God's Transcendence and the Difficulty of Categorizing His Attributes as a Result

Incorporeality means that God does not have a body. God is pure and simple, not composite. If He were composite, He would have either been created or would have somehow developed over time. Neither of these is consistent with the idea of an eternal being..

In similar manner, Anthropomorphic means to speak in the form of a man, to ascribe to God what is not properly His, but what properly belongs to man. When the Scriptures mention God's hand and arm, it is not meant to be taken literally. It is merely explaining where man can understand. God is not flesh and blood, but imagery is used for our understanding and experience.

If there are no bodily parts, and God is anthropomorphic, then there is nothing visible. John 1:18 says that no man has ever seen God at any time. Colossians 1:15 says that Christ is the image of the invisible God. Spirits are invisible. The spirit that dwells in man is invisible. Angels, unless they appear in human form, are in nature, invisible (Hebrews 1:14). God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are invisible, but revealed through Christ (John 1:14-18). This manifestation of glory revealed in Jesus brings life. It's a life-giving force that puts away sin, so that we too may be transformed into the image of Christ. When we see Jesus, we see the fullness of the Godhead, bodily.

Attributes are ascriptions that describe the characteristics of God. These attributes are not merely descriptions, because God is not merely loving, He is love. God is not merely spiritual, He is spirit. These attributes, singually, can not exhaustively describe God, and as a whole, these attributes can not fully describe God. The finite will never fully understand the infinite. Attributes do say something about God, therefore, they are not simply words. Yet, the attributes of God do not differ as real entities in and of themselves. God is many attributes, not just one.

In order to help with understanding the Lord, theologians have tried to categorize God's attributes; however, no classification is perfect. One categorization is dividing them up into absolute and relative. Absolute attributes are those attributes relating to God's eternal nature alone. And example is His eternality. Relative attributes are those attributes relating to God's creation. An example is His omniscience. The problem is how do we understand the relative attributes of God, since we cannot conceive of His being without His attributes? So, some say the relative attributes are simply an expression of absolute attributes.

Another categorization is communicable and incommunicable attributes. Communicable attributes are those that are reflected in the creature. Examples are knowledge and righteousness. Incommunicable attributes are those attributes that are exclusively God's and are not reflected in creation. Examples of this are eternity and omnipresence. The problem is that the communicable attributes are only reflections of God, not the same as God Himself. An exampled of this problem is that man's righteousness is not the same as God's righteousness.

Another categorization is the Metaphysical and Ethical or Natural and Moral attributes. Metaphysical attributes are those attributes that are part of God's essence. And example of this omnipresence. Ethical attributes are those attributes that are moral characteristics. An example is holiness. The problem is that the Bible does not clearly distinguish between these attributes. And example is to say, "God is love", appears to be just as important as to say, "God is spirit".

The final categorization is the Scholastic Vias (Effect to Cause). God is first cause, therefore, all-powerful and all wise. Positive way of immanence takes the attributes of the finite order and raises them to the infinite. An example is that power becomes omnipotence and wisdom becomes omniscience. Negative defines the divine attributes by denying the limitations of the finite order. Examples are that creatures are measurable, mutable, and finite and can be compared to God who is immeasurable, immutable, and infinite.