[Some] Attributes of God
Before continuing to exploring some of the traditional answers to the question of, “How can a loving God allow Evil to exist?” I want to explore some of the attributes of God. This falls into the pale of rephrasing the question. God is loving, yes, but He is not all-loving, in the sense that “LOVE” is the only attribute that God has. I want to emphasize, too, that the attributes of God are simply descriptions of God. These attributes describe God’s nature and what He does, and these attributes are integrated and connected. Some of the attributes of God are below:
1. God is omnipotent. This simply means that God is all-powerful. Skeptics have often asked the questions, “Can God make a rock so heavy that He cannot lift it?” or “If God’s right arm and God’s left arm wrestle, which arm will win?” These questions are absurd, and since they are absurd, they cannot demand a logical answer. Perhaps the best answer to these questions is itself a question: “Why doesn’t God kill you right now for being an ass?” The answer: “Oh, yeah, because He is patient and benevolent.” God’s omnipotence can be adequately defined as: God can do anything He wants to do. God cannot do anything evil or irrational, because God is holy and logical.
2. God is omnipresent. This means that God is everywhere at once. Understanding this is essential to answering the question about evil. In the ancient Near East, the pagan religions stated that the gods were not all-present, and thus whenever something bad happened, or wherever evil flourished, the gods were not present. If we were to say that God is not all-present, it would answer the question about the existence and prosperity of Evil, but it would neglect God’s worth. Why ought we worship a God who is regional and limited geographically? But because God is all-present, the answer to the question of evil becomes even more intense. God is obviously present where evil flourishes, but it seems He does nothing.
3. God is omniscient. This means that God is all-knowing. It means that God knows everything that can possibly be known. Does He know that which cannot be known? Does He know possibly alternative futures? Does he even know alternative pasts? No one really knows. God knows what we are thinking even if we do not reveal it to others or even to Him. In the Book of Job, we see that God knows Satan’s plans even when Satan tries to hide them; God knows about the evil that exists in the world, and He is well-aware of how it is prosperous and flourishing. This, again, makes answering the question of evil even more difficult.
4. God is benevolent. This means that God’s attitude towards His creation is that of care, compassion, and good-will. The Hebrew language expounds upon God’s benevolence even more than any other attribute. This makes the question of evil more difficult to answer: God wishes good things for His creation, including humanity—scripture attests to this—but yet even the people of God experience evil in their lives and are often traumatized by it. It doesn’t seem like God’s benevolence is coming through.
5. God is Authentic. This means that God is more concerned with our hearts and lives than religious ritual.
6. God is Just. This is intimately connected to God’s benevolence; one who loves and cares bestows blessings upon the other person. God is Just, and He pursues justice. This raises another struggle to the table: God, who is Just, allows evil to exist and prosper. Where is His justice?
7. God is Holy. His holiness is seen in the fact that His very nature is holy, and that He will not even associate with evil.
These are some of the attributes of God that make the question of evil even more difficult to deal with. There is one attribute missing [note: this list is certainly not exhaustive], which is hotly debated amongst Christians, but what I believe holds the key to an adequate answer. This other attribute, which will be explored in my next post, ties in with God’s justice. Looking at these attributes of God, it seems that God is less and less deserving of our worship: He has the power to stop evil, He knows evil abounds, He is present where Evil abounds, He is a God who loathes Evil and seeks justice, and He is a God who is, according to scripture, seeking the good-will of His creation. None of this makes sense when we look evil straight in the face. Hopefully with the next attribute of God things will become clearer.
Before continuing to exploring some of the traditional answers to the question of, “How can a loving God allow Evil to exist?” I want to explore some of the attributes of God. This falls into the pale of rephrasing the question. God is loving, yes, but He is not all-loving, in the sense that “LOVE” is the only attribute that God has. I want to emphasize, too, that the attributes of God are simply descriptions of God. These attributes describe God’s nature and what He does, and these attributes are integrated and connected. Some of the attributes of God are below:
1. God is omnipotent. This simply means that God is all-powerful. Skeptics have often asked the questions, “Can God make a rock so heavy that He cannot lift it?” or “If God’s right arm and God’s left arm wrestle, which arm will win?” These questions are absurd, and since they are absurd, they cannot demand a logical answer. Perhaps the best answer to these questions is itself a question: “Why doesn’t God kill you right now for being an ass?” The answer: “Oh, yeah, because He is patient and benevolent.” God’s omnipotence can be adequately defined as: God can do anything He wants to do. God cannot do anything evil or irrational, because God is holy and logical.
2. God is omnipresent. This means that God is everywhere at once. Understanding this is essential to answering the question about evil. In the ancient Near East, the pagan religions stated that the gods were not all-present, and thus whenever something bad happened, or wherever evil flourished, the gods were not present. If we were to say that God is not all-present, it would answer the question about the existence and prosperity of Evil, but it would neglect God’s worth. Why ought we worship a God who is regional and limited geographically? But because God is all-present, the answer to the question of evil becomes even more intense. God is obviously present where evil flourishes, but it seems He does nothing.
3. God is omniscient. This means that God is all-knowing. It means that God knows everything that can possibly be known. Does He know that which cannot be known? Does He know possibly alternative futures? Does he even know alternative pasts? No one really knows. God knows what we are thinking even if we do not reveal it to others or even to Him. In the Book of Job, we see that God knows Satan’s plans even when Satan tries to hide them; God knows about the evil that exists in the world, and He is well-aware of how it is prosperous and flourishing. This, again, makes answering the question of evil even more difficult.
4. God is benevolent. This means that God’s attitude towards His creation is that of care, compassion, and good-will. The Hebrew language expounds upon God’s benevolence even more than any other attribute. This makes the question of evil more difficult to answer: God wishes good things for His creation, including humanity—scripture attests to this—but yet even the people of God experience evil in their lives and are often traumatized by it. It doesn’t seem like God’s benevolence is coming through.
5. God is Authentic. This means that God is more concerned with our hearts and lives than religious ritual.
6. God is Just. This is intimately connected to God’s benevolence; one who loves and cares bestows blessings upon the other person. God is Just, and He pursues justice. This raises another struggle to the table: God, who is Just, allows evil to exist and prosper. Where is His justice?
7. God is Holy. His holiness is seen in the fact that His very nature is holy, and that He will not even associate with evil.
These are some of the attributes of God that make the question of evil even more difficult to deal with. There is one attribute missing [note: this list is certainly not exhaustive], which is hotly debated amongst Christians, but what I believe holds the key to an adequate answer. This other attribute, which will be explored in my next post, ties in with God’s justice. Looking at these attributes of God, it seems that God is less and less deserving of our worship: He has the power to stop evil, He knows evil abounds, He is present where Evil abounds, He is a God who loathes Evil and seeks justice, and He is a God who is, according to scripture, seeking the good-will of His creation. None of this makes sense when we look evil straight in the face. Hopefully with the next attribute of God things will become clearer.
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