It's Only Natural That God Is...

Understanding the Divine Attributes Through Reason Alone

Having established that God exists through rational argument in our previous article, we now face an even more profound question: What must God be like? If reason can lead us to God's existence, can it also tell us about God's nature?

The answer is both yes and no. We can never know God in His fullness—that would require an infinite mind to comprehend infinite being. But we can discover certain attributes that God must necessarily possess. These aren't arbitrary characteristics, but logical necessities that flow from what it means to be the ultimate source of all existence.

Think of it this way: if we know that something is the first cause of everything, the unmoved mover, and the source of all being, we can deduce what properties such a being must have. These are called God's "natural attributes"—qualities knowable through reason before any divine revelation.

The Architecture of Divine Attributes

These attributes form an interconnected web where each quality supports and implies the others. Understanding one leads naturally to the next, creating a coherent picture of divine perfection. Let's explore them systematically.

Necessity: What God Must Be

In philosophical terms, necessity distinguishes between what merely could be and what must be. Consider human nature: it's possible for a human to lack sight, hearing, or limbs and still be human. It's even possible (tragically) for a human to be dead and still be human. But it's not possible to be human without human DNA or without a rational soul—these are necessary for human nature.

Similarly, God's attributes aren't merely possible characteristics He happens to possess. They are necessary aspects of what it means to be God. If God lacked any of these qualities, He wouldn't be God at all, but something lesser.

This necessity flows from God's role as the ultimate explanation for everything. The first cause, the unmoved mover, the necessary being—such a reality must possess certain attributes by logical necessity, not by chance or choice.

Existence Itself: The Foundation of All Being

As we demonstrated through the argument from efficient causality, God cannot have been created by another being. But this leads to a startling conclusion: existence belongs to God's very essence. While creatures have existence (we receive our being from outside ourselves), God is existence itself.

Consider the difference: you exist, but you could conceive of not existing. Your existence is contingent—dependent on countless factors beyond your control. But God doesn't merely have existence; He is existence. To imagine God not existing would be like imagining existence itself not existing—a logical contradiction.

This is why God told Moses, "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14). God's name is pure being, existence without qualification or limitation. All other things exist only because they participate in the existence that God is essentially.

Divine Simplicity: Indivisible Unity

When philosophers speak of God's simplicity, they don't mean He's easy to understand—quite the opposite! Divine simplicity means God cannot be divided into parts or components. He is not composed of different elements that could be separated.

Why is this necessary? If God were composite—made up of parts—then something would have to unite those parts. But then that unifying principle would be more fundamental than God, making God dependent rather than ultimate. As the first cause and uncaused cause, God must be absolutely simple.

This means that God's wisdom isn't separate from His power, His justice isn't separate from His mercy, and His existence isn't separate from His essence. In God, all attributes are one. We distinguish them with our limited minds, but in God they form perfect unity.

Think of white light, which contains all colors but appears as simple unity. When passed through a prism, we see the distinct colors that were always present in perfect harmony. Similarly, our minds must "separate" God's attributes to understand them, though in God they exist in perfect, simple unity.

Spirituality: Beyond Physical Limitations

God's spirituality means He is completely immaterial—not composed of physical parts or subject to physical limitations. This isn't just the absence of matter; it's a positive reality more fundamental than matter.

Why must God be spiritual? Physical things are composite (made of parts), changeable, and limited. But as we've seen, God must be simple, unchangeable, and unlimited. Therefore, God cannot be physical.

This spirituality gives God capabilities beyond anything material. A spiritual being can be present everywhere without being stretched thin, can know all things without needing sense organs, and can act powerfully without requiring physical force. Spirituality means freedom from the limitations that bind material things.

Pure Act vs. Potentiality: The Divine Dynamism

This distinction, crucial in classical theism, separates what is actually happening from what could potentially happen. A seed has the potential to become a tree but isn't actually a tree yet. To move from potential to actual requires being acted upon by something else (soil, water, sunlight).

God must be pure act—complete actuality with no unfulfilled potentials. Why? Because potentiality implies limitation and the need for change. If God had unrealized potentials, He would be incomplete and dependent on something else to actualize those potentials. But God, as the first cause, cannot be dependent.

This doesn't mean God is static. Rather, God is pure dynamism—infinite activity without any passivity. God doesn't need to change because He already possesses all perfections in their fullest reality.

Infinity: Beyond All Boundaries

God's infinity follows necessarily from His simplicity and spirituality. Physical things are limited by boundaries—edges, surfaces, finite extension. But God, being spiritual and simple, has no such limitations.

More profoundly, infinity means perfection without limits. God's wisdom isn't just very great—it's infinitely perfect. His goodness isn't just impressive—it's limitlessly good. His power isn't just strong—it's omnipotent.

This infinity has a crucial logical structure. For any attribute to be perfect, it must have both a "closed end" (the complete absence of that quality) and an "open end" (unlimited possession of that quality). God represents the open end of all positive attributes—infinite wisdom, infinite goodness, infinite beauty, infinite truth.

This doesn't mean we can comprehend God's infinity. When we say God is infinitely wise, we're acknowledging that His wisdom exceeds our understanding without limit. We know the direction (toward perfect wisdom) but not the destination (which is beyond finite comprehension).

Unity: One God, Not Many

If God is infinite in perfection, there can be only one God. This isn't just biblical monotheism—it's logical necessity.

Why? Imagine two supposedly infinite beings. Either they would be identical in every respect (in which case they're really one being, not two), or they would differ in some way. But if they differ, then each lacks something the other possesses, meaning neither is truly infinite or perfect.

Two infinite beings would also face the problem of limitation. If one exists "here" and another "there," both would be spatially limited. If one knows "this" and another knows "that," both would be intellectually limited. Infinity admits no rivals or equals.

This logical unity will later help us understand how the Christian doctrine of the Trinity (one God in three Persons) differs from tritheism (three gods).

Omnipotence: All-Powerful Within Logic

God's omnipotence means He can do anything that is logically possible—anything that doesn't involve contradiction. This flows from His infinity and role as the source of all existence.

Common Objection: "Can God make a rock so heavy He can't lift it?"

Answer: No, and here's why this question misunderstands omnipotence. God cannot do things that are logically contradictory or contrary to His nature. He cannot sin (turn away from Himself), cannot cease to exist (He is existence itself), and cannot create something that limits His own power (which would contradict His infinity).

The rock question asks God to create a limitation on His own unlimited power—a logical contradiction. True omnipotence means having the power to do anything that power can actually do, not the "power" to destroy power itself.

Think of it this way: we don't consider someone weak because they can't create square circles or married bachelors. Similarly, God's inability to do the logically impossible demonstrates His rationality, not His limitation.

Omnipresence: Everywhere Present

God's omnipresence means He is present everywhere, but not in the way physical objects are present. A physical thing occupies space by excluding other things from that space. God's presence is more fundamental—He is present as the source of existence itself.

Consider how numbers are present in mathematical equations, how meaning is present in language, or how laws are present in natural phenomena. God's presence is even more fundamental—He is present as the source and sustainer of everything's very existence.

This presence isn't spatial but causal. God doesn't need to travel to be somewhere because He is already the reason that "somewhere" exists at all. To exist anywhere is to be sustained in existence by God's omnipresent power.

Omniscience: Perfect Knowledge

God's omniscience means He knows all truth perfectly and immediately. This flows from His infinity and spirituality. As infinite, God's knowledge has no limits. As spiritual, God's knowledge doesn't depend on physical sense organs or gradual learning processes.

Yes, this means God knows what you did last summer at band camp. But more profoundly, it means God knows the deepest truths about reality, including truths about the future that flow from His eternal perspective on all time.

This knowledge isn't a burden for God or a limitation on human freedom. God knows our free choices, but His knowledge doesn't cause them any more than your knowledge that the sun rose this morning caused the sunrise.

Perfect Goodness and Happiness

God's goodness isn't just moral excellence—it's metaphysical perfection. Goodness, in philosophical terms, means being truly desirable and fulfilling. Since God is infinitely perfect, He is infinitely good—the ultimate source of all that is truly desirable.

This infinite goodness means God is perfectly happy. Not happy because He gets things He wants (He lacks nothing), but happy because He is infinite perfection delighting in itself. God's happiness isn't dependent on creation—He is eternally fulfilled in His own infinite goodness.

This perfect happiness overflows in creation and redemption, not because God needs anything from us, but because goodness naturally tends to share itself.

Perfect in Every Way

All these attributes point to one overarching reality: God's absolute perfection. Perfection means having every positive quality in its fullest possible form, lacking no good thing, and being the ultimate standard by which all other goodness is measured.

This perfection isn't static completion but dynamic fullness—the infinite life and activity that is the source of all finite life and activity.

The Unity of Divine Attributes

Remember, these attributes aren't separate "parts" of God added together. In God's perfect simplicity, all attributes are one. We distinguish them because our finite minds need to approach infinite reality step by step, but God's wisdom is His power is His goodness is His existence.

It's like trying to describe the ocean by talking about its depth, its breadth, its wetness, and its fluidity. These are real aspects of ocean-ness, but the ocean is one reality. Similarly, these divine attributes are real aspects of God's unified being.

From Natural Theology to Revealed Religion

These attributes—knowable through reason alone—prepare us for the fuller revelation that comes through divine disclosure. The God of natural theology (infinite, simple, omnipotent, perfectly good) is remarkably consistent with the God revealed in Christianity.

But reason takes us only so far. To know God not just as ultimate explanation but as loving Father, to understand His inner life as Trinity, to grasp His plan of salvation—these require divine revelation, Scripture, and the teaching authority Christ established in His Church.

Natural theology doesn't replace revelation; it prepares the mind to receive revelation intelligently. When we hear that "God is love" (1 John 4:8), we understand this against the backdrop of knowing that God is infinite goodness itself. When we learn of the Trinity, we grasp it as the inner life of the perfectly simple God we've discovered through reason.

The journey from reason to faith, from natural theology to revealed religion, shows the profound unity of truth. The God who makes Himself known through creation and through revelation is one and the same—the perfect being whose existence reason discovers and whose love faith embraces.

In our next exploration, we'll see how this infinite, spiritual God relates to finite, material creatures—especially rational creatures made in His image and likeness.