Triune God Quiz 4

What is omnipresence

God is fully present to every creature and place but yet not locally circumscribed to in His presence

What do we mean by omnipresence

God’s nature is infinite, so He defies special categories

What do we NOT mean by omnipresence

Not deism or pantheism, God doesn’t stretch out, divide Himself up, or move out of the way

What is eternity

God transcends time

Responses to “Why does Scripture sometimes say that God is with a particular people in a particular way

Some of this is anthropomorphic, they don’t imply God existed somewhere else, older writers made a distinction between God’s Essential and His Gracious Presence

What is divine knowledge

the perfection by which God knows Himself and all things possible

What distinction helps us understand God’s knowledge

In God there is no distinction between Him as the knower, act of knowledge, and object of His knowledge. In us, all 3 are distinct

Claim of Divine Eternity

God doesn’t experience states of being and has no future and no past

3 phenomena that makes understanding God’s eternity hard?

1. Scripture applies the language of eternity to many things that are not eternal

2. Scripture uses eternalist language to describe temporal things and uses temporalist imagery to speak of God’s eternity.

3. It’s not just the temporal names and descriptions that are given to God that suggest some temporality in Him but also the unfolding of His effects in time

How does Infinity, Immutability, and Simplicity necessitate Eternity

Infinity: God has no limitations against time and since time is measurable, it shows God is eternal because he defies it.

Immutability: Since time involves movement/change, and God doesn’t change, it shows His eternity because he exists beyond change.

Simplicity: Because God is simple and indivisible, His existence cannot be divided into moments which makes Him eternal.

The Eternalists 3 counter arguments to the Theistic Mutualists

1. Eternalists deny God’s agency in and toward the world as its Creator

2. Classical eternalists distinguish between the name of God the Creator, and the reality of creatorhood in God Himself

3. The older tradition taught that creation is an eternal act of God that produces a temporal effect.