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Sunday, October 23, 2016

ATTRIBUTES OF GOD INTRO


INTRODUCTION TO THE ARTICLE OF THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD

 
              The Bible begins with God. Its initial declaration is "in the beginning God" (Gen. 1:1). No attempt is made to prove the existence of God, though cer­tainly it contains many proofs. It proceeds on the basic presupposition that God exists, and its central affirmation is that "the Lord hath spoken" (Exod. 19:8; Isa. 1:2; Heb. 1:1-2). Thus it brings the sinner immediately into the presence of God.

The substance of this article is theology, a discussion about God. The word theology is a compound word derived from the Greek language, made up of the word "theos" meaning God, and the word "logos" meaning word or dis­cussion. So theology is in essence a discussion about God. In a limited but real sense, every person is a theologian. For the moment he formulates one mental concept about God he has entered the realm of theology.

Since men are rational beings, it is only natural for them to organize their thinking. Consciously or unconsciously, men organize their thinking as naturally as they speak prose, declares one great theologian. "This organizing principal is a part of our constitution. The mind cannot endure confusion or apparent contradiction in known facts." So the tendency to harmonize and unify its knowledge appears as soon as the mind becomes reflective. There are some men who decry theology. But you may be sure that the very disease they disclaim is one with which they are afflicted. For “every man has as much theology as he can hold." The unfortunate thing is that in such situations they suffer from false and inadequate ideas. As Ezekiel puts the matter, they "prophesy out of their own heart" (Ezek. 13:17). And these ideas always lead to consequences.

Theology was once regarded as the queen of the sciences, because it in­corporated in its discipline not only an article of the divine essence, but also the whole range of relations of God with His universe: creation, preservation, provi­dence, and redemption. Conservative theologians regard the Bible as the text­book. To any person who knows the Bible, he is aware that it touches upon every aspect and area of reality. This includes the natural sciences, the biological sciences, the physical sciences, and the science of man.
               In our day, the science of theology has gradually narrowed down to a dis­cussion of God in His essence and relation to mankind in redemption. But this does not mean that there are not overtones which reach out to every other aspect of knowledge and area of reality

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