The Nature of God: TheGreatness of God

Systematic Theology 02.01.12

God is…

1) Spirit - John 4:24 “God is spirit, and thosewho worship him must worship in spirit andtruth.”

Psalm 139:7-8 “Where shall I go from yourSpirit? Or where shall I flee from yourpresence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!”

Jeremiah 23:24b“Do I not fill heavenand earth? declares the Lord.”

I Kings 8:27 “But will God indeed dwell onthe earth? Behold, heaven and the highestheaven cannot contain you; how much lessthis house that I have built!”

I Timothy 1:17 “To the King of the ages,immortal, invisible, the only God, be honorand glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Colossians 1:15 “He is the image ofthe invisible God, the firstborn of allcreation.”

Joseph Smith

Mormonism

God has a body - “The Father has a body offlesh and bones as tangible as man’s.” (Doctrineand Covenants 130:22, Items of instruction givenby Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Ramus, Illinois,2 April 1843)

http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/130.22?lang=eng

Why is important thatGod is Spirit?

1) Not destructible (subject toentropy/growing old)

2) Not limited to a specific regionof space/time

Objection: How can aMind exist without a body?

Objection: How can aMind exist without a body? “God and Mind/body Dualism” by Dr.

Stewart Goetz “There is no place in the cerebral cortex

where electrical stimulation will cause apatient . . . to decide” (77).

“In light of his work as a neuroscientist,Penfield concludes the following: For myown part, after years of striving to explainthe mind on the basis of brain-action alone,I have come to the conclusion that it issimpler (and far easier and logical) if oneadopts the hypothesis that our being doesconsist of two fundamental elements” (80).

Wilder Penfield, The Mystery of the Mind, p.77). http://www.reasonablefaith.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=73

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I am not convinced that evidence from neuroscience supportsthe view that our minds are identical with our brains. The

reasons for my not being convinced are several:

1. Neuroscience contributes nothing substantively new toour understanding of ourselves and our relationship toour bodies.

2. Not everything that goes on in our minds is causallydetermined by what goes on in our bodies.

3. I believe it is important to note that some of the world’sforemost neuroscientists have believed that the mind isimmaterial.

4. We might ask why neuroscientists like Penfield andEccles believed in the immateriality of the mind, eventhough they were well aware of the causal dependencyof many psychological events on brain events. I believethat part of the answer is that they did not confuse theconcept of the correlation of two events with theconcept of the identity of two events.

Steward Groetz, PhD, Professor of Philosophy, UrsinusCollege, Collegeville, PA 19426http://www.reasonablefaith.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7311

God is:

2) Living vs. Dead Idols

Jeremiah 10:10-11”But the Lord is the trueGod; he is the living God and the everlastingKing. At his wrath the earth quakes, and thenations cannot endure his indignation. 11 Thusshall you say to them: “The gods who did notmake the heavens and the earth shall perish fromthe earth and from under the heavens.”

OBJ: We’re alive, you say God isalive, what’s the difference?

1) God is not dependent upon anyoutside source for life/existence

2) God is not dependent upon anyoutside source to sustain life

3) True life is found only in God

John 1:4 “In him was life, and the life was thelight of men.”

Point: God doesn’t need us, we need Him.

OBJ: We’re alive, you say God isalive, what’s the difference?

“Not only does this God have life,but he has a kind of life differentfrom that of every other livingbeing. While all other beings havetheir life in God, he does not derivehis life from any external source”Millard Erickson, Introduction toChristian Doctrine, 82.

God Is:

3) Personal

a. Name - “I AM” (Exodus 3:14)

b. Relates to us - Pre-fall in theGarden of Eden (Genesis 3)

God is:

4) Infinite

Have you ever tried thinkingabout forever?

What was your thoughtprocess like?

God is:

4) Infinite in Space - “There is noplace where he cannot befound” Erickson, 84.

There is no place we can gobeyond God’s accessibility.

Denver, Colorado at night

Earth from space

Acts 17:24-25 “The God who made theworld and everything in it, being Lord ofheaven and earth, does not live in templesmade by man, 25 nor is he served by humanhands, as though he needed anything, sincehe himself gives to all mankind life andbreath and everything.”

Psalm 139:7-12 “Where shall I go from yourSpirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make mybed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings ofthe morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of thesea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, andyour right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surelythe darkness shall cover me, and the light aboutme be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark toyou; the night is bright as the day, for darkness isas light with you.”

God is:

4) Infinite in Time -“Alpha and Omega” (Isaiah 44:6; Rev.

1:8; 21:6; 22:13).

How old is God? = Infinity + infinity

For a very helpful lecture, see “Godand Time” by William Lane Craig(February 7, 1995),http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeosUsckIk0

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