Are all of God's attributes necessary, and can God be trusted?

[NowHereThis]

Anything we say about God implicitly involves comparison. So “God exists” would be alright because the comparison there is to things which do not exist, and when only God existed, there were many things which did not exist. But other descriptions, like “God is good,” make no sense in a world where there is nothing but God. “Good” is meaningless when there is nothing that is “not-good”. “Creator” is meaningless with nothing that can be called “created”.

Why does this matter? Because it means that for attributes other than “existence,” God is dependent on Not-God. Which makes these attributes contingent, and thus not part of God as a necessary being. If they are contingent, then they are changeable. God could possibly change from good to not-good, or from creator to non-creator. Anything possible will eventually happen given enough time, and God has all eternity. The result is that anything attributed to God other than continued existence won’t last, and that has implications for placing trust in God to do anything other than be.

 

[DavidFilmer]

But other descriptions, like “God is good,” make no sense in a world where there is nothing but God. “Good” is meaningless when there is nothing that is “not-good”.

Why? Is “light” meaningless if there is no dark?

There would still be light (if light existed) even if there were no spaces which it did not illuminate. Light is not merely defined as the absence of dark (whereas dark could be (and is) defined as the absence of light).

“Creator” is meaningless with nothing that can be called “created”.

“Creator” is a role, not an attribute or property. It’s something you do, not something you are. It’s like being a bus driver - it is an occupation, not a nature.

God can DO things in degrees. He cannot BE things in degrees.

 

[dshix]

Anything we say about God implicitly involves comparison. So “God exists” would be alright because the comparison there is to things which do not exist, and when only God existed, there were many things which did not exist. But other descriptions, like “God is good,” make no sense in a world where there is nothing but God. “Good” is meaningless when there is nothing that is “not-good”. “Creator” is meaningless with nothing that can be called “created”.

Why does this matter? Because it means that for attributes other than “existence,” God is dependent on Not-God. Which makes these attributes contingent, and thus not part of God as a necessary being. If they are contingent, then they are changeable. God could possibly change from good to not-good, or from creator to non-creator. Anything possible will eventually happen given enough time, and God has all eternity. The result is that anything attributed to God other than continued existence won’t last, and that has implications for placing trust in God to do anything other than be.

The perspective from which you have looked at this is very interesting. You say that God “has” these attributes. That definitely appears accurate, but it’s looking through the scope from the wrong direction.

God Himself defines all virtues/attributes. He doesn’t define them by an act of His will, but because He IS them. God IS love. God IS truth. God IS goodness. God IS existence. God IS… any and every virtuous attribute.

In fact, those things which we consider to be good or to have good attributes are defined as such in direct proportion to how well they reflect God Himself, because God gives all of His creations some part of Himself, that they may reflect Him.

We are “created in God’s image”. That isn’t just a fancy, flowery allegory. We are **literally **created in God’s image, and all of our virtues, skills, and good attributes are a direct imitation of, or mirror, of God Himself.

 

[Glomung]

Anything possible will eventually happen given enough time, and God has all eternity.

First off, that is patenty untrue. Odds and probabilities are meaningless in the REAL world.

2nd, God is eternal and unchanging. He is also spirit, so whatever notions you may have about the mutability of the physical world just don’t apply.

 

[Mount_Carmel]

God is eternal and unchanging in personal nature, so His attributes must always be.

An attribute is not meaningless, since unless it is there it can never cause an effect, such as ‘creation’.

As for ‘can we trust God’? Well, if not God, then who can we trust?

 

[StrawberryJam]

God is eternal and unchanging in personal nature, so His attributes must always be.

An attribute is not meaningless, since unless it is there it can never cause an effect, such as ‘creation’.

As for ‘can we trust God’? Well, if not God, then who can we trust?

You trust things that you can not show are from God in your life.
You most likely had the polio immunization and or others that you can not credit God, or any god for.
Your last question deserves a thread on it’s own.
Well, if not God, then who can we trust?

I think that is a question worth asking.