god as personal, god as father, god as love

Question 1

the anthropomorphic tradition

Answer 1

-practice of attributing human characteristics to non-human entities. with regard to god its anthropomorphic to describe god in human terms.

-christians accept this language as a coherent way to talk about god but one problem is that it requires us to talk about god anthropomorphically.

Question 2

David hume

Answer 2

-scottish philosopher
-if god is compared with a human designer or a human creator then it serves only to limit his powers. this is because humans can’t be compared to god.

-humans can’t be considered omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent.

Question 3

David Hume anthropomorphism

Answer 3

• we can’t draw an analogy between that which we know to be limited and imperfect to that which we claim is unlimited and perfect.

-gods qualities + characteristics were so closely identified with those of man in order to make it work that it removed from him the divine distinctiveness that the believer surely wants to preserve.

-if gid compared with humans it emphasises his limitedness, changeability and fallibility.

Question 4

god as father

Answer 4

-image of human father stand as a metaphor for qualities such as strength, power, authority wisdom and love

-to call god ‘father’ is not just a familial metaphor

Deuteronomy describes God as the Father who creates the human race

Question 5

talk of god as father is male anthropomorphism

Answer 5

• as god of Israel, Yahwehs role is in effect the partriarchal father.

-after disobedience of A+E he exercised justice b ordaining diff roles for men and women in which agriculture becomes matter of toil and sweat for men, and women continue being fruitful and multiplying, but childbirth painful

Question 6

the New Testament anthropomorphic

Answer 6

• most anthropomorphic aspect of gods role as the father is seen in the New Testament where god becomes incarnate through his son Jesus

-in apostles creed the statement of belief in god “the father almighty, creator of heaven and earth’ is followed by that of the belief in ‘JC his only son, our lord’ god is father in both senses here ; father creator of all things and father of Jesus.

Question 7

Jesus frequently uses the title father to refer to god

Answer 7

• e.g when teaching disciples the lords prayer

-in the wording of the lords prayer there Is a sense in which christians who use it share the father / son relationship of Jesus with god as they pray.

-Jesus uses ‘ABBA’, signifies gods approachability as the father for all people so in romans Paul suggest that when christians cry ‘abba-the father’ they become adopted sons of god. emphasis on gods fatherly nature both intimate, powerful and all-inclusive

Question 8

infallible

Answer 8

incapable of making mistakes of being wrong

Question 9

ineffable

Answer 9

too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words

Question 10

what does a personal god mean?

Answer 10

-personal god is a deity who can be related to as a person instead of as an impersonal force.

-in scripture god is described as being a personal creator, speaking in first person and showing emotion such as anger and pride.

Question 11

Alister McGrath

Answer 11

-writes that there are good reasons to suggest that a ‘personal god’ is integral to Christianity outlook but that one has to understand its an analogy.

-‘to say that god is like a person is to affirm the divine ability and willingness to relate to others. this doesn’t imply that god is human, or located at a specific point in the universe

Question 12

christians + personal relationship

Answer 12

-for christians important to have personal relationship with god - christians feel they can communicate with god whenever they need to and he will always listen. t also suggests that god has specific qualities in order to do this.

-some believe god is patient- humans prone to mistakes but we receive forgiveness through his omnibenevolence

-the lord ‘is patient with you’ Peter

Question 13

god as love

Answer 13

-gods plan and purpose for human salvation os to offer all humanity the opportunity to become his own sons and daughters in his own family - on his level of life

-god is love. love is the fundamental essence of his nature and character- his very being. god is perfect in love. gods love is manifested by his absolutely pure desire to care for, share and give

Question 14

god is love quote

Answer 14

“whoever doesn’t love doesn’t know God because God is love” John

Question 15

Matthew Henry commentary

Answer 15

-spirit of god is spirit of love. he does not love the image of god in his people, has no saving knowledge of god.

• for its gods nature to be kind and give happiness

-the law of god is lobe and all would have been perfectly happy had all obeyed it.

Question 16

problems in understanding anthropomorphic language about god

Answer 16

-reduces god to human level. not all powerful

-how can god be creator of universe? creator must have been separate from the universe and must have been transcendent.

-challenge for us to understand how human language can be used about god and by god.

Question 17

problem with god is love

Answer 17

at point of creation god must have been aware of the sheer extent of evil that would befall the world so why then did he bother to create it?

-three attempts to solve this FWD, the irenaeus hick theodicy, process theology

-most christians put there trust in the loving nature of god and their main evidence for this comes from the bible

Question 18

why is love an important factor In understanding god?

Answer 18

-word love features in scripture multiple times. in particular the love of god. omnibenevolence “for god so loved the world that he gave us his only son”

-for many christians understanding gods love helps them to show love and love others

-god made humanity in imago die but free will allows them to grow in his likeness, further showing ‘god is love’ requires love to be basis of human relationships.

-Jesus preaches importance ‘love your neighbour’