Great is the LORD and most
worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.
Psalm 145:3 NIV
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I)
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Innate Idea = An idea
that as soon as the proper occasion is afforded the mind grasps
the truth without argument and without a process of reasoning.
(Example = Time It can’t be proved or disproved but when able,
all humans believe in its existence.)
Every culture and every race of
man has an Innate Idea of God. Did you have to be told that God
exists or have you always known it?
Helen Keller was being taught
about God and she exclaimed “I always had this idea.” She knew
that a god existed before being told.
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II)
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The Existence of God
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A
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The scriptures assume and
declare the existence of God.
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B
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Theistic Arguments
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1
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The Cosmological Argument
Every thing that has a
beginning owes its existence to some producing source.
Therefore, if the universe has a beginning, it must have a
producing source or creator who would be God – Even
evolutionists can’t explain where the mater that caused the big
bang came from.
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2
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The Teleological Argument
We can see examples of
intelligence in the universe therefore we can conclude that it’s
producing source is intelligent and that intelligence would be
God.
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3
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The Ontological Argument
“The conception of a perfect
Being, then which nothing is greater can be thought, is
imposable, unless it’s existence is certain.” – Example Think of
a circle with 4 right angles and 4 straight lines. You can’t
picture it because it is imposable for a circle to have straight
lines and angels. If we can picture a Perfect Being, then a
Perfect Being must be possible and that being would be God.
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4
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The Anthropological;
Argument
All cultures have a knowledge
of right and wrong. They might no agree that the some things are
right but they do all agree that certain things are
unquestionably right and certain things are unquestionably
wrong.
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III
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The Being and Attributes of
God
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A
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God is
Spirit – (Incorporeal):
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1
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God has no body or parts, and
is immaterial, being a simple and infinite being of spirit;
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2
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Excluding the Mormon doctrine
of God as an exalted man.
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a
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God is spirit ( God is
not Matter)(John 4:24)
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b
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God is not a man (Num.
23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29)
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c
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Implied by doctrines of
self-existence, transcendence, omnipresence, and creation.
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B |
God is Absolute Spirit
(Self-Existent): |
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1 |
God has no cause; |
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2 |
He does not depend on
anything for his continued existence. |
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3 |
He is “in-himself-ness” |
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4 |
In saying that God is in
Himself we affirm that all the conditions of His nature and His
personality lie in Himself. |
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5 |
The resources of His
existence lie within Himself. |
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6 |
He lives in communion with
Himself. |
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a |
I AM WHO I AM (Ex. 3:14; see
John 5:58) |
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b |
Life in Himself (John 5:26) |
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c |
First and Last, Alpha and Omega,
Beginning and End; as the Beginning, God has no cause (Isa.
41:4; 44:6; 48:12; Rev. 1:8, 17; 2:8; 3:14; 21:6; 22:13) |
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d |
No God before or after Yahweh (Isa.
43:10) |
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C |
God
is Personal Spirit: |
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1 |
God, as the author of
personhood in the created universe, cannot be less than personal
Himself; thus He experiences relationships with other persons, or
self-conscious beings. |
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2 |
Note that God may be more
than personal, indeed, His infinite nature suggests that He must be.
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3 |
He is a spiritual
personality |
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4 |
A person is a being that: |
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a |
thinks |
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b |
feels |
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c |
has a will |
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d |
is self-conscious |
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i Scripture
everywhere assumes the personhood of God in the use of personal
pronouns, in recording Him speaking and acting willfully, etc.
(e.g., Gen. 1:3, 26; Heb. 1:1-2; etc.) |
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ii God gives
Himself a name (Yahweh), and says "I am" (Exod. 3:14) |
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iii Implied by
doctrine of creation |
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D |
God is Transcendent: |
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1 |
God is entirely distinct
from the universe. |
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2 |
Transcendence = The
fullness of the Divine life is not exhausted by any possible
expression of it, and that the limitations of the natural world do
not apply to Him |
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3 |
Excluding pantheism (God
in all) and animism (everything is a god). |
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a |
Separate from the world (Isa.
4:22; Acts 17:24) |
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b |
Contrasted with the world (Psa.
102:25-27; I John 2:15-17) |
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c |
Implied by doctrine of creation
(Gen. 1:1; Isa. 42:5) |
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E |
God is Immanent: |
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1 |
Though transcendent, God is
present with and in the world; |
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2 |
Excluding deism (God is
out there but not here). |
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a |
God is near, so He can be known
(Deut. 4:7; Jer. 23:23; Acts 17:27) |
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b |
Bound up with God's omnipresence
(Psa. 139:7-10; Jer. 23:24; Acts 17:28) |
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F |
God is Immutable: |
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1 |
God is perfect in that He
never changes nor can He change with respect to His being,
attributes, purpose, or promises; |
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2 |
Excluding process
theology, Mormon doctrine of eternal progression. |
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a |
Unchangeable (Psa. 102:26-27;
Isa. 51:6; Mal. 3:6; Rom. 1:23; Heb. 1:11-12; James 1:17; Heb.
13:8) |
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b |
God's relations with changing men
spoken of as God changing (Ex. 32:9-14; Psa. 18:25-27) |
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G |
God is Eternal: |
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1 |
God is perfect in that He
transcends all time and temporal limitations, and is thus infinite
with respect to time. |
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a |
Duration through endless ages
(Ps. 90:2; 93:2; 102:12; Eph. 3:21) |
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b |
Unlimited by time (Psa. 90:4; 2
Pet. 3:8) |
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c |
Creator of the ages ( i.e., of
time itself; Heb. 1:2; 11:3) |
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d |
Implied by doctrines of
transcendence, self-existence, and immutability |
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H |
God is Omnipresent: |
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1 |
God is perfect in that He
transcends all space and spatial limitations, and is thus infinite
with respect to space, with His whole Being filling every part of
the universe and being present everywhere (not diffused through the
universe, but present at each point in His fullness). |
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2 |
God is no diffused through
out he universe |
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3 |
God is able everywhere and
at all times to put forth all and any forms of activity weather
physical or mental or moral, and does not need first to move from
one place to another to accomplish His purpose. |
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4 |
Is
God in Hell? YES |
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5 |
Is God in the non
Christian? YES |
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6 |
Is God in Satan? YES |
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7 |
Is God in Satan the same as
he is in the Christian? No |
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a |
The universe cannot contain God
(1 Kings 8:27; Isa. 66:1; Acts 7:48-49) |
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b |
Present everywhere (Psa.
139:7-10; Acts 17:28; of Christ, Matt. 18:20; 28:20) |
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c |
Fills all things (Jer. 23:23-24;
of Christ, Eph. 1:23; 4:10; Col. 3:11) |
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d |
Implied by doctrine of transcendence
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I |
God is Omnipotent: |
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1 |
God is perfect in that He
can do all things consistent with the perfection of His being. |
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2 |
God cannot do the
self-contradictory (e.g., make a rock He cannot lift), nor can He do
that which is contrary to His perfect nature (e.g., He cannot
change, He cannot lie, etc.) |
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3 |
All of the power that
exists is in God |
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a |
Nothing too difficult (Gen.
18:14; Jer. 32:17, 27; Zech. 8:6; Matt. 3:9) |
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b |
All things possible (Job 42:2;
Psa. 115:3; Matt. 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 1:37; 18:27; Eph. 1:11)
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c |
God cannot lie, be tempted, deny
Himself, etc. (2 Tim. 2:13; Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18; James 1:13)
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J |
God is Omniscient: |
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1 |
God is perfect in that He
knows all things, including events before they happen. |
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a |
Perfect in knowledge, Job 37:16 |
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b |
Knows the heart (1 Sam. 16:7; 1
Chr. 28:9, 17; Psa. 139:1-4; Jer. 17:10a) |
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c |
Knows all events to come (Isa.
41:22-23; 42:9; 44:7) |
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K |
God is One: |
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1 |
God is a perfectly unique
and simple being, existing as one infinite Being called God. There
is therefore only one God, who is called Yahweh in the Old
Testament, and who reveals Himself in the persons of the Father, Son
and Holy Spirit in the New Testament. |
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2 |
Excluding polytheism,
tritheism (belief in three gods), and subordinationism (in which
Christ is a lesser god subordinate to the Almighty God). |
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a |
Only one God (Deut. 6:4; Isa.
43:10; 44:6, 8; 45:5-7, 21-22; Zech. 14:9; 1 Cor. 8:4-6; Gal. 3:20;
Eph. 4:5-6; 1 Tim. 2:5; James 2:19) |
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b |
All other "gods" are only
"so-called," (1 Cor. 8:4-6; 2 Thess. 2:4) |
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c |
Moses was "as God," not God or
divine (Ex. 4:16; 7:1) |
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d |
Satan, idols, and the belly are all
false gods (Psa. 96:4-5; 1 Cor. 10:20; 2 Cor. 4:4; Phil. 3:19) |
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e |
Wicked judges called "gods" in
irony, not to describe nature (Psa. 82:1, 6; John 10:34-36) |
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f |
Yahweh
is Elohim (Gen. 2:4; Deut. 4:35, 39; Psa. 100:3 [thus excluding
the view of Mormonism that Jehovah and Elohim are distinct beings])
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g |
Implied by the doctrines of
self-existence, transcendence, and omnipotence |
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L |
God is Creator: |
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1 |
God is the One through whom
all things have come into existence; by His unbounded power and
knowledge He created finite existence ex nihilo and formed
the universe as it now is. |
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a |
Created all things (Gen. 1:1;
Psa. 33:6; 102:25; John 1:3; Rom. 11:36; Heb. 1:2; 11:3) |
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b |
Made all things by Himself (Isa.
44:24) |
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c |
Implied by doctrine of
self-existence |
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M |
God is Incomprehensible: |
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1 |
God is incomprehensible,
not in the sense that the concept of God is unintelligible, but in
the sense that God cannot be fully and directly known by finite
creatures, because of His uniqueness and His infinitude. |
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a |
None like God (Ex. 8:10; 9:14;
15:11; 2 Sam. 7:22; 1 Chr. 17:20; Psa. 86:8; 1 Kgs. 8:23; Isa.
40:18, 25; 44:7; 56:5, 9; Jer. 10:6-7; Micah 7:18) |
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b |
Analogical language necessary to
describe God (Ezek. 1:26-28; Rev. 1:13-16) |
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c |
God cannot be comprehended as He
really is (1 Cor. 8:2-3) |
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d |
God can only be known as the Son
reveals Him (John 1:18; Matt. 11:25-27) |
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N |
God is Morally Perfect: |
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1 |
The following are the moral
attributes of God; they are listed here together because God's moral
nature is perfectly unified, with no tension between His wrath and
His love, for example. |
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a |
GOOD: God is morally excellent,
and does only good (Gen. 1:31; Deut. 8:16; Psa. 107:8; 118:1; Nahum
1:7; Mark 10:18; Rom. 8:28) |
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b |
HOLY: God is morally
transcendent, utterly separated from all evil, and perfectly pure
(Ex. 3:5; Lev. 19:2; Psa. 5:4-6; 99:5; Isa. 6:3; 8:13; Hab. 1:12-13;
1 Pet. 1:14-19) |
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c |
RIGHTEOUS: God is perfectly
moral in all that He does, doing everything right ( Isa. 45:21; Zeph.
3:5; Rom. 3:26) |
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d |
TRUE: God is perfectly truthful,
and cannot lie (John 17:17; Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18) |
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e |
LOVING: God's moral character is
pure love, sacrificial giving for the true benefit of another (Deut.
7:7-8; Jer. 31:3; John 3:16; Heb. 12:6) |
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f |
WRATHFUL: God's moral perfection
requires Him to show displeasure against anything which seeks to act
contrary to its moral purpose, to judge that which rebels against
His authority as Creator and Lord (Psa. 103:8-9; Rom. 2:5; 11:22;
Heb. 10:31) |
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