Biblical & Theological Issues, Philosophy & Science

by Craig Branch –

Apologetics is for the believer as well as the unbeliever. Christians should know what they believe and then be able to defend that knowledge to doubters and to those who reject the truth. The topic of this issue of Areopagus Journal is especially relevant for both purposes of apologetics. Christians believe in a God who is (among other things)
self-existent (uncaused and without need of anything), eternal, immutable, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and triune. God has such attributes because he is the supreme being, the greatest and most exalted being, absolutely perfect in every conceivable way.

When we describe God with these terms, however, what exactly do we mean? More importantly, when we describe God in these ways, are we accurately presenting him as Scripture presents him? The eternal Ten Commandments begin, “You shall have no other
gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself any idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above, or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God am a jealous God” (Exodus 20-3-5a). The Larger Catechism begins, “What is the chief and highest end in man? Mans’ chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully enjoy Him forever.” But in order to glorify God, we must first know the nature of the God we would glorify.

The importance (and difficulty) of this task is made more manifest when we consider Romans 1:18-23. Here the apostle Paul reveals that mankind sinfully suppresses what truth he innately knows about God and twists and distorts it, falling short in the true knowledge of God, and even inventing false gods. Some become so hardened that they dismiss and reject any kind of God (atheism).

So it is vital that Christians study God’s attributes to discern what the Bible has to say about the divine nature. It is also vital (both for believers and unbelievers) that we give serious consideration to philosophical challenges to key divine attributes. Many atheists and skeptics have argued that the God Christians believe in is logically impossible. The reason, they say, is that some of the attributes that we ascribe to God are incoherent. Take the attribute of omnipotence, for example. We’ve all heard the famous “paradox of the stone” which asks the question, “Can God create a stone too heavy for him to lift?” Apparently, either way you answer this question, it turns out that there is something that God cannot do. So, says the skeptic, God cannot be omnipotent (all powerful) because the whole idea of an omnipotent being is contradictory. Similar challenges can be made to some of the other “omni” properties of God such as omniscience and omnipresence.

And, of course, there is the doctrine of the trinity. How, we are asked, can God be both one and three? We say that there is only one God. But we also claim that there are three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who are all equally God. Can this make sense? Isn’t it contradictory?

In this issue of Areopagus Journal, we attempt to meet these challenges so that believers can have a deeper understanding of the God they seek to serve and glorify, and so that the cavils of skeptics may be silenced and barriers to faith in Jesus Christ removed.

Our first article is by Christian philosopher Charles Taliaferro. His “Divine Attributes Today: Necessary Existence, Omnipotence, Omniscience, Omnipresence,” provides clear definitions of these important divine attributes in order to show their logical coherence. Most of the challenges to the coherence of these attributes arise because we and the skeptic are not always clear on what we mean when we say that God is omnipotent, omniscient, etc.

Second, Gregory Ganssle of the Rivendell Institute addresses the question of God’s relation to time in “God and Time.” We believe that God is eternal. But does this mean that God completely transcends time (i.e., is outside of time; timeless), or does it simply mean that God is everlasting—without beginning or end? This is not an easy question to answer and Christians are divided on the issue. Ganssle helps us understand all sides of the issue.

Third, ARC’s Steve Cowan answers the question, “Is the Trinity Illogical?” Despite the difficult and mysterious nature of this doctrine, Steve shows that the trinity is not contradictory and that there are some models proposed by contemporary Christian philosophers that demonstrate its coherence.

As an added bonus, this issue of Areopagus Journal features an article by Douglas Groothuis entitled, “Faith, Risk, and Rationality: The Prudential Incentives to Christian Faith.” The article is taken from a chapter in Doug’s new book, Christian Apologetics (IVP). In it, he discusses Pascal’s Wager and other topics related to the wisdom of seriously considering the evidence for the Christian faith. While pragmatic concerns cannot show that Christianity is true, Doug shows that it is appropriate and useful to appeal to the practical advantages of Christianity to encourage unbelievers to take the time to investigate the truth-claims of Christianity to see if these things be true.

It is our hope that these articles will help to make these words of Scripture applicable to you, the reader: “But now you have come to know God and be known by God” (Gal. 4:8-9a). Also like Paul, it is our prayer that “you be filled with the real knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power according to His might” (Col. 1:9-11).

Craig Branch is the director of the Apologetics Resource Center, Birmingham, Alabama. He is also the co-author (with John Ankerberg and John Weldon) of the book, Public Schools: The Sorcerer’s New Apprentice?

Recommended Resources
God and Time: Four Views by Gregory E. Ganssle (2001 ed., Inter Varsity Press)
Eternal God: A Study of God without Time by Paul Helm (1988, Clarendon Press)
Time and Eternity by Brian Leftow (1991, Cornell university Press)
The Nature of God: An Inquiry into Divine Attributes by Edward R. Wierenga (1989, Cornell university Press)

(First published in Areopagus Journal Vol. 11 No. 1 – Questions on the Divine Attributes)