attributes of God. The communicable attributes include divine compassion, immutability, and an asymmetric relationship between God and his creatures. These attributes explain the ways in which God is not like the world he has created and is fundamentally different from his creatures.

Summary Of Attributes of God

   The traditional incommunicable attributes of God have come under criticism due to the assumption that they cannot be reflected or understood by human creatures. The Bible is the source of distinguishing the manner in which God is both similar to and radically different from his creatures. The impassibility of God has not been understood as implying that he has no emotions, but rather that God does not suffer in his divine natuThe communicable attributes of God serve as reminders that as different as God is from the world, he has created humans to reflect him in some respects. Our ability to love is a reflection of the all-consuming love of God, and we possess a moral nature rooted in the One who is perfectly moral.

   God’s holiness is often inscrutable and mysterious, and is experienced as dangerous and overwhelming. God’s holiness both separates and bridges the moral gulf between the Creator and the creature, and his lordship of God symbolizes his power and authority over creation and human history.

Criticism of Incommunicable Attributes

   The Attributes of God are the character traits of God as revealed to us in the Scriptures. They are classically distinguished between communicable and incommunicable divine attributes, which are significantly reflected in human persons and have virtually no reflection in human persons. The Old Testament names of God often signified both the otherness (transcendence) of God and also his nearness (immanence). God character was manifest in both directions.

   The communicable attributes include divine compassion, immutability, and an asymmetric relationship between God and his creatures. However, there is a small group of individuals who have resisted the description of any of God’s characteristics as immommunicable, believing that this would imply that philosophical speculation would be the only way to know these sorts of attributes.

Review

   The Attributes of God, Vol. 1 is a posthumously published compilations of A.W. Tozer sermons that focuses on God’s attributes and why they matter. The most appealing aspect of Tozer’s book is his constant mantra regarding God’s attributes, which goes something like this: “An attribute is something God is, not something God has.” This is an apt description of how Tozer approaches each of the attributes covered in this book, and it helps us understand why we must worship Him for His mighty thoughts and ways that are so high above our own. His favorite sections of the entire book are those in which He describes God’s immanence.

   God is above all things, beneath all things, outside of all things embracing, and inside of all things filling, demonstrating the immanence of God. Real Christians suffer from a sense of divine remoteness, even though they know God is with them and are sure they’re God’s children. Tozer suggests that most Christians are trying to be happy without having a sense of the Presence. The most important idea is that nearness to God is not a geographical or an astronomical thing, but a spiritual thing, having to do with nature. When we pray “God, draw me nearer,” or “God, come nearer,” we are not praying for God to come down from some remote distance, but for a manifestation of the presence of God. This desire is a yearning to be like God, so there can be perfect communion and a fellowship that is divine.

Attributes of God PDF Free Download