Q. 1. “What is an ‘attribute’?”
“An attribute is the characteristic or the quality
of a person or a thing.
Created things have attributes: e.g. a knife is sharp;
fire is hot; ice is cold. But God’s attributes differ from the
attributes, qualities or characteristics of created things.
God’s attributes are not something which we
attribute or ascribe to God. We do not say, ‘I think God is […],’ but
God, rather, reveals His attributes to us in Scripture. Without that revelation
we could never know them.
The word ‘attribute’ does not do justice to the
reality of God’s attributes. It is the word used traditionally in theology. You
might say that the attribute of water is ‘wetness,’ but God’s attributes are
infinitely greater than that. God’s attributes are His perfections, His virtues,
His wonders, and His praises. I Peter 2:9 speaks of God’s ‘praises’
and the word there means ‘excellent qualities or virtues.’
The attributes of God are essential to His
being—they are not ‘additions’ to Him. Without His attributes He is not God.
God cannot lose or lay aside His attributes—e.g. God cannot lay aside His
sovereignty by ‘choosing to be less sovereign’ to accommodate man.
God’s attributes are infinite perfections of His
Being. They have no limit or measure. God is infinitely holy, infinitely wise,
infinitely gracious, etc. God, being infinite, does not ‘grow’ in holiness,
wisdom, mercy, etc.
God IS His attributes. We might say that a person
is wise, but God IS wisdom. We might say that a person is ‘loving,’ but God IS
love.” (Martyn McGeown, “Essentials of Reformed Doctrine: Class
Outlines,” p. 20)
“… a property or quality ascribed to a person” (Herman Veldman, “The Standard Bearer,” vol.
25, p. 107)
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Q. 2. “What is meant by God’s ‘incommunicable’
attributes?”
“[attributes] of which there is no reflection in the
creature, even when clothed with the image of God” (Ronald Hanko, “The
Standard Bearer,” vol. 64, p. 63)
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Q. 3. “Name some examples of God’s
incommunicable attributes”
omnipresence,
omniscience,
omnipotence,
eternity,
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Q. 4. “What is meant by God’s ‘communicable’
attributes?”
“[attributes] of which there is also some reflection
in the creature” (Ronald Hanko, “The Standard
Bearer,” vol. 64, p. 63)
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Q. 5. “Name some example of God’s
communicable attributes”
life,
holiness,
light,
wisdom,
righteousness,
truth,
love,
mercy,
grace/beauty
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