Theology Short Responses

Part 2 to Vocab

If the universe is comprised entirely of beings for whom existence is not an essential component of what they are what does this evidence imply?

A. There is a being whose nature is existence who is the source of the existence that existing things must receive

Why is God a spirit?

A. Matter is a kind of being with parts, and things made of matter have the potential to ‘fall apart” and so lose their existence

B. Spirit is the kind of being that has a permanent hold on existence; it has no parts and so can not “fall apart” and lose existence

C. If Gods nature is existence, He cannot be the kind of being that can lose existence and so must be spirit

Why does God transcend space?

A. God is existence and therefore must be the kind of being that cannot lose existence (spirit)

B. Spirit is the kind of being that has no parts and thus does not need space into which parts must be spread

C. Because God is spirit, God does not occupy space

Why is God one?

A. God (existence) is spirit and therefore cannot be divided into parts

B. There cannot be two or more “Gods” claiming to be existence because then each God would have to possess a part of existence that the other would not

Why is God infinite?

A. Infinity is the absence of all limits or boundaries, and there are two basic kinds of limits or boundaries: internal and external

B. Because God is spirit, He has no internal limits or boundaries, which serve to distinguish parts from one another

C. Because God is one, He has no external limits or boundaries, in the sense of having an “outer” limit or boundary that distinguishes God from some other “God”

Why is God eternal?

A. Time is the measurement of change

B. Because God is spirit, He cannot change by subtraction, since being able to lose part of existence implies that He would have to be material

C. Because God alone is existence, whole and entire, He cannot change by addition, which would imply that he was somehow limited by the part of existence He did not yet have

D. Where no change is possible, there is no time

How is God omnipresent?

A. Before a universe of receivers of existence received existence, only God existed

B. Thus, God brought the universe into existence from nothing and so must rely on nothing to keep the universe into existence

C. Thus, God is present everywhere by continually supplying the existence that existing things receive

How do we know God is a personal being with an intellect and will?

A. God is existence and therefore is also responsible for all the various forms and perfections found in existing things

B. Thus, God possesses all the various forms and perfections found in existing things (one cannot give what they do not have)

C. There perfections include those peculiar to human beings, such as the spiritual powers of intellect and will, and being personal

Why is God identical with the characteristics predicated of Him?

A. Some characteristics attributed to God include truth, love, justice, mercy and beauty

B. if such predicates were not completely identical with God, then a limit or boundary would have to be introduced into existence itself (part of God would be truth, and part of God would not), which violates his internal limitlessness