Theology (1) Lecture Part III: Nature of God

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Theology (1) Lecture Part III Nature of God

• Jintae Kim, PhD
• Alliance Theological Seminary
• Nyack, NY 10960
• [phone]
• E-mail Jintae.kim_at_nyack.edu
• Website http//all4jesus.net

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The Doctrine of God (85-90)
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Problems on Two Levels
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Common, Distorted Understanding of God

• (1) God as a celestial police officer who looks
  for opportunities to pounce upon erring and
  straying persons? 
• (2) Cause of all catastrophic events? 
• (3) As an indulgent, kindly old gentleman who
  would never want to detract from humans
  enjoyment of life?

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Speculative Understanding

• (1) The debates on the doctrine of Trinity in the
  early church
• (2) Is He so transcendent or so immanent in human
  society and the processes of nature? 
• (3) Excessive analysis of God

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Right Attitude

• The study of Gods nature should be seen as a
  means to a more accurate understanding of him and
  hence a closer personal relationship with him.

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1. The Immanence and Transcendence

• Immanence
• The degree to which God is present and active
  within the universe
• (Jer 2323)

• Transcendence
• God's status being absent and removed from the
  universe

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 (1) Immanence
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Biblical Basis of Immanence

• Jer 2324 Gods presence everywhere within the
  universe
• Acts 1727-28 He is not far from us.
• Job 273334 Indwelling and sustaining spirit
  or breath of God
• Ps 10429-30 Natures dependence upon God
• Gen 12 27 Ps 6311 Micah 38 Hag 25 Matt
  545 625-30 1029-30

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Nature and Immanence

• (1) God is active within the regular patterns of
  nature.  He is God of nature, of natural law.
• (2) However, nature itself is not God.
• (3) What is to be emphasized is the total
  dependence of nature upon God.

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Modernism on Immanence

• Refer http//all4jesus.net/eng/P3ch9ImmanenceModer
  nism.pdf

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Implications of Immanence (Limited degree)
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• 1. God is not limited to working directly to
  accomplish his purposes.
• 2. God may use persons and organizations that are
  not avowedly Christian.
• 3. We should have an appreciation for all that
  God has created.
• 4. We can learn something about God from his
  creation.
• 5. Gods immanence means that there are points at
  which the gospel can make contact with the
  unbeliever.

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(2) Transcendence

• God is separated from, independent of nature and
  entire creative order.

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Biblical Basis

• Isa 558-9 Gods thoughts transcend mans.
• Isa 61-5 The Lord is depicted as sitting upon a
  throne
• Ps 1135-6 1231 John 823

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Models of Transcendence

• Refer http//all4jesus.net/eng/P3ch9TranscendenceM
  odels.pdf

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6 Implications of Transcendence

• (1) There is something higher than man.  Man is
  not the highest good in the  universe, or the
  highest measure of truth and value.
• (2) God can never be completely captured in human
  concept.
• (3) Our salvation is not our achievement.

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• (4) There will always be a difference between God
  and man.
• (5) Reverence is appropriate in our relationship
  with God.
• (6) We will look for genuinely transcendent
  working by God.

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2. The Nature of Attributes

• Permanent and intrinsic qualities which
  constitutes the entire Godhead.

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Classifications of Attributes (Doctrines, 266-67)

• (1) Communicable property and incommunicable
  property - Berkof
• (2) Immanent or intransitive property and the
  emanant or transitive property A. H. Strong
• (3) Absolute property and relative property
• (4) Natural property and moral property

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Greatness of God

• Spirituality
• Life
• Personality
• Infinity Space Time Knowledge Power
• Constancy
• For the detail, refer
• http//all4jesus.net/eng/P3Ch 9 Greatness.pdf

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Goodness of God

• (1) Moral Purities Holiness Righteousness ????
  Justice ????
• (2) Integrity (???) Genuineness ?? Veracity ??
  Faithfulness ??
• (3) Love (??) Benevolence ?? Grace ?? Mercy
  ?? Persistence ??
• For the detail, refer
• http//all4jesus.net/eng/ P3ch11Goodness.pdf

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The Trinity ???? (106-15)

• (1) Introduction
• (2) The Biblical Teaching
• Oneness Deity Trinity
• (3) Historical Constructions
• Economic Dynamic Modalistic Orthodox
• (4) The Essential Elements of the Doctrine
• (5) The Search for Analogies

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Definition from Westminster Confession of Faith
(? 2? 3?)

• "In the unity of Godhead, there be three persons
  of one substance, power, and eternity God the
  Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost.  The
  Father is of none, neither begotten, nor
  proceeding the Son is eternally begotten of the
  Father the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from
  the Father and the Son.

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2 Sides of the Doctrine of Trinity
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Problem

• The doctrine is not overtly or explicitly stated
  in Scripture. This phenomenon caused a lot of
  confusion in formulating the doctrine throughout
  the church history.

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Importanceof the doctrine

• The doctrine of Trinity is crucial for
  Christianity. It is concerned with who God is,
  what he is like, how he works, and how he is to
  be approached. Moreover, the question of the
  deity of Jesus Christ is very much wrapped up
  with ones understanding of the Trinity.

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The Biblical Teaching concerning the Trinity

• (1) The Oneness of God
• (2) The Deity of Three
• (3) Three-in-Oneness

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The Oneness of God

• The OT
• Monotheistic faith
• 1st commandment
• There is but one God of Abraham, Isaac, and
  Jacob, not many. (e.g. Exod.313-15)
• Hear, O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord.
  (Deut.64)

• The NT
• Jam 219 You believe that God is one
• 1 Cor 84-6 "there is no God but one." there
  is one God, the Father and one Lord, Jesus
  Christ.
• 1 Tim 25 For there is one God there is also
  one mediator
• .

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Deity of Three ??? ??
Trinity Biblical Evidence
Father Scarcely in dispute
Son Php 25-11 Heb 1 Jesus own self-consciousness (Refer Theology II Lecture Note on this)
Spirit Acts 53-4 John 168-11 1 Cor 124-11 (Refer Theology II Lecture Note on this)
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Three-in-Oneness (Introducing, 111)

• Although the doctrine of the Trinity is not
  expressly asserted, the scripture, particularly
  the New Testament, contains so many suggestions
  of the deity and unity of the three persons that
  we can understand why the church formulated the
  doctrine, and conclude that they were right in so
  doing.
• For the detail, refer http//all4jesus.net/eng/P
  3ch12ThreeInOneness.pdf

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Historical Constructions

• The "Economic" View of Trinity (??? ?????)
• Dynamic Monarchianism (??? ????, ?? ?????)
• Modalistic Monarchianism (???? ????)
• The Orthodox Formulation one ??s?a in three
  ?p?stas?? 

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Essential Elements of a Doctrine of the Trinity

• (1) Unity of God. ???? ???
• (2) Deity of each three persons.
• (3) The threeness and the oneness of God not in
  the same respect.
• (4) The Trinity is eternal.
• (5) Functional subordination between the three
  persons of the Trinity
• (6) The Trinity is incomprehensible. 

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The Search for Analogies

• (1) Egg Yolk, white, Shell
• (2) Water solid, liguid, vaforous forms
• (3) Role Pastor, Professor, Father, Husband,
  Friend, US citizen

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Try to explain it, and you will lose your
mind But try to deny it, and you will
lose your soul