Question about God's Attributes

[Eric_Peter]

We can have long list of God’s attributes.

He is infinite, eternal, one, omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotents, simple, etc etc.

But it is said that all the attributes are identical to each other together with the Divine Essence.

So, does it mean it is safe to assume that God has only one attribute, to which it is impossible for human to think, know and describe, thus by using the human language, we break the one attribute into many attributes in order for us to understand it?

Or am I wrong in this one?

 

[FightingFat]

We could say that all language is only a poor attempt at describing the indescribable. We have to reduce God to image we understand in order to attempt to grasp at the mystery of His being.

 

[Verbum]

Hi Eric,

In reality, God HAS nothing. He IS whatever can be said of Him. He does not have goodness, He is Goodness etc. God said of Himself I AM WHO AM. In other words, He is the only being whose nature is to exist. We have a human nature, but the definition of human nature does not include MUST EXIST.

Having the fulness of being, God lacks nothing and cannot lose anything. He is everything that is good. Any attribute we give him is a human attempt to understand HIm, but he cannot be fully described by any one or any number of attributes.

This from The Catechism of the Catholic Church :

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43 Admittedly, in speaking about God like this, our language is using human modes of expression; nevertheless it really does attain to God himself, though unable to express him in his infinite simplicity. Likewise, we must recall that “between Creator and creature no similitude can be expressed without implying an even greater dissimilitude”;17 and that "concerning God, we cannot grasp what he is, but only what he is not, and how other beings stand in relation to him."18

 

[Sherry_G]

We cannot really hope to understand God or apply our inadequate words and descriptions in an attempt to bring Him into our realm of what is understandable. I like to think that He sent His only Son, to be fully man and fully God, so that we might have at least some way to feel closer to God. Our way to God is through Jesus, who we can at least describe from the accounts of the Apostles, St. Paul and the early Church Fathers who knew Him personally or at least knew someone who actually knew Him, so that in knowing Jesus, we know God the Father. I have come closer to God through the holy sacrifice of the Mass, in thanking God for sending His Son to suffer and die for our sins, so that we might be with God in heaven someday. All we can do is pray and thank Him and trust in His infinite wisdom and mercy. Come Holy Spirit, come. Enlighten our minds and fill our hearts with love for God and all those made in His image and likeness, our brothers and sisters.