Spring 2008 Online Certificate Students:
View all sessions below. Then log all your comments, questions, discussion question answers, criticisms, or thoughts below. Time spent in the comments section will apply toward your one hour of community time per week. To download audio sessions, visit the course homepage on the TTP site. The next session will be posted each Wed.
Note:
This is not the place for general discussion and questions. Go to the foyer for general discussion and refer to the FAQ on the right for question. Time spent in the comments section will apply toward your one hour of community time per week. To download audio sessions, visit the course homepage on the TTP site. The next session will be posted each Wed.
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What makes God, God? What is the definition of God? What characteristics does God have that make Him worthy of the title “God”? Having now defined God philosophically as “that which above the arch,” this lesson will further examine what it means to be above the arch. The students will learn that God has attributes that necessarily are a part of “God-ness.” These attributes are often referred to as incommunicable attributes, since God cannot communicate them to man. Students should understand that God is God because of these incommunicable or necessary attributes, and that man cannot possess these attributes precisely because he is not God. Upon completion of this session, the student should be able to define what a philosophical definition of God entails. The student should also be convinced that any definition of God that lacks any of the characteristics/attributes that make God God fall short of qualifications demanded by an understanding of “the greatest conceivable being.”
What makes God, God?: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (79) How is simplicity an attribute of God?: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (50) How is the simplicity of God to be defined?: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (50) What are the objections to simplicity?: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (56) How is sternality an attribute of God?: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (58)
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February 20th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
TR -Week 4 – Group Discussion Questions;
1. There are several attributes that make God, God. His Aseity, His Omnipresence for example. These make Him unique, simple. But God’s actions, His non-essential attributes are not unique to only Him. Love, patience, grace, goodness… they are not necessary for Him to still be God. They are His choice in His timing.
2. My graying chest hairs in just one small patch, the freckle on the right side of my cheek, my desire to serve people where they need. Not everyone shares these yet we are all humans.
3. I breath with my lungs, eating is a necessity, my body must stay around 98 degrees for survival.
4. Michael P. said it best… All of creation has 3 elements;Time-Space-Matter
Whenever you have space and matter, you have time. Ex nihilo or creation, means God created time as well. If God is beyond (before) time, anything that is outside of time is “Simple”. Therefore God is simple. Space requires time – time requires space – matter requires both. They all require each other. Einstein found that you cannot have matter with out space or time. I wonder who or what gave him the ability to figure that out???)
5. If God is beyond time, then He is beyond space & matter as well. It only leaves God as the creator.
6. Without “The arch” any one and anything can be a god. The arch separates all religions. The God, our God is the only thing above the arch.
7. Simple; composed of only one thing, element or part. Like a task…either it’s complicated or simple. The simplicity is His essence. It cants be divided or separated into several parts.
8. No. It limits OUR ability to relate to HIM. We as intelligent humans can’t fathom His timelessness. Science has tried and still comes up short…or not long enough. He can keep waiting.
9. Really the challenge was not too difficult this week. Once layed out thru the video’s and last night’s class discussions, this is fairly straight forward to understand and grasp a hold of.
February 20th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
TTP Trinitarianism
Session 4. The Incommunicable Attributes of God
Q1. God does not need to have the attribute of mercy to be God. It is conceivable for God to be unmerciful and still meet the criteria of “goodness”. Discuss the validity of this statement. How should this make us praise God more?
A1. Often we hear that God is good. Well He is in fact the standard of good or goodness. That is to say, He defines what is good. How God is described as good is not for our debate, as He is the “author” of goodness. Now as we look at mercy, we can consider it an aspect or an element of God’s goodness, but it is one of several, including grace and patience. God’s attribute of goodness exists whether man is around to witness it or not. Mercy is somewhat different in that man becomes the object of God’s mercy, in His goodness.
In response to the question of praise; God’s mercy is given according to His good will, so if we are the recipients of it, we should rejoice. The LORD Himself says in Exodus 33:19 and Romans 9:15, “…I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion upon whom I have compassion.”
Q2. What non-essential attributes do you personally possess? In other words, what attributes do you possess that are not necessary attributes shared by all mankind?
A2. Non-essential physical attributes: I am bald, 6’1” tall, 220 lbs, with several unique surgical scars. Personality attributes: I love cats more than dogs (a conversion experience), I love guitars (folk, jazz, blues - acoustic or electric), I am a political junkie (though I am desperately depending upon God’s sovereignty to deliver me).
Q3. What essential attributes do you possess by virtue of belonging to the category of mankind?
A3. To be a member of the human race I am body, mind & spirit.
Q4. Further discuss the validity of saying that God must be eternal (timeless) in order to be God.
A4. The illustration that we have been using throughout this course has been that of the arch. That which is creator is above, that which is created is below. That which is eternal is above, that which is bound by time is below. For God to be God, he must not be created thus He is outside of time.
Q5. How does this concept of essential attributes help you to understand the Christian view that God must exist “above the arch” and must have created the universe ex nihilo (out of nothing)?
A5. “In the beginning God created…” all things, matter, space, time, beings, etc. He was before time; He was before “the beginning”. Since He created all things, he had nothing from which to build something, hence the term ex nihilo. I also answered this question in part in the previous question.
Q6. How does this same concept help you understand that all other views of God (Pantheism, panentheism, polytheism, etc.) are self-defeating, since they do not ascribe to God the essential attributes of “that which is above the arch”?
A6. For God to be God, He must be beyond the bounds of time. The God of the Bible is unique in that He is infinite and personal. That is, He is out of time, being in eternity, yet he reaches into time to interact in our existence. Other world views seek to bring man above the arch, where he does not belong because he is a creation bound by time; or they seek to bring God below the arch as if He were our peer as a created being. Simply stated, they either elevate man to the status of a god, or they devalue God as less than the Eternal Deity that He is.
Q7. Further discuss the validity of saying that God must be simple in order to be God.
A7. The issue of simplicity is the issue of unity. Unity as in one, indivisible. Since God is One, He cannot be subdivided into lesser elements that undermine His “Godness”. He cannot be subdivided and have a portion of His elements in time (below the arch) with created things, and other elements in eternity (above the arch). East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet; so it is with above the arch and below the arch. God is simple, He is indivisible and He remains God eternal, above the arch.
Q8. Since God does not experience time in the way we do, do you think that this limits His ability to relate to us? Explain.
A8. Since God created it all, and since God is God, He has no limits whatsoever in His ability to relate to us. The issue is mankind’s inability to relate to God. As we study Genesis, it is clear that God related well with Adam, and Adam related to God just fine within time, though God remains in eternity. Our inability to relate to God is more of a condition of our fallen nature than it is with time.
Q9. How was your thinking challenged most by this lesson?
A9. Honestly, I found this weeks lesson challenging in that it continually forces me to think and articulate WHO God really is and in so doing, helps me to be more amazed that He desires to have a relationship with me. If I am to worship Him “in spirit and in truth”, than I had better know who He truly is. Since I cannot experience God by my physical senses, then His attributes will be the closest revelation of Him that I have in this world (more reason to study the Word). These mental gymnastics also assist me in overcoming many old suppositions that are ingrained in me from my youth.
February 21st, 2008 at 6:09 pm
TTP Trinitarianism Thursday 10PM
Session 4. The Incommunicable Attributes of God
Q1. God does not need to have the attribute of mercy to be God. It is conceivable for God to be unmerciful and still meet the criteria of “goodness”. Discuss the validity of this statement. How should this make us praise God more?
1 John tells us that “God is love.” The bible assumes God’s existence from the outset of Genesis 1. The fact that he created us proves His goodness because without Him I’d never be! If God made us and is the Creator then He is also the ultimate judge and jury based on the standards He sets.
Exodus 33:19 states “…I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion upon whom I have compassion.” God sets the standard right there and we as humans must observe, appreciate, and respect those standards.
Q2. What non-essential attributes do you personally possess? In other words, what attributes do you possess that are not necessary attributes shared by all mankind?
I always wished I was taller (5′ 8.5″ and don’t take my .5 inches away….). When I was younger I always wished I had the “popular” blue eyes that most people seemd to gawk over. I wished I had a natural six-pack of abs and many other attributes that only a few possess and usually through some hard work!
As for my personality, I always wanted to be smarter which is just a fancy way of saying I was fearful. 1 Corinthians 13:11 states “11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.” The truth for me however was different in that I did not put away childish things but stayed an adult-male child. My personality included being chatty; immature; and driven but TODAY I am much less talkative (paltalk discussions aside…); I listen; and, I actually feel for others by taking the time to walk in their stories and shoes to understand them and care for them. These are all fairly new personality skills.
Q3. What essential attributes do you possess by virtue of belonging to the category of mankind?
I have a body; a mind; a unique personality; a unique face; unique fingerprints; unique just about everything including my thoughts and my spirit!
Q4. Further discuss the validity of saying that God must be eternal (timeless) in order to be God.
God is the same yesterday, today and forever. I don’t know if man even truly understands the concept of time but God does because He isn’t bound by it, at least not in the way I believe we conceive time.
As other students have noted the Arch is a wonderful way of showing us God’s timeless attributes as he is just above and in a sense everything else is below.
Q5. How does this concept of essential attributes help you to understand the Christian view that God must exist “above the arch” and must have created the universe ex nihilo (out of nothing)?
Genesis 1 tells us that “In the beginning, God created …” well everything….as He goes down the list to tell us His wonderful works. He brought us into existence out of nothing but His will and His love and only God can do that. You just can’t have something from nothing.
Q6. How does this same concept help you understand that all other views of God (Pantheism, panentheism, polytheism, etc.) are self-defeating, since they do not ascribe to God the essential attributes of “that which is above the arch”?
Again, God has always been and always will be so He isn’t “bound” in a box in the way we humans often confine things, thoughts and feelings to help us understand them in our limited ways.
Man has “eternity on his heart” (Ecc 3) and therefore sometimes man will try to be god to help explain his life and the things around him. I think those who believe this all happened by chance don’t feel God is working in their lives - they are getting what they want so they maybe put sense to things in their finite ways by limiting God or excluding Him.
In a nutshell, many people believe there is a “God” but they don’t know if He personally cares or not. We humans see suffering especially and just say how could a good God allow this? Very tough stuff here and we humans will never have all the answers until we turn to Him and accept Him as Lord and Saviour to guide us.
Q7. Further discuss the validity of saying that God must be simple in order to be God.
Deuteronomy 6:4 says “4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone (is one).5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.” I think people like to simplify things to make them safe & understandable but this isn’t always God’s way - at least I don’t think. God can’t be broken up into little pericopies to make Him more palatable to our thinking. While in a sense God is simple, in the same sense He is also indivisible and He above the arch at all times and all the time. He is God.
Q8. Since God does not experience time in the way we do, do you think that this limits His ability to relate to us? Explain.
God is the Creator and my Boss. He isn’t limited in thinking or action. He knows us better then we know ourselves. We just sometimes fail to properly relate to God due to our sinful and fallen natures that are bound by our “living body” time.
Q9. How was your thinking challenged most by this lesson?
“Verily, verily, verily I say unto TTP” that I was forced to once again think how mighty and boundless He really is. I have a worldview imbedded in me by the culture and times I grew up in here in Northern NJ near NYC. I have had to un-learn a lot of things and it was ALL GOD…ALL the TIME doing it. How wonderful is it to realize you can change from being an adult child to a somewhat mature man? Not everyone gets blessed like that in life and I don’t take the gift of life for granted or Him for granted anymore…or at least not as often!
February 23rd, 2008 at 6:44 am
Session 4 Discussion Questions
1. An attribute is a property of some entity that to some degree defines what that entity is. In other words, philosophically speaking, an entity is the sum total of its attributes. For example, God is the sum total of His attributes. An essential attribute is that property which exists necessarily in the entity, and without it, the entity would not be what it is. For example, God would not be God if He was not timeless (an essential attribute that makes God, God). A non-essential attribute is a property of an entity which it possesses subjectively, but is not necessary for the ontological make up of the entity. For example, God’s mercy is a non-essential attribute of His character. In other words God does not need to have the attribute of mercy to be God. It is conceivable for God to be unmerciful and still meet the criteria of “goodness.” Discuss the validity of this last statement. How should this make us praise God more?
When I looked this question after watching the videos where Michael and Rhome used the term “godness”, in reference to God’s incommunicable attributes, I thought maybe the word “goodness” in this question was a typo. With that in mind, God did not have to be merciful and His not being so did not affect His transcendence. But instead, being merciful is something He freely chooses to be. This causes me to praise God more because He would be entirely justified in destroying me for my sin and rebellion, yet He chose to be graceful instead.
2. What non-essential attributes do you personally possess? In other words, what attributes do you possess that are not necessary attributes shared by all mankind?
One personal non-essential attribute I would love to get rid of is about 50 or 60 unwanted pounds. Various attributes that describe mankind but that are not necessary to qualify as human include hair color, height, weight, and intelligence.
3. What essential attributes do you possess by virtue of belonging to the category of mankind?
Those would include reason, morality, language and the sensus divinitatis.
4. Further discuss the validity of saying that God must be eternal (timeless) in order to be God.
Although there are world views give the name “god” to their conceptions of a supreme being, nature itself or a combination of nature and powerful beings, they exist only in the immanent realm and cannot be transcendent. As they would be immanent, they would have required a beginning as the Kalam argument says and therefore not truly timeless. But theism argues for God’s essence eternally existing apart from and beyond all creation, the “greatest conceivable being”. Such a being as the God of Scripture best fits the biblical teaching of creation ex nihilo.
5. How does this concept of “essential attributes” help you understand the Christian view that God must exist “above the arch” and must have created the universe ex nihilo (out of nothing)?
The attribute of simplicity describes God as an indivisible unity; if this were not so, God could not be transcendent for the only thing “above the arch” is God. His incommunicable attributes of eternality, immutability, omnipresence and aseity describe His transcendence. These attributes also can only exist “above the arch”. Since God then is the self-existent one then it follows that everything else that exists was produced out of nothing that existed before.
6. How does this same concept help you understand that all other views of God (pantheism, panentheism, polytheism, etc.) are self-defeating, since they do not ascribe to God the essential attributes of “that which is above the arch”?
All these other world views that believe in a Greater Power define God’s essence in one of two ways. Either (1) God’s ontos exists only in the immanent realm (pantheism, polytheism) or (2) in the case of panentheism, the universe and God are somewhat mutually interdependent. If these ideas truly describe God, then he would not be able to possess those incommunicable attributes that would define a transcendent being.
7. Further discuss the validity of saying that God must be simple in order to be God.
Other than restating comments I made to earlier questions, Scripture also makes comments that refer to God’s simplicity, e.g. “Hear O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4).
8. Since God does not experience time in the way we do, do you think that this limits His ability to relate to us? Explain.
Even though God sees time all at once he still relates to us in the way we perceive it. There is abundant evidence throughout Scriptural history that God has not ever had any trouble relating to humankind. God’s omnipotence surely includes this ability as well. God told Jeremiah, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is there anything too difficult for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27).
9. How was your thinking challenged most by this lesson?
The concept of God’s simplicity raises paradoxes difficult to grasp let alone satisfactorily explain.
February 23rd, 2008 at 6:51 pm
1. At first it seems contradictory for God to be unmerciful and still meet the criteria for goodness. However, mercy and goodness are not essential attributes of God. In addition, God could conceivably be both unmerciful and still meet the criteria for goodness, since He is the standard. In other words, His character is self-determined as He is not dependent upon anyone or anything. This makes me praise God more because He is so much greater than we are and doesn’t need to show mercy but chooses to.
2. The non-essential attributes I possess that are not necessarily shared by all mankind: 5’6, 112#, short brown hair, brown eyes, an extroverted introvert, punny, love cats, theology, politics and Scrabble.
3. The essential attributes I possess by virtue of belonging to mankind include: having a physical body (and everything that goes along with that), being mortal (in this life), changeable, imperfect and limited.
4. Saying that God must be eternal (timeless) in order to be God is valid. If God had a beginning, then He could not have been the Creator. If He has an end then He would be limited and therefore not God. And, if He lived in time, then He would not be able to see all events in the past, present and future. Since time only began with the creation of the universe and God existed before creation, then He must be timeless.
5. God’s essential attributes of simplicity, eternality, immutability, omnipresence and asceity necessarily place Him above the arch. Anything above the arch was not created, therefore not related to time, space or matter. Since time, space and matter did not exist before God created it, then God must have created ex-nihilo.
6. The concept of God’s essential attributes definitely helps me to see how the other views are self-defeating. The beliefs about God in Pantheism, Panentheism and Polythesim all describe God in ways that run counter to the attributes that make God who He is. These views basically place God below the arch.
7. God must be simple in order to be God, because if he could be divided, as Michael stated, then it would necessitate time, space and matter, which would place Him below the arch.
8. Even though God does not experience time in the way we do, He does still relate to us. God can remain above the arch but express aspects of His being such as goodness, love and grace in time. As Rhome pointed out, God’s creation gives Him the ability to express those things.
9. I was most challenged by the concept of God being simple as I never thought of Him in such a way. I’ve also never heard of God’s attributes in such a systematic way.
February 25th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
1. An attribute is a property of some entity that to some degree defines what that entity is. In other words, philosophically speaking, an entity is the sum total of its attributes. For example, God is the sum total of His attributes. An essential attribute is that property which exists necessarily in the entity, and without it, the entity would not be what it is. For example, God would not be God if He was not timeless (an essential attribute that makes God, God). A non-essential attribute is a property of an entity which it possesses subjectively, but is not necessary for the ontological make up of the entity. For example, God’s mercy is a non-essential attribute of His character. In other words God does not need to have the attribute of mercy to be God. It is conceivable for God to be unmerciful and still meet the criteria of “goodness.” Discuss the validity of this last statement. How should this make us praise God more?
Well, this is a tough question. In my opinion, God would not need to be merciful in order to be good. Goodness is a rather subjective and abstract term. Since God defines what is good, He has to be by definition good. Not everyone will ultimately be shown mercy, yet God is still good. So, in my opinion, mercy is an attribute that is not needed to be a part of goodness.
2. What non-essential attributes do you personally possess? In other words, what attributes do you possess that are not necessary attributes shared by all mankind?
What jumps out to me at first are my physical attributes. However, levels of education and training can be attributes that are unique to me as well. Relationships to others is another example of an attribute that is not shared by others, for instance, I am the only older brother of my sister.
3. What essential attributes do you possess by virtue of belonging to the category of mankind?
I believe that attributes that are given to all mankind include the sensus divinus, an eternal soul, and a body in a general sense.
4. Further discuss the validity of saying that God must be eternal (timeless) in order to be God.
As God is ‘above the arch’ He must by definition not be bound by anything He creates. As time is part of Creation, it must therefore be concluded that God is timeless. He can not exist in time, because He created time. Although a difficult concept, the concept is true and holds merit, because if God is not timeless, He can not be God as He would be subject to His Creation, which is absurd.
5. How does this concept of “essential attributes” help you understand the Christian view that God must exist “above the arch” and must have created the universe ex nihilo (out of nothing)?
In one sense, the reasoning for it works somewhat backwards from my perspective. We are defining essential attributes in human terms. Our concepts of goodness, fairness, justice, etc. are varied. We need to make sure that we look at essential attributes from a God-perspective in how He has revealed His attributes to us. Anyway, God had to have created the universe ex nihilo, its really the only explanation left that maintains logical integrity.
6. How does this same concept help you understand that all other views of God (pantheism, panentheism, polytheism, etc.) are self-defeating, since they do not ascribe to God the essential attributes of “that which is above the arch”?
These other arguments are ultimately self-defeating because they all lower ‘god or gods’ to human existence in that all of their gods exist below the arch. These movements and philosophies and religions are all attempts at elevating man and lowering God. It is ultimately self-defeating because they attempt to make God exist below the arch and make man able to be a god.
7. Further discuss the validity of saying that God must be simple in order to be God.
God has to be simple or He can not be God. If He is composed of the sum of some other parts, than He would be dependent on something else for His existence. He would no longer be God if He relied on an ‘ingredient’ for Him to exist.
8. Since God does not experience time in the way we do, do you think that this limits His ability to relate to us? Explain.
Not at all. God through Jesus Christ has demonstrated that He can relate to us in time. He created the Creation, it is subject to Him, He is not subject to it. God can not be limited by His Creation, because He created it!
9. How was your thinking challenged most by this lesson?
This was a fun lesson. In many ways, the simplicity of God is a really cool concept. As amazing and infinite as He is, the idea that He is simple is almost paradoxical. God is simply too much for any person to fully comprehend. The pursuit of who He is, however, is always a rewarding pursuit.
March 3rd, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Group Discussion Questions #4
1. An attribute is a property of some entity that to some degree defines what that entity is. In other words, philosophically speaking, an entity is the sum total of its attributes. For example, God is the sum total of His attributes. An essential attribute is that property which exists necessarily in the entity, and without it, the entity would not be what it is. For example, God would not be God if He was not timeless (an essential attribute that makes God, God). A non-essential attribute is a property of an entity which it possesses subjectively, but is not necessary for the ontological make up of the entity. For example, God’s mercy is a non-essential attribute of His character. In other word’s God does not need to have the attribute of mercy to be God. It is conceivable for God to be unmerciful and still meet the criteria of “goodness.” Discuss the validity of this last statement. How should this make us praise God more?
It is conceivable for God to be unmerciful, but is reasonable? God is certainly merciful as He has demonstrated throughout the history of mankind. Adam and Eve deserved immediate death, but God was merciful and expelled them from the Garden. The Israelites didn’t merit mercy in their many expressions of hard-headedness, but God was merciful. We don’t merit God’s provision for our salvation, but God was merciful in providing for us at Jesus’ death on the cross. He is merciful to us each day. How awesome. But is God unmerciful? I don’t think so, I think God is just to all and merciful to those who covenant with Him.
2. What non-essential attributes do you personally possess? In other words, what attributes do you possess that are not necessary attributes shared by all mankind?
What attributes make me different than many or most of mankind? Hmmm, I surprise many with my outdoor skills, having grown up in a forest related industry, I can handle a chain saw quite well. In my younger years, my motorcycle was my main mode of transportation and I am currently contemplating another motorcycle purchase at the youthful age of 60. I used to think of myself as tall, however, after my one of my daughters attained the height of 6’ 1”, I am not uniquely tall any longer. Friends find me a bit different in my distaste for tv. In fact, I find it quite boring, greatly preferring a good book from our theological studies. But above all, I’d like to attain toward a mind like that of Christ, which seems which unique in our selfish, humanistic world.
3. What essential attributes do you possess by virtue of belonging to the category
of mankind?
Body, mind and soul make me human and with the body came mortality, limitations, changeability.
4. Further discuss the validity of saying that God must be eternal (timeless) in order to be God.
Psalms 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. God just exists without beginning or end, thus God is eternal. God is defined as ‘simple’ and ‘immutable”, thus He would be unchangeable. If he were in time he would change, so, he is not in time, but transcends time, thus eternal or timeless.
5. How does this concept of essential attributes help you understand the Christian view that God must exist “above the arch” and must have created the universe ex nihilo (out of nothing)?
Since, one of God‘s attributes is “simplicity“ (indivisible), he cannot take a part of himself to create the world, thus no part of the world or creation could be from a part of God, thus the universe had to come into existence from a previous non-existence, from nothing to something. Essential attributes, such as simplicity and eternality are not found in creation and thus obviously above the arch.
6.How does this same concept help you understand that all other views of God (pantheism, panentheism, polytheism, etc.) are self-defeating, since they do not ascribe to God the essential attributes of “that which is above the arch”?
God, to be God must necessarily be beyond creation or above the arch. God, to be in His creation would have to be divisible, He is simply not divisible, thus all views of a god who is not “Simple”, “Eternal”, “immutable”, “Omnipresent”, and ‘Aseitic” would, in fact, not be God.
7. Further discuss the validity of saying that God must be simple in order to be God.
See above answers 5 and 6. (Exo 3:14) God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Classical Christian Theists understand this verse as referring to God as Pure Being or Existence. God is then Pure Actuality with no potential. A being with Pure Existence and Pure Actuality must be undividable, if undividable, then purely “Simple”.
8. Since God does not experience time in the way we do, do you think that this limits His ability to relate to us? Explain.
I am still working on this one. I have to admit, I’m having trouble with understanding a God above the arch, changeless, relating to me now. Although, my faith indicates to me that God is relating to me in real time.
9. How was your thinking challenged most by this lesson?
How awesome is creation? To think about God and try to comprehend His attributes, to contemplate His ways, it makes my head spin.