1. To understand what something can do, we must first understand what it is.
Every created being has a nature. A nature is what a thing is and therefore the source of what it can know, do, and become.
Plants possess the nature of plants. Animals possess the nature of animals. Angels possess the nature of angels. Human beings possess human nature.
God alone possesses the Divine Nature.
Because God’s Divine Nature is unlike that of every created being, His attributes differ from ours not merely in degree, but in kind. Human beings possess knowledge, power, goodness, and love according to our limited human nature. God possesses these perfectly and infinitely by His very nature.
2. The Attributes of God
- Eternal
- Infinite
- Omnipotent (All-Powerful)
- Omniscient (All-Knowing)
- Omnipresent (Present Everywhere)
- Immutable (Unchanging)
- Holy
- Just
- Merciful
- Perfect
- Good
- Loving
Each attribute reveals something about who God is. Four of these are especially important because they help us understand both God and His relationship to creation.
3. God is All-Knowing by Nature
God does not learn.
He does not discover.
Nothing surprises Him.
God knows all things perfectly by His very nature. His knowledge is not acquired as ours is but belongs eternally to who He is.
4. God is All-Powerful by Nature
All created power is limited.
God’s power is not.
Everything that exists receives its existence from Him and continues to exist because He continually sustains it.
No created being possesses power equal to the power that belongs to God by His very nature.
5. God is Infinitely Good by Nature
God is not merely one good being among many.
He is good by His very nature.
Every goodness found in creation is a limited participation in the infinite goodness that belongs to God alone.
6. God is Infinite Love by Nature
God does not simply perform loving actions.
Love belongs to His very nature.
Every genuine act of human love reflects, however imperfectly, the infinite love that belongs to God.
7. These attributes reveal the infinite distinction between God and every created being.
Every created being possesses its perfections according to its created nature.
God possesses every perfection infinitely and eternally by His Divine Nature.
The more we understand who God is, the more we begin to understand ourselves, creation, and the purpose for which we were made.
Related Essays
- To be determined.
- To be determined.
- To be determined.
- To be determined.
Sources
Sacred Scripture
- Exodus 3:14
- Jeremiah 1:5
- 1 John 4:8
Catholic Tradition
- Catechism of the Catholic Church
- St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae
- St. Augustine, On the Trinity
