Attributes of God
Senior 6 · General and Religious Studies
Attributes of God
Lesson 3 of 5
24 min
In about the year 524, the Roman statesman Boethius sat in prison in Pavia, in Italy, waiting to be executed on a charge he said was false. There he wrote The Consolation of Philosophy, one of the most widely read books of the Middle Ages. In its last part he faces a question that still troubles believers: if God knows everything that will happen, including what I will choose tomorrow, can my choice be free?
This lesson studies two attributes that meet in that question. Omniscience says that God knows all things. Immutability says that God does not change. Together they ask how an unchanging, all-knowing God relates to people who change, choose and pray.
Definition
Omniscience: knowing all things, past, present and future, visible and hidden, including every thought. From Latin omnis (all) and scientia (knowledge).
Foreknowledge: knowledge of events before they happen.
Immutability: the quality of not changing. God's being, character and purposes stay the same.
Anthropomorphism: describing God in human terms, for example as having a hand or "changing his mind", to help people understand.
Al-qadar: in Islam, the divine decree or measure: God's knowledge, writing, will and creation of all that happens. Belief in it is one of the six articles of faith.
Sunnat Allah: "the way of God", the unchanging pattern by which God deals with people, in the Qur'an's words.
| Attribute | The Bible (World English Bible) | The Qur'an (Pickthall, 1930) |
|---|---|---|
| Omniscience | "You perceive my thoughts from afar. … For there is not a word on my tongue, but, behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether." (Psalm 139:2–4) "He counts the number of the stars. … His understanding is infinite." (Psalm 147:4–5) "the very hairs of your head are all numbered" (Matthew 10:30) | "And with Him are the keys of the invisible. None but He knoweth them. And He knoweth what is in the land and the sea. Not a leaf falleth but He knoweth it." (6:59) "He knoweth that which is in front of them and that which is behind them, while they encompass nothing of His knowledge save what He will." (2:255) |
| Immutability | "For I, Yahweh, don't change." (Malachi 3:6) "the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow" (James 1:17) "They will perish, but you will endure. … But you are the same." (Psalm 102:26–27) | "That was the way of Allah in the case of those who passed away of old; thou wilt not find for the way of Allah aught of power to change." (33:62) "Everyone that is thereon will pass away; There remaineth but the countenance of thy Lord of Might and Glory." (55:26–27) |
Both books teach that God's knowledge is complete, including hidden thoughts and the future. Both also teach that people are responsible for their choices: Joshua tells Israel "choose today whom you will serve" (Joshua 24:15), and the Qur'an says "Allah changeth not the condition of a folk until they (first) change that which is in their hearts" (13:11). How do the two fit together?
Boethius's answer (Figure 1). God is eternal and does not live through time one moment after another. God sees all of time in one "eternal present", like an observer on a hill who sees the whole road at once. The observer's seeing does not make the traveller take any step. In the same way, God's knowing what you will choose does not cause your choice: God knows it because you freely make it.
An Islamic discussion. Muslims believe in al-qadar: "Lo! We have created every thing by measure" (54:49). Theologians have explained human responsibility in different ways. Some early thinkers stressed human freedom so strongly that they limited the decree; the Ash'ari school, followed by many Sunni Muslims, taught that God creates all acts while human beings "acquire" (kasb) their acts by choosing them, and so are rightly held responsible. All agree that a person may not excuse wrongdoing by saying "it was written".
Worked example 1: does God change his mind?
Problem: Malachi 3:6 says "I, Yahweh, don't change", yet Jonah 3:10 says that when the people of Nineveh turned from evil, "God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them". Is this a contradiction?
Step 1, identify the language. "Relented" describes God in human terms (anthropomorphism), as people would describe someone who cancels a punishment.
Step 2, ask what changed. Nineveh changed: its people repented. God's character did not: God always opposes evil and always shows mercy to those who turn from it (Exodus 34:6).
Step 3, conclude. An unchanging God responds in an unchanging way to people who change. The Qur'an states the same principle as a law of God's way: God does not change a people's condition until they change what is in their hearts (13:11), and there is no "power to change" the way of Allah (33:62).
Worked example 2: why immutability matters to a believer
A young woman has made a promise to God in prayer during a hard time. Years later she wonders whether the promises of scripture still hold for her.
Reasoning from immutability. If God could change in character, God's promises could fail. Because God is unchanging (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17), believers hold that God's promises and commands are as true now as when they were given. Hebrews 13:8 applies this to Christ: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."
Conclusion. Immutability is the ground of trust. It also means that God's moral law does not change with fashion, which believers see as a standard for judging their own times.
Tip
Name the "seeing is not causing" step. In any essay on foreknowledge and free will, the key move is the difference between knowing that something will happen and making it happen. Say it explicitly, then evaluate it.
Warning
Do not turn decree into fatalism. Writing "Muslims believe everything is fixed, so they make no choices" misrepresents Islamic teaching, which holds people fully accountable. The same care applies to Christian teaching on predestination.
Important
Discuss. If God already knows what you will ask, why do Christians and Muslims pray? Give at least two answers that believers might give.
Crash Course Philosophy: "What Is God Like?", #12, presented by Hank Green (about 10 minutes). Watch for the section on how humans can be free if God knows what they will do.
Practice
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: Figure 1, the table, the worked examples and the exercises.
