Revision: Unit “Nature of God”Summarise with your partner what you remember about each of the topics below. Order them from least – most confident you are about

them.

The God of TheismGod as Personal/ Impersonal

God as Father/ MotherGod as Omnipotent

God as Creator – First CauseGod as Designer – Paley, Fine tuning

God as Transcendent/ Immanent

God of Theism

Solve the anagrams to describe the God of Theism.– trisip– motetpinon– oniescmint– Agodoll

Why does God have to be each of these things to be God ?

God as Personal/ ImpersonalMoses met God at the burning bush: write out out Moses’ experience of God under 2 columns - personal vs impersonal.

• God is holy “take off your shoes for where you stand is holy ground”

• God knows us, by name: “Moses, Moses…I have seen the suffering of my people…”

• God is unknowable, transcendent “I am Who I am”• God is in relation to us “I am the God of your ancestors”

God as Father/ Mother

• 2 quotes for God as Father• Jesus taught his disciples to pray “our Father” and since Jesus is Son of

God, his teaching should be followed• Isaiah “You, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter.”

God is a Father and Creator.

• 2 quotes for God as Mother • Jesus said “Jerusalem.. how often I have longed to gather your children

together, as a hen...• Isaiah 66:13 “As a mother comforts her child, so will I ...”

• God is neither because…• God is more likely to be Father/ Mother because…

God as First Cause

1. Does everything have to have a cause, or can it just pop into existence ?

2. Is it more reasonable to think that the Universe has a cause, or that it is eternal - ie existed for ever ?

3. If God caused the Universe, was God caused by something ? No - because God is spirit, so does not need a physical cause. He is the only First Cause there can be… unless it was several gods, or non-physical aliens….

Answer each of these questions (in full sentences) so as to get the argument to prove God is the First Cause.

Then star the sentences you or someone might attack to try and disprove this argument.

Explain how you would attack them.

God as Immanent, Transcendent

God has to be IN the world (immanent)

Or we would not be able to know Him. He would never be involved in our lives.

God has to be BEYOND the world (transcendent)

Or He would BE the world, He would BE THE EVIL in the world, and He would BE IN OUR CONTROL (so couldn’t be God!)

Which key term does each picture show and why ?

God as Omnipotent

• God can do anything it is possible to do, except whatever is against His nature as God– God cannot act unlovingly– God cannot lie– God cannot overpower our FREE WILL

(he himself chose to give us)