Bray, Gerald. The Attributes of God: An Introduction. Short Studies in Systematic Theology 4. Wheaton: Crossway, 2021. 145pp excluding end matter.
SUMMARY AND CRITIQUE
Gerald Bray divides the attributes of God into two categories: (1) God’s essential attributes (those which speak about whatGod is), largely following John of Damascus (~675–749), and (2) God’s relational attributes (those which speak about who God is). Bray’s presentation of God’s relational attributes is entirely his own because he believes many attributes placed in this category by other scholars, such as holiness and righteousness, “have been misunderstood and misinterpreted” (13).
As someone who has never studied God’s attributes other than in a Seminary text book (I have read both Wayne Grudem and Millard Erickson) and a basic systematic theology course, I found Bray’s presentation logical and his explanation of a difficult topic simple, but not simplistic. The result being that I now have a much better grasp and appreciation of God’s attributes.
Bray’s presentation not only presents and explains God’s attributes, but he grounds them in Scripture, even acknowledging when the attribute is inferential when not clearly stated in Scripture. Bray does not go too far beyond the biblical text, exercising a refreshing degree of humility in our understanding (or lack thereof) of God (73).
Finally, Bray explains why God’s attributes are important and relevant for the Christian and the Christian life (chapter 4), which is necessary in what can seem to be an ivory tower discipline that has no relevance for average Christians.
SUMMARY OF EACH CHAPTER
Preface
The goal of Attributes is to “clarify” what the attributes of God are and “to present” them in a way “that can command general assent” (13). Bray divides the attributes of God into two common categories: God’s essential attributes and God’s relational attributes.
Bray’s presentation of God’s essential attributes is built on the categorizations made by John of Damascus, who lived ~675–749, while incorporating later thought. Bray’s presentation of God’s relational attributes is entirely his own because he believes many attributes placed in this category by other scholars, such as holiness and righteousness, “have been misunderstood and misinterpreted” (13).
Each attribute of God is supported by Scripture and are given an explanation as to why they matter to modern Christians.
Chapter 1: The Being of God and His Attributes
God is a unique being who cannot be compared to any of his creatures (16). When we call God a “‘being,’ we are using the word in a different sense from the way it is used to define his creatures, and so its attributes must be interpreted accordingly” and the fundamental differences between God and human beings must be respected (17). For example, God is infinite and humans are finite; thus, “what in God is absolute is (and can only ever be) relative in us” (17). Further, sin has negatively affected our understanding of God’s attributes, making our understanding “an imperfect and inadequate expression of the divine reality” (17).
Oftentimes, God’s attributes are not mentioned specifically in the Bible, but can be deduced based on God’s actions in the Bible and the implications drawn from these (17, 19–20). However, Jesus reveals God’s personal/communicable attributes and the New Testament sometimes explicitly describes God’s attributes using abstract terms with which modern Christians are familiar, such as “invisible” and “immortal” (21).
Chapter 2: God’s Essential Attributes
God’s essential attributes are those attributes “that are essential to his being and that lie beyond our comprehension” (22). God’s essential attributes speak about what God is—his nature.
God’s Essential Attributes as They Are in Themselves
Attributes Describing What God Is
Simplicity. “God is ‘simple’ in the sense in which the word is used in chemistry—his nature is not compounded of different elements” (26). “[H]e is what he is, and that is all there is to it” (27).
Incorporeality. God is incorporeal, or bodiless (30). “Incorporeality means that God is infinite; he has no body and therefore no boundaries to his being. It also means that he is omnipresent, for the same reason” (30).
Stability. “whatever his [God’s] ‘substance’ may consist of, it does not ebb and flow—his being is stable” (31).
Attributes Describing What God Is Like
The adjectives that describe God’s being are attributes “just as exclusive to God as the primary-level ones, but they relate to the former in a sense that is not true the other way around” (32).
Invisibility. Because God has no body (incorporeality), “his being has no sensory definition and so it is impossible to detect” (32).
Impassibility. God is impassible in that he is unable to suffer (34). God is impassible because “he cannot be harmed, nor can his power be compromised, by any external force” (37). “[H]is impassibility is a logical consequence of his immutability” (37).
Immutability. God’s immutability refers to his inability to change (45). “God stays the same in power and authority, and . . . his word stands the test of time. If that is so, then he [God] must be immutable” (46). Most modern theologians regard impassibility as a consequence of immutability, not the other way around” (45).
Attributes Contrasted with Time
Without Beginning. The eternal existence of God is usually assumed in the Bible (47). John 1:1 is a clear passage that states God does not have a beginning. “ Whenever the beginning of time is mentioned, God is already there, for he is without beginning” (48).
Uncreatedness. “[I]f God has no beginning, he is outside time and therefore uncreated” (48).
Unbegottenness. God is unbegotten, or “ungenerated” (49). He did not come into existence from another being, nor was he reproduced by another (49). The language of begottenness applies to the persons of the Godhead, not their divine nature (49–50). The three persons of the Trinity are unbegotten in their nature, but not in their persons for the Son was begotten of the Father.
“In modern theology, the three attributes listed here separately as ‘without beginning,’ ‘uncreatedness,’ and ‘unbegottenness’ are often lumped together under the heading of ‘aseity’” (50).
Imperishability. God is imperishable. “God is incapable of doing anything that would undermine his own integrity, and therefore he will never be diminished or disappear. He will continue to be what he has always been, with no change (and therefore no decay) in his nature” (51).
Immortality. “God cannot die of ‘natural causes’ any more than he can be destroyed by some form of spiritual corruption” (52).
Eternity. “In his essence, God is timeless and eternal, and because that essence has no contact with finite, created reality, it is unaffected by it. But as three persons, God is relational, and at that level he can and does enter into the time-and-space universe he has created” (55).
Attributes Contrasted with Space
Infinity. “God is infinite in spatial terms” (56). His infinity “is not ongoing space but something altogether different” (57). “God’s infinity is the logical equivalent of his incorporeality since, if he had a body, he would be spatially limited in some way. Like his incorporeality, God’s infinity precludes any form of idolatry—an idol by definition occupies a particular space and therefore cannot be a likeness of him” (57). Psalm 139:7–10 is a clear example of God infinitude.
Incomprehensibility. “God is incomprehensible in the sense that he cannot be circumscribed or measured” (57). “No external limits can be placed on God . . . . God is unlimited. For him, nowhere is out of bounds and nothing is impossible (Matt. 19:26)” (59). God’s incomprehensibility is implied by his incorporeality (58).
God’s Essential Attributes as We Perceive Them
“The importance of God’s essential attributes is seen most clearly in the ways we perceive them. We discern them from our experience of his present, his power, and his knowledge. From that, we conclude that God is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient” (59). “Omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience are interdependent. Each of them implies the others” (62).
Omnipresence. God can be found everywhere. God’s presence is in every place. “Belief in God’s omnipresence is based on his attributes of incorporeality, invisibility, incomprehensibility (in the physical sense), and infinity. If all these things are taken into consideration, it is hard to see how God would not be present everywhere, and that is precisely what the biblical testimony points to [Ps. 139:7–10; Isa. 66:1]” (67).
Omnipotence. God can do whatever he desires. “Omnipotence, then, is the art of the possible” (68). “That God can do whatever he wishes is an axiom of Christian theology, but there are logical limits to the way in which we understand this” (67). “[W]hatever God does, he is capable of undoing, because his creation is by nature inferior to his own essence” (68). Further, “God’s ability to do anything does not mean that he actually does everything he is theoretically able to do” (68).
Omniscience. God knows everything. “Being present everywhere, he [God] knows everything, and because he knows everything, he is all-powerful, since knowledge is power” (70). “God’s omniscience is inherent in his omnipresence and is a vital accompaniment to his omnipotence” since he needs perfect knowledge, understanding, and wisdom to exercise his power (70). Job 38:4–6 is the clearest passage in the Bible that claims God’s omniscience.
Chapter 3: God’s Relational Attributes
God’s Relational Attributes as They Are in Themselves
God’s relational attributes speak about who God is—his person. “God is the Creator of all things, but he is the Savior and Redeemer of his people, with whom he has a special relationship” (77). The relationship that God has with his people is not physical (in that we will never become like God), but it is personal (77). “It is because of this relational character of God’s personhood that we can share in it. God’s personal attributes are in some way communicable, whereas his natural ones are not” (80). Further, “There is something about human beings that makes it possible for us to communicate with God, and God with us. This is what we call our personhood, an aspect of his [God’s] being that he shares with us” (78).
God as a Personal Being
God is a personal, relational being. For example, God made Adam and Eve in his image; God makes covenants; God interacts with people, seen chiefly in the incarnation of Jesus; the Holy Spirit indwells God’s people (81).
God’s relational attributes are part of his “person.” “Person” is a theological word that describes the father, Son, and Holy Spirit “who are not just three elements in God that we observe, but acting agents” (82). “[P]ersonhood, or ‘personality’ in the old sense of the word (what is distinct to each person), is something in God that is not tied to his divine nature (what is common to all three persons)” (84).
“What we call God’s relational or ‘communicable’ attributes are descriptions of how the relationship that do has (or wants to have) with his creatures manifests itself in practice. In other words, holiness, righteousness, and goodness describe the standards he [God] imposes on us in order for us to conform to his mind and will” (85). God’s relational attributes appear only in relations with others; “they do not exist as definable entities as apart from them” (85). “The exceptions to this rule are the attributes that apply to the mutual relations of the persons of the Trinity,” such as love (85–86).
God as a Rational Being
God has a mind and a will. The mind and will of God are one and unified in practice, but are conceptually distinct (87). “As functions, they are part of the divine nature, but the persons act to express their unity within the Trinity” (87–88).
Although God’s mind and will are fixed and unchanging in him, “the way we understand them varies enormously” (88). With that being said, “meaningful communication between God and human beings is possible and has in fact occurred” (88). God’s communication with humans is rational and makes sense (89).
God’s Relational Attributes as We Perceive Them
“There are divine principles we must adhere to if we are to have the kind of relationship with God that he wants for us as his children”: holiness, righteousness, and goodness (91).
Holiness
“At the root of the concept of holiness is the idea of separation, of difference from other things” (92). God is holy in both metaphysical and moral terms. At the metaphysical dimension, “God is completely different from any of his creatures” because he is the creator (92).
Regarding God as holy in moral terms, “It is our experience of the transforming power of God in our live that shapes how we perceive him, and this perception determines how we understand his holiness. Holiness is not something intrinsic to his being but reflects the way we understand and relate to him” (94–95).
Bray makes the point that holiness has no application to God when we think of God as he is in himself: “If we thing of God as he is in himself, the word ‘holiness’ has no obvious application. It cannot mean anything in metaphysical terms, since there is no way the Creator would ever mistake a creature for himself or worship it. Nor does it make much sense in moral terms, since God cannot sin” (95).
Righteousness
“What is true of holiness applies equally to the concept of righteousness or justice” (96). “God is righteous not merely because of what he is in himself but also because he sets the standard by which we are expected to live” (96). “Like holiness, the righteousness of God is a standard that he reveals in the context of his relationship with us” (98).
Goodness
There are two kinds of goodness: one physical and the other moral (98). God’s physical goodness refers to his structure, which is obviously good but immeasurable because his perfection is beyond human understanding (99). Regarding God’s moral goodness, “We are meant to think of good as what God wants us to do, not what he does himself but does not intent for us to replicate” (100).
Chapter 4: The Relevance of God’s Attributes Today
“God’s attributes may be hard to fathom, but they matter greatly for our relationship to him” (103). The attributes of God bear witness to God’s transcendence, which in turn allows us to “consider the world as it truly is” (104). For example,
- God’s omnipresence means his people have ready access to him at all times (104).
- The “distinction between God’s essential attributes and his relational ones is the key to understanding how God can understand our suffering and at the same time be able to rescue us from it” (105–06).
- “God’s eternity and his immutability are necessary for us to have assurance of our salvation” (106).
- “The power of God must also be unlimited, because if there were obstacles that he could not overcome, our salvation would be insecure” (106).
- God’s relational attributes are important because God expects his people to be like him in those attributes. We are to be holy, righteous, and good because living this way pleases God (107).
“We understand our relationship with God more clearly when we see not only how he differs from us, but also how we can relate to him in spite of that. The study of his attributes, therefore, lays the proper foundation for our lives with him” (109).
Appendix: God’s Attributes in Christian Tradition
Bray concludes his work with a 34-page summary of the development of God’s attributes in the Christian tradition beginning with the early church up to the present day (111–34). Having familiarity with the divine attributes as presented by Bray in the body of this work, I found myself more engaged with the summary of development than if it was given in chapter 1. Further, I appreciated Bray’s analysis of both Wayne Grudem and Millard Erickson’s presentation of God’s attributes because I read both works in Seminary and came away confused regarding the attributes of God. Bray’s analysis helped me understand why I came away slightly confused. Finally, the summary of development gave me greater appreciation of Bray’s categorization of God’s attributes.
Bray concludes his summary of the development of God’s attributes by stating, “Whatever the reason, it is fair to say that the study of the divine attributes appears to be more fragmented and inconclusive today,” although still highly relevant (144–45).
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