Questions tagged [nature-of-god]
The nature of God includes all aspects and characteristics attributed directly to the person of God, possibly including all the omni- aspects (e.g. omniscience), love, hate, persons (e.g. the Trinity) or other attributes.
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What is the Biblical basis for the doctrine of the Trinity?
The word/term "trinity" is never used in the Bible. However, most Christians believe that God exists as three persons in one God-head.
This question has two parts:
What is the Biblical basis for the ...
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How can a Wholly Good God Deliberately Create Evil?
I think it's pretty universally accepted that God is wholly good. Indeed, many sources, including lots of answers on this website, are based on the belief that God is the perfect standard of goodness....
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What is the Biblical basis for disbelief in the doctrine of the Trinity?
In related form to a previous question on the basis for the Trinity, what is the Biblical basis for disbelief of the doctrine?
Not all Christians (and perhaps not all branches of Christendom) hold to ...
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What is the biblical evidence for God's omnipotence and omniscience?
Does God tell us in the bible he is omnipotent and omniscient, or are these attributes which (Greek?) philosophers and theologians merely ascribed to him?
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Do Mormons actually believe in any sort of supreme being/ultimate reality/"Absolute"?
From what I've heard about the Mormon God, he doesn't actually seem to fit the description of "supreme being" and rather seems more like a polytheistic Greek or Hindu God.
The following may be ...
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Is the concept of God in Christianity (the Trinity) three Gods or One? [closed]
I don't understand the concept of God in Christianity. Based on what I do know, there is God, the Son of God and the Holy Spirit -- doesn't this add up to 3 Gods?
In Christianity, is there there One (...
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How can the Son not know what the Father knows?
Matthew 24:36 (NLT)
Mark 13:32 (NLT)
36 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.”
Now ...
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What exactly does it mean that Jesus Christ is the son of God?
What does it mean to a Christian that Christ is the son of God? On the one hand, obviously, the normal biological meaning of son does not apply. On the other hand, "we are all children of God", but ...
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How does LDS doctrine reconcile monotheism with men becoming gods?
A follow-up to this question, if the LDS church teaches that men can become gods, how does it reconcile this with the concept that there is only one God?
Isaiah 45:5:
I am the LORD, and there is ...
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If Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) don't believe in a Holy Trinity, then who do they believe is God?
It's a pretty well-known fact that Latter-Day Saint members (aka Mormons) do not believe in the Holy Trinity, i.e., that God, Christ and the Holy Ghost are 'one'. So what exactly do they believe in, ...
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Does the triune God have will by nature, or by persons? [closed]
Given the triune God, one nature and three persons, do they experience their will in their singular nature or in their separate persons? That is, do they share one will, or does each have a separate ...
user32
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According to LDS (Mormon) teaching, who was the first God who began the eternal progression?
I understand that the LDS church teaches the concept of eternal progression, that "As God is, so man can become and as man is, so God once was." So, men may attain godhood in exaltation.
By ...
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What are the main views on who created God?
The question of man's creation is addressed quite thoroughly in the Bible (whether you believe it is metaphorical or not). Does the Bible (or other relevant references) in any way answer who created ...
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What is meant by "God is Omnipotent"?
I'm questioning my own understanding of the term "Omnipotence" in response so a comment on one of my answers.
In the comment, the poster included a definition of Omnipotence taken from the Wikipeda ...
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Does God need our praise and glory? [closed]
From what I've heard, God wants us to glorify him and give him praise, and he enjoys when we do this. Does God need us to do this for some reason?
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What is the verdict on an unjust judge? [closed]
In order to ask this, let me set a stage. This is just a scenario that will be recast in a second.
As Christians we believe that God is good. We trumpet his justice, rightness, holiness, and so on ...
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What is the biblical basis for the personhood of the Holy Spirit?
According to Trinitarian theology, the Holy Trinity consists of three persons (τρεῖς ὑποστάσεις), the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who share the same essence/nature (ὁμοούσιος). What is the ...
user900
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According to Protestants, what is the biblical basis of Jesus being "one substance with the father"?
The only place in scripture where the relationship of the substance of Jesus with the substance of God that I can find in the scriptures is To the Hebrews:1:3 which actually says that they are of ...
user22588
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What is the Mormon doctrine regarding becoming a god?
Per the doctrine of the Latter Day Saints, it seems that God was once a man.
Following this out just one step further leads me to the idea that it may be possible for other men to be come a god.
...
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Why is the Trinity a Trinity? [closed]
It's well established and accepted by most Christians that God is triune, consisting of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
However, while talking with a friend earlier about Wisdom (from Proverbs), I ...
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Does the Holy Spirit's procession from the Father and Son infringe on the co-equality of the Trinity?
The following is intended to correlate to classical scholastic terminology, to whit:
Nature = essence, as in "the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all have the Trinitarian 'nature' of God."
Person = ...
user5286
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How can God be Sovereign (in the Reformed sense) if a man can ignore His call to repentance?
The Scriptures tell us:
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a ...
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Philosophical proofs that God must be triune? [closed]
I have heard that many philosophers wrote that God must be triune. What were their arguments? What are some references regarding this topic?
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What is the basis for saying Christians and Muslims worship the same God?
Muslims claim that they worship the same god as Christians do. (Similarly, Christians claim to worship the same God as the Jews do.)
Are there any Christian denominations that accept this claim? If ...
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Do miracles violate the laws of physics? [closed]
I asked a Christian today whether he believed that Jesus turning water into wine literally happened, or was just a metaphor. He said it literally happened, and also that other miracles literally ...
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Is there a hierarchy in the Trinity? [closed]
It seems that there is some form of hierarchy within the Trinity.
For example, these passages seem to indicate that the Holy Spirit is subservient to the Father and Jesus:
John 14:26 (NIV)
But the ...
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According to Calvinism, why does God give mercy to some and not to others?
So according to Calvinism as I understand it...
...God has chosen from eternity to extend mercy to those he has chosen and to withhold mercy from those not chosen. Those chosen receive salvation ...
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From where do Jehovah's Witnesses derive the doctrine that Jesus was and now is Michael the Archangel?
According to some Watchtower literature, it is taught that Michael the Archangel is Jesus and that Jesus, after He ascended into heaven, resumed the name of Michael.
"It proves Michael the ...
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If Jesus is God, who/where does Jesus pray to?
I realize that some of Christianity believe God and Jesus to be one being, whereas some believe them to be separate and distinct beings. I come from the background of the latter group, which reasoning ...
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How did God's morality not change between OT and NT times?
I really have a problem at times explaining to the unbelievers the fact that God wants all people to be saved. The problem is the difference between the morality seen in the OT and the morality seen ...
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Besides the writings of John, what is the biblical evidence Jesus Christ is the Only-begotten Son of God?
Apart from John's writings, what is the Biblical evidence that Jesus Christ is the only-begotten son of God?
John makes it clear (such as in John 1:18, 3:18), but other parts of the Bible refer to ...
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What is the Christian perspective on the description of God? [closed]
My pastor (Calvary Chapel) referred to God as His father, then once said that God is everywhere and in everything (i.e. - inside each person) and then that God is Love.
So now I am confused as to ...
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What is the difference between the Trinity theory and Modalism?
In Modalism, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are mere "modes" of how the one God interacts with creation. Like an actor on a stage, God could appear sometimes as the Father, other ...
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What prompted the second century writers to adopt the concept of οὐσία to refer to God's nature?
My question When did the concept of οὐσία begin to refer to God's nature? has been answered and the answer was actually great. However, the answer has led me to ask another question.
Conceptually, I ...
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How do Trinitarians explain John 17:3?
Unitarians use John 17:3 to affirm their faith that the Father alone is the only true God. They would say that this is the strongest evidence that there is only one person who is true God. Thus, the ...
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Does God change?
Historically, one of the attributes of God that provided the most comfort to many people was his unchanging nature - God is "the same, yesterday, today, and tomorrow." (Hebrews 13:8) Additionally, ...
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What is the biblical basis for the belief that God likes or feels affection toward us?
To some people, and even to Christians at times, it seems difficult to believe that the all-powerful Creator of the Cosmos likes or feels affection for humans personally. This was the topic of a ...
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What is the basis of the view that Jesus was separated from the Father and Holy Spirit upon death?
From my limited understanding of this matter, some people believe that Jesus was in some sense separated from the Father. This has come up in the context of discussions of the indivisibility of the ...
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How does the Swedenborgian Church explain passages where Jesus talks/prays to the Father?
One of the key points in the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) is that the traditional understanding of the Trinity - three persons in one God - is mistaken. Instead, God is seen as having ...
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Is God omniscient? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Biblical evidence for omnipotence/omniscience
I've always thought of God as all-knowing (omniscient).
However, when formulating another question, I realized that my ...
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When did the concept of οὐσία begin to refer to God's nature?
In the NT, the Greek word οὐσία means "possession, property (substance)." To simply put, it is a thing or stuff that someone owns.
And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the ...
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When God works 'all things' for the good, is anything excluded in the word 'all'?
Assuming these verses in Romans 8 apply to the elect, is anything past, present, or future, in all of creation, circumstance, and world events excluded, or is it literally to be understood as an ...
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Does God have a sense of humor? Does he laugh?
I've always heard "God must have a sense of humor because he created X". Usually X is "the platypus" or "me".
Also, it should be evident that Jesus, being human, had a sense of humor. It's part of ...
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Does God have free will? [closed]
To clarify the question - when I mention God here I am referring to God the Father and by free will, the best non-contradictory definition according to the Bible I have heard is "the ability to act ...
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Is an action morally good because God commands it, or does God command it because it is good? [closed]
The christian morality derives from God, and God is benevolent so whatever he commands is morally good. Does that mean that anything God does or commands is morally right? Or does God only act and ...
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Overview of Trichotomous vs Dichotomous views of Man [closed]
There are generally two* views of Man
the Dichotomous (Soul & Body)
the Trichotomous (Soul, Spirit, & Body)
Notably, A W Pink ascribes to the Trichotomous view (or Tripartite).
Also notably,...
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Why does God resort to genocide and destruction?
According to this answer, God does not want to destroy sinners. And yet, there are several accounts in the Bible of God doing just that. Sodom and Gomorrah is one example, another one is the flood or ...
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If God "shows no partiality," how do Calvinists defend predestination?
There are a number of verses in the Bible that say that God is "not partial" (Deuteronomy 10:17) or that he "shows no partiality" (Romans 2:11, ESV). How do Calvinists square such verses with their ...
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What does "in the image of God" mean? [closed]
Genesis 1:26:
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,...
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Did Moses see the face of God?
Exodus 24:9-11
9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel
went up
10 and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something
like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, ...
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