All tagged god

On Trinity and Divine Simplicity

On Trinity and Divine Simplicity

Simon Hewitt
essay

After having provided what he takes to be valid proofs of God’s existence, St Thomas Aquinas takes what is, to modern eyes, a surprising turn. At the start of the third question of the Summa Theologiae, Thomas observes that usually when we have shown that something exists we can go on to ask what that thing is – we’ve discovered the Higgs Boson; great that’s a subatomic particle of a particular sort, it fits into our best physical theories in particular ways, and we can do some more science to find out more about it! But things are not like this with God, thinks Thomas, we cannot know what God is, only what God is not.

On creation and divine simplicity

On creation and divine simplicity

Simon Cuff
essay

Divine simplicity is a deceptively named concept. Far from simple, it’s a concept which is difficult to understand. There is good reason for this. At its heart, divine simplicity reminds us that God is like nothing we encounter in creation. Whereas everything we encounter is ‘composite’ or made up of parts, God is not. God is simply God. There are no bits to him or aspects of himself that are prior to him. He is simply what or who he is.

God and Emotions series -- "God's Justice, God's Mercy"

God and Emotions series -- "God's Justice, God's Mercy"

Simon Cuff
essay

We almost all have sung the famous hymn by Fr Frederick Faber: ‘There’s a wideness in God’s mercy’. It’s often sung in such a way that makes God sound like an avuncular sort of chap that you’d be keen to have a pint with, a thoroughly nice bloke who’s kind to everyone, wouldn’t hurt a fly. All of our images fall short of the reality of the living God. […]

God and Emotions series -- "Does God Suffer?"

God and Emotions series -- "Does God Suffer?"

Simon Cuff
essay

There are many enticing delights in the basket of heresies available to those who would try to follow Christ. All heresies have at least one thing in common. They’re a simple, and usually attractive, means of making some aspect of the Christian faith easier to swallow than what’s taught within Christian orthodoxy. They often seek to smooth or iron out frustrating tensions that Christian orthodoxy seems quite happy to let stand. All heresies also almost aways have unintended consequences - they make an aspect of the faith easier to swallow, but can cause problems further down the theological line. […]

God and Emotions series -- "God's Jealousy"

God and Emotions series -- "God's Jealousy"

Simon Cuff
essay

‘It’s not fair.’ We are born with an innate of sense of fairness. There’s no way to annoy a child more than to frustrate this sense of fairness. We know jealousy is a sin. In the Old Testament, we’re instructed against jealousy: ‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.’ (Exod 20.17). Don’t be jealous. […]


Science and Religion series -- "God is not a hypothetical entity"

Science and Religion series -- "God is not a hypothetical entity"

Jonathan Jong
essay

Scientists are in the business of describing and explaining stuff that goes on in the world. Cognitive scientists like myself are principally in the business of describing and explaining stuff that goes on in our heads. We are, that is to say, interested in the gamut of human experience, from the mundane matters of taste and touch to the sublime sensations associated with romantic and, indeed, religious passion. This makes some people uncomfortable, this apparent encroachment of scientists into the rightful realms of saints. The “scientific study of religion” seems oxymoronic, a contradiction, if not of terms, then at least to our sensibilities. […]

God and Emotions series -- "God is Love"

God and Emotions series -- "God is Love"

Simon Cuff
essay

Tina Turner famously sang: ’What’s love got to do, got to do with it? What’s love but a second hand emotion?’. In short, the Christian answer to her question is: ‘Everything’. 

In God’s case, we can go a little deeper. God is God’s love. God’s love isn’t a second-hand emotion, but God himself. God’s ‘emotions’ aren’t second-hand properties but identical to him and to each other. Recalling the doctrine of divine simplicity, God simply is. God is God. And God is love: ‘God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.’ (1 John 4.16). […]

God and Emotions series -- "The Wrath of God"

God and Emotions series -- "The Wrath of God"

Simon Cuff
essay

The phrase the ‘wrath of God’ fill us with dread. And quite rightly. For many the wrath of God is so terrifying that the idea of living any sort of Christian life at all is as terrifying as the wrath they fear. If nothing else, it’s important to remember from the outset that anger of God is identical with the love of God. If we fear God’s wrath, we can remember that it is nothing less than God’s love. And there’s not a single thing we can do that will make God love us any less than he does already, since he created us and called us into being. […]

Christianity: The Basics -- God and Creation

Christianity: The Basics -- God and Creation

Jonathan Jong
essay

There are two ways to approach the Christian doctrine of God: to contemplate the mystery of the Trinity and to ponder the mystery of creation. There is no sense in asking which of these two ways is primary, because Christians are equally committed to both the idea that God is Triune (which is just a fancy of way of saying that God is Three-in-One) and the idea that God is Creator. [...]