CONCERNING THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD ACCORDING TO THE HOLY ORTHODOX CHURCH

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

CONCERNING THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
ACCORDING TO THE HOLY ORTHODOX
CHURCH.

The attributes of God, taken directly from the word of God, are set forth in Metropolitan Philaret’s "Longer Catechism of the Orthodox Catholic , Eastern Church." Here we read: "Question: What idea of the Essence and essential attributes of God may be derived from Divine Revelation? Answer: That God is A Spirit, Eternal, All-Good, Omniscient, Righteous, Almighty, Omnipresent, Unchangeable, All-Sufficing to Himself, All-Blessed."

OMNIPRESENT. "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the
morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me" [Psalm 139:7-9].

GOD is not subject to any limitations in space, but He fills EVERYTHING. Filling everything God, as a simple Being, IS PRESENT IN EVERY PLACE, NOT AS IT WERE IN SOME PART OF Him, or by merely sending down some power from Himself, but in all His Being; and He is not confused with that in which He is present. "The Divinity penetrates everything without being mingled with anything, but nothing can penetrate Him" [Saint John Damascene).  "That God is present everywhere we know, but how, we do not understand, because we can understand only a sensuous presence, and it is not given to us to understand fully the Nature of God" [Saint John Chrysostom].

The Holy Orthodox Christian Church teaching emphasizes God’s OMNIPRESENCE, which is the belief that God IS PRESENT EVERYWHERE because His power and knowledge extend to all parts of creation. Knowing the whole of His good creation, God the Father dwells within the world that He has made because of His goodness and lover for man. The OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD is one of the Divine Attributes of the Creator particularly stressed in Orthodox Christian theology. This very fact is directly affirmed in the prayer to the Holy Spirit which is used as the opening prayer of Orthodox worship:

"O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the
Spirit of Truth, Who are everywhere
and fillest all things. Treasury of
Blessings and Giver of Life! Come
and abide in us. And cleanse us from
every impurity. And save our souls,
O Good One!"

Another Psalm which reveals God’s Omnipresence is Psalm 139:7-12:

"Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from Thy
Presence?
If I ascend to heaven, Thou are
there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, Thou art
there
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of
the sea,
even there Thy hand shall lead me,
and Thy right hand shall hold me.
If I say, ‘Let only darkness cover me,
andand the light about me be night,’
even the darkness is not dark to
Thee, the night is bright as the day;
for darkness is as light with Thee!

God did not abandon the world which He created to its own fate, but CONTINUES, THROUGH HIS PROVIDENCE, TO CARE FOR IT; PRESERVING IT, GOVERNING IT, AND DIRECTING IT TO ITS FINAL PURPOSE. For this reason, we not only "confess God" as Creator, but "WE UNDERSTAND THAT ALL ARE GOVERNED BY HIS PROVIDENCE ONLY", God "Not only having brought the universe into being, but preserving and shaping… all viable and invisible creation enjoys His Providence, without which (God’s assistance and cooperation) they would cease to exist, would disappear, would be annihilated."

God’s preservation and governance extend throughout the entire universe, and to each being separately, so that, together with the cooperation of the Divine power and Providence with the natural and spiritual powers and laws of the universe, THE PLAN OF GOD IS COMPLETED. NOTHING IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE HAPPENS BY ACCIDENT, UNKNOWN TO THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD.

"Do not say anything automatically came into being by itself i.e., like the so-called "Big-bang theory." Nothing springs out of disorder, out of infinity, just by chance. Nothing moves about the universe accidentally, or out of luck, having been brought about by some evil hour or moment. Such are but the imaginings of uncultured peoples. Nothing IS WITHOUT PROVIDENCE, nothing is NEGLECTED BY GOD. The SLEEPLESS EYE OF GOD BEHOLDS ALL, IS PRESENT EVERYWHERE, DESIRING THE SALVATION OF HIS OWN." But the Divine Providence, while cooperating when man does good, naturally DOES NOT COOPERATE AT ALL WHEN MAN, IN HIS FREE CHOICE, DECIDES TO WORK EVIL. In such an instance, the Divine Providence becomes a "concession to tree wil." However, "we believe that all that exists, whether visible or unseen, IIS GOVERNED BY THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD. AS FOR EVIL EVENTS WHICH OCCUR, GOD FORESAW THEM ALL AND ALLOWS THEM TO COME ABOUT, BUT HE DOES NOT CAUSE THEM, FOR HE IS NOT THE CREATOR OF EVIL, BUT HAD INTENDED ALL PEOPLE AND EVENTS FOR SOME GOOD PURPOSE, GOD BEING HIMSELF ABSOLUTELY GOOD."

In God, one attribute is an aspect of another. "God is Righteous: this implies that He is also Blessed and Good and Spirit. The multiple simplicity in God is like the light of the sun, which reveals itself in the various colors which are received by bodies on the earth, for example, by plants. Saint John Damascene writes: "God is Unoriginate, Unending, Eternal, Constant, Uncreated, Unchanging, Unalterable, Simple, Incomplex, Bodiless, Invisible, Intangible, Indescribable, without bounds, Inaccessible to the mind, Uncontainable, Incomprehensible, Good, Righteous, the Creator of All creatures, the Almighty Pantokrator, He Who looketh down upon all, whose Providence is over everything, Who has dominion over all, the Judge."

Our thoughts about God in general speak: (1) either about His distinction from the created world (for example, God is Unoriginate, while the world has an origin: He is endless, while the world has an end; He is Eternal, while the world exists in time); or (2) about the activities of God in thie world and the relation of the Creator to His creations (Creator, Providence, Merciful, Righteous Judge).

In indicating the ATTRIBUTES of God, WE DO NOT THEREBY GIVE A "DEFINITION" of the concept of God. Such a definition IS ESSENTIALLY IMPOSSIBLE, BECAUSE EVERY DEFINITION IS AN INDICATION OF "FINITENESS" and signifies limitedness, incompleteness. But IN GOD THERE ARE NO LIMITS, AND THEREFORE THERE CANNOT BE A DEFINITION OF THE CONCEPT OF THE Divinity: "For a concept is itself A FORM OF LIMITATION" (Saint Gregory the Theologian, Homily 28, his Second Theological Oration).

Our very reason demands the acknowledgment in God of a whole series of Essential Attributes. Reason tells us that God has a rational, free, and PERSONAL existence. If in the imperfect world we see free and rational PERSONAL beings, we cannot fail to recognize a free and rational personal existence in God Himself, Who is the Source, Cause, and Creator of All life.

Reason tells us that God is A MOST PERFECT Being. Every lack and imperfection ARE INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE CONCEPT OF "GOD."
Reason tells us that THE MOST PERFECT BEING CAN BE ONLY SINGULAR: GOD IS ONE. There cannot be two perfect beings, since one would limit the other.
Reason tells us THAT GOD IS A SELF-EXISTING BEING, since nothing can be the cause or condition of the existence of God. [Resources: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology by Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky]

____________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George