The Attributes of God

a) Meaning of Attribute

a) Meaning of Attribute b) Attributes of Being c) Attributes of Intellect d) Attributes of Will a) MEANING OF ATTRIBUTE

By an attribute or property of a thing we mean a perfection which belongs to the nature of the thing, but is no essential part or constituent element of the thing. Once a thing is perfectly constituted in its essence, and is not thwarted or impeded, it inevitably manifests its attributes. The attributes of a thing “flow out,” so to speak, from the perfectly constituted essence of the thing. In other words, the thing being what it is, certain attributes follow. To illustrate: The Church is an institution founded by God-made-Man Himself to teach and govern men and lead them to salvation. The Church being what it is (i.e., divinely founded for a definite purpose), it follows that the Church cannot fail in that purpose, and cannot teach men falsely. In a word, the Church is indefectible and infallible: or, in other terms, the Church has the attributes of indefectibility and infallibility. To illustrate further: Man is a rational animal, and must exercise the function of thinking. Thinking is no part of man, but when a man’s essence is fully and perfectly constituted, when its operations are not thwarted by immaturity, defect, unconsciousness, distraction, then inevitably a man must think. Thus thinking is an attribute of man. It is that which must be attributed to man as man: man being whathe is, the attribute follows of necessity, and man is necessarily a thinking creature. Attributes are distinctive of the thing to which they belong; they are indices of a particular nature. Hence they are called properties, that is, they are proper to special natures. The sum-total of the attributes or properties of an essence is found connaturally joined with that essence alone. Thus, to know the attributes of an essence is to know a nature. To understand the nature of anything we study its attributes. Attributes, then, are perfections possessed by a thing precisely because it is the kind of thing that it is. Now, we have seen that God is simple, and so God does not possess or have perfections distinct from Himself. God is one and indivisible, and all His perfections are of His essence: all that God has, God is. Properly speaking, therefore, God has no attributes. Still, it is impossible for the limited human mind to take a direct and all-embracing view of the unlimited God. Our study must follow a plan that seems to sever the divine perfections one from another and from the divine essence. In a somewhat similar manner, we are forced by our human limitations to study any great or majestic object in a fashion that may be called piecemeal. Thus we may look upon the stately Jungfrau; we may view it from many angles; each angle will give new impressions, new vistas of background, new shapes and contours: yet the mountain is a single peak. Surely, if we cannot behold even a bodily object on all sides in a single view; if we cannot have an understanding of any intellectual principle in all its actual and possible applications by one simple unstudied grasp of mind; then our unstudied view of the infinite God cannot be a single allembracing vision or understanding. But let us keep clearly in mind, as we study the various attributes of God, that these are really not distinct from God, but are one with His undivided essence. God, in His very essence, is all that is perfect in limitless degree; for God is simple and infinite.

b) Attributes of Being

In discussing the Nature of God we have discovered His fundamental attributes, viz., His necessity, infinity, unity, and simplicity. Here we are to study certain other divine attributes. The attributes of God that belong immediately to His Being as such, are His eternity, immensity, ubiquity, and immutability. I. We indicate God’s eternity when we say, “God always was and always will be.” Since God has no perfection distinct from His essence, His eternity is one with Himself. God is necessary being, uncaused, without beginning or end. His existence does not protract itself through successive moments, days, years, centuries ; it is wholly present in a single unending now. For God there is no past, no future, but an allNATURE AND ATTRIBUTES OF GOD embracing present, a single undying universal instant.—The proof of God’s eternity lies in the fact of His necessity. A necessary being must exist, and cannot be non-existent; existence belongs to its very essence. Obviously, such a being is always a necessary being (else, it began to be necessary under action of some cause, and so is contingent and not necessary at all!); and being always necessary, it is always existent; in other words, it is eternal. And the proof that God’s eternity excludes successive moments, excludes past and future, is evident from His infinity: for in succession there is always a loss and gain, the leaving of one moment’s experience for the experience of the next succeeding moment; but that which is infinite cannot have increase or diminution, loss or gain. 2. We indicate God’s immensity when we say that God is not limited by space. We do not mean that God is of vast size, for size belongs only to bodily things; we do mean that God is immeasurable, that He is not enclosed by spatial dimensions either in the existing universe or above and beyond it.—The proof of this point is found in God’s infinity and simplicity. For the infinite is unlimited, and that which is measurable is limited by its dimensions. And the simple is undivided and indivisible, and that which is measurable is divisible into measurable parts, areas, or volumes. 3. We indicate God’s ubiquity when we say, “God is everywhere.” As God’s immensity means that He is not limited by space, so His ubiquity means that He is not limited to a certain place, God is present in every place, in every part of the existing universe. God is wholly and entirely present in every place, and this in such wise that He is not circumscribed or bounded by the boundaries of the place. God is wholly present in all the world and in all parts of the world, but He is in no wise identified with the world.—The proof of this lies in God’s infinity. For the infinite must have limitless perfection—including the perfection of existence everywhere—and must be free from every limitation—such as being bounded or constrained within the limits of any place or places. 4. We indicate God’s immutability when we say that God is changeless in His infinite perfection. If God could be changed, He would necessarily lose one state of being and acquire another. But God is necessary and infinite Being; He must be, and be as He is; besides, the infinite Being cannot lose or acquire anything. Therefore, with God “there is no change or shadow of alteration.”

C) The Attributes of God’s Intellect

God’s intellect, and all His knowledge, are one with His essence. The chief attributes of God in point of knowledge or intellect are His omniscience and His wisdom, 1. We indicate God’s omniscience when we say,

“God knows all things, even pur most secret thoughts, words, and actions,” To say that God is omniscient is to say that He is all-knowing. Nothing—past, present, to come, actual, possible—is absent from the perfect knowledge of God. God knows Himself perfectly, and He knows all things in and through Himself in such wise that He is not dependent upon the truth which He knows, but the truth is dependent upon Him.—The proof of these assertions lies in the fact that God is both infinite and necessary Being. If there could be anything, actual or possible, hidden from God’s knowledge, then God would not be infinite; He would be limited by the limitation of His knowledge. And if God were dependent upon the truths that He knows, His knowledge would be contingent, and, since God’s knowledge is a substantial actuality which is one with the divine essence, God himself would be contingent and not necessary. 2. We indicate God’s wisdom when we say that God knows perfectly how best to accomplish what He wills to have done. God is all-wise. Wisdom in creatures (men or angels) is different from knowledge. Knowledge may consist, for creatures, in mere information; while wisdom is rather the ability to use information to best advantage. A man may know all the contents of all the books in all the libraries, and still be unwise; another man may have but little knowledge, but be very wise in his use of it. In God, however, knowledge and wisdom are one with each other and with the divine essence, which is infinite. Hence God is infinite wisdom, d) THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD’S WILL

God’s will is one with His essence. The chief attributes of God’s will are freedom, omnipotence, holiness. In considering God’s holiness (or sanctity) we discern the attributes of goodness and mercy, on the one hand, and of justice (with veracity and fidelity), on the other. 1. God, being infinite in all perfection, is perfectly free. Since God is the necessary and infinite First Being, there is no other being that can constrain Him or exact His obedience. Nor is God forced by His own nature to perform any of His acts; for self-forcing in an infinite being is a contradiction. Infinite perfection includes perfect freedom. 2. We indicate God’s omnipotence when we say, “God can do all things, and nothing is hard or impossible to Him.” To say that God is omnipotent is to say that He is almighty (i.e., all-mighty, all-powerful) . God does not make any effort in accomplishing what He wills to do, nor is He limited to one work at a time, nor is He fatigued by His work, nor is His work built up, so to speak, bit by bit. God perfectly accomplishes what He wills to do by the eternal decrees of His perfect will. With God, to will and to perform is one and the same act.—The proof of these assertions is found in God’s infinite perfection. InNATURE AND ATTRIBUTES OF GOD finite perfection includes boundless power, and excludes the imperfections of toil, effort, fatigue, successive partial accomplishment, etc. 3. We indicate God’s sanctity or holiness when we say that God is all-holy. Holiness consists in the loving and willing of what is good. Now, God Himself is infinite and substantial Good. Therefore, the perfect love of God and the perfect willing of what God wills, is perfect holiness. As we have seen, God knows Himself perfectly, and thus knows Himself as all-perfect, all-good, all-lovable, and He recognizes this perfection by loving Himself perfectly. And God’s will i one with Himself. Hence, God’s infinite love of Him. self and His infinite identity with His will constitutes God as the infinite lover and wilier of what is Good, —constitutes God in infinite holiness.—This point is obvious; it needs no proof; it is reached by direct reasoning upon the infinite perfection of God. God’s sanctity or holiness shows itself in the further attributes of goodness and mercy towards Hiz creatures, and in the perfect justice with which He deals with them. For: (A) God is good to His creatures. He creates them, preserves them, bestows boundless benefits upon them, such as life, health, great dignity (in man and angels) and a destiny to eternal happiness (men and angels). Further, God is merciful, for He averts many evils from His creatures, and notably from man; and God forgives penitent man the worst offences. (B) God is just, and His rewards and punishments are perfectly suited to merit and demerit. He is faithful (attribute of fidelity) to His promises; as, for example, to His promise of a Redeemer for man. God is also true (attribute of veracity) in all that He reveals.—The proof of all these attributes as facts in the Divine Being is founded upon the absolutely infinite perfection of God.

Summary of the Article

In this Article we have learned what is meant by an attribute of anything, and we have studied the manner in which this term is to be applied to God’s perfections, viz., not as if these perfections were distinct from God’s essence or from one another, but in such wise that, while they are studied separately, they are understood to be really one with one another and one with the undivided and infinite essence of God. In studying God’s nature we learned the fundamental attributes of God’s necessity, infinity, unity, simplicity, spirituality. In the present Article we have learned the further divine attributes of Being (eternity, ubiquity, immensity, .immutability), of Intellect (knowledge and wisdom), and of Will (freedom, omnipotence, holiness, goodness, mercy, justice, veracity, fidelity). In the whole Chapter on God’s Nature and Attributes we have found many perfections of God that we had already discovered in the First Chapter as belonging to the First Cause. Well, our present Chapter was another angle, another approach, another view of God, whose existence was proved directly in the First Chapter, and we have had to repeat much in this direct study that was indirectly supplied to our knowledge in reasoning to and identifying the First Cause, the First Mover, the First Designer, etc.

We conclude this Chapter with a brief consideration of some difficulties that may be presented for solution to the Catholic Apologist. 1. “If God is immutable, how is He free ? Is not the fact of His immutability a thing that binds Him in motionless fixity in such a way as to make free activity impossible to Him?” Not at all. Consider: God is eternal; all is present to Him; there is no flow of events or objects to which, so to speak, God needs adapt Himself taking suitable free measures. God’s decrees are all eternal, and all perfectly free. Being eternal, they do not conflict with immutability. Every possible contingency in the world is eternally known to God—“foreknown” as we should say from our time-limited standpoint; and eternal, free, immutable decrees are made to meet every possible contingency in the most perfect manner. 2. “But God created the world in time. The world is not eternal. How could God create in time if He is fixed in an eternal immutability?” God from eternity decreed that the world should have beginning at a point of time, or rather at the beginning of time, for time comes into being with creation. But time cannot affect God; it is but a measure of things creatural. God’s free eternal decree to create came into realization, as freely and eternally decreed, in time. Or rather God’s decree to create found its realization as He freely wished; and in being realized it brought the thing called time with it into existence. There is nothing in this that conflicts with either divine freedom or divine immutability. 3. “Well, if God is immutable, if He is utterly changeless, how can my prayers make any difference ? If God’s decrees are all from eternity, how can they be affected by prayers offered in time ?” God’s eternal decrees need not be affected; God has prepared, from eternity, an answer to every prayer that can possibly be made; and such answer is part of His eternal decrees. Of course, the prayers must be offered, else the prepared answer cannot be given. Hence, the necessity of prayer. God has revealed to us His will that we pray; He has commanded us to pray. “Watch and pray “Ask and you shall receive “Pray, therefore, brethren …”; “This kind is not cast out but by prayer and fasting”; “If you ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it you.” These and a hundred other texts of Holy Scripture urge men to pray and assure them a hearing and an answer. Still, we need not go to Scripture for a proof of the point in question. Reason makes the matter clear. God, the all-perfect Father of men, has implanted in the hearts of His children a longing for His gifts and a tendency to ask for them; and this would be futile on the part of God if prayer could not be effectively offered: and God performs no futilities, for He is all-wise. Thus, our prayers cio make a difference, a great difference, all the difference! The eternal answer is waiting for every petition—but the petition must be made. The boundless gifts of God await the offering of diligent prayer— only the diligent prayer must be offered. There is no prayer that a man can offer to God that God has not known (“foreknown” as we say in our time-limited way), and for which He has failed to prepare an answer from eternity. There is no more impious remark than the flippancy, “There’s no use praying; everything is fated and fixed.” 4. “God is omnipotent. He can do all things. Can God, then, make a square circle? Can God make an object that shall be entirely black and also entirely white? Can God utter a truth that is false or a lie that is true?” Certainly not. God can do all things, but what you suggest are not things, but denials of things. You suggest contradictions, that is, two things, one of which negatives or cancels the other: the result is simply zero. A “square circle” is “a circle that is not a circle”; in other words, it is nothingness. Your suggestion is like this: you draw a circle on the blackboard. Then you erase it carefully, leaving not a trace of the drawing. Then you stand back, and, pointing to empty space, you say, “Can God make that?” Make what? There is nothing there!—If God could do the unthinkable and could create contradictions as things, He would not be all-perfect, for He would not be all-true. To say that God cannot contradict Himself by performing contradictions is not to assert any lack of power in God; it is to assert perfection in God. Indeed, we all assert such a perfection when we make an act of faith and say, “God cannot deceive or be deceived.” This is not the denial of omnipotence; it is the assertion of omniscience and infinite truthfulness. 5. “God is omniscient. He knows all things. He knows, therefore, whether I am to be saved or lost. As He knows it, it will happen. What, therefore, is the use of my striving to work out my salvation?” What God knows about my ultimate fate, I do not know, and cannot know, and it is an insane impertinence for me to try to find out. What I do know is this: I can be saved if I will to be, and if I carry that will into active execution by a diligent use of God’s grace. This is a certain piece of knowledge, and it is sufficient. Besides, God’s knowledge does not affect my freewill; it does not forestall me; it does not force me; it does not constrain my acts. God wants me to save my soul, for He “wills all men to be saved”; He gives me every help, every grace that I require, to the end that I may be saved. The objection here considered is utterly foolish, utterly impertinent, and suggests a thought that is utterly false. To see it in its true character, let us consider an analogy or two—unworthy analogies, for human life is far too noble a thing to be compared to “a game” or “a business.” But, notwithstanding the unworthiness of the figure, what should we think of the members of a football team that reached the following conclusion on the eve of an important game: “God knows all things. He knows whether we shall be defeated or win to-morrow. As He knows it, it will infallibly happen. What, therefore, is the use of our striving to win the game?” What should we think of a young man, embarked upon a business career with certain promise of success if he were industrious, who should say, “God knows all. He knows whether I shall succeed or go bankrupt. As He knows it, it will infallibly happen. What, therefore, is the use of my trying to make a success of this business?” We should regard this young man, and we should regard the members of the football team, as beneath human contempt. So must we then regard ourselves if pride, weakness, and impudence unite to lead us to make such a remark as that set down at the head of this paragraph. If tempted to make that insane remark, or to entertain the impious thought that it expresses, we should say to ourselves: “God knows, and I know, that I shall infallibly be saved if I am diligent in the matter of working out my salvation. God knows, and I know, that I must be saved if I avoid sin and practice the knowledge, love, and service of God,, in the exercise of the true religion, as a worthy member of the true Church.”

We have seen that the world has a First Cause which produced it. We have seen further that the world is contingent, in other words, that it does not contain in itself the sufficient reason for its existence. Hence, the world must not only be produced, but must also be preserved in existence by a power outside itself. Finally, we have seen that the world is designed to serve an end; it therefore requires direction or government toward that end. God’s action upon the world is an action of production, preservation, and government.

The present Chapter deals with these matters in three Articles, as follows:

Book First — God

Chap. I. The Existence of God
Chap. II. The Nature and Attributes of God
Chap. III. The Action of God upon the World

Book Second — Religion

Chap. I. The Nature of Religion
Chap. II. Supernatural Revelation in Religion

Book Third — Christ

Chap. I. Jesus Christ, the Redeemer
Chap. II. Jesus Christ, True God
Chap. III. Jesus Christ, True Man

Book Fourth — The Church

Chap. I. The Church of Jesus Christ
Chap. II. The Marks and Attributes of the Church of Jesus Christ
Chap. III. The Identification of the Church of Jesus Christv