CHAPTER TWO

THEOLOGY PROPER: THE DOCTRINE OF GOD

Introduction

The word theology comes from the Greek word Theos which means “God” and
logos means “word”. Theology in general terms covers the entire field of Christian belief
in God The Father, God The Son, and God The Holy Spirit. This chapter focuses on
God's essence, character, and divine works, dealing with different topics such as God’s
existence, unity, and triune nature etc. Therefore, it is important to discuss this chapter for
a broad vision of God's existence for God is incomprehensible at the same time, He is
knowable.

The Definition of God

The Scripture attests to two facts: The incomprehensibility of God and the
knowability of God. He is incomprehensible to assert that the mind cannot grasp the
knowledge of Him. He is knowable to claim that He can be known. 1 He cannot be
defined for man is finite and cannot wholly explain the infinite one. On the other hand,
God may be partly insofar as He has been pleased to reveal Himself. 2 God is the infinite
and perfect Spirit in whom all things have their source, support, and end. 3 Westminster
Catechism explained, “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being,
wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.”4

1
Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1999), 33.

2
Floyd H. Barackman, Practical Christian Theology: Examining the Great Doctrines of the Faith
(Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2001), 39.

3
Augustine Hopkins Strong, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell Company,
1954), 113.

4
Rolland D. McCune, Systematic Theology Volume 1 (Grand Rapids: Detroit Baptist Theological
Seminary Press. 2004), 88.
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The Existence of God

God is the self-existent cause of all existence. 5 The existence of God is often
considered an objective fact. Many people have deep convictions that necessitate the
assumption of God’s existence.6 God’s existence is evident to all, even if not
acknowledged.7 While experiential evidence and scientific methods cannot directly detect
God or metaphysical realities, God’s existence is known through His self-revelation in
words and works (1 Cor. 2:9-10).8 In the Bible, the Son of God is sometimes referred to
as the Word of God (John 1:1-14, Rev. 19:13).9

Theories And Ideas About God or gods

Anti-Theistic

Atheism: This denies the existence of God or any gods.

Agnosticism: A British biologist T.H Huxley (1825-2895) is credited for Agonism
and says that God's existence and nature are unknown and unknowable.
Evolution: Charles Dervin and Alfred Russel Wallace (1748-1859). They state that
there is no God and then seek to explain life apart from any involvement by God.
Polytheism: This holds that there are many gods.
Zoroastrianism: This assumes that there are two distinct eternal, irreducible
realities one good and other evil which oppose each other.
Pantheism: Pantheism was Introduced by John Toland from Ireland in 1705 and
appeared in 182. This belief is that God is everything and everything is God.

5
Norman Geisler, Systematic Theology Volume 2 (Minneapolis: Bethany House. 2004), 35.

6
Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology: The Complete Three Volumes (Louisville: GLH Publishing
February 13, 2015), 169.

7
R.C Sproul, Everyone’s a Theologian (Maple Press: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2014), 57.

8
Barackman, Practical Christian Theology: Examining the Great Doctrines of the Faith, 39.

9
Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan Publishing House, 1999), 29.
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Deism: Introduced by a religious philosopher Edward Herbert (1583-1648). This

holds the existence of God but rejects its relation to the world. For them, God is like an
absentee operator. The Bible is merely a book.10

Theistic Arguments

Cosmological Argument: Thomas Aquinas explained that “there must be some

uncaused cause or necessary being and this we called God.”
Teleological Argument by William Peley: This focuses particularly on the
phenomenon of orderliness. It must come from the intelligent being whom we call God.
Anthropological Argument: Immanuel Kant critic of pure reason. Immortality and
Soul: Suggests a deeper dimension. Thus, the moral order requires the existence of God.
Ontological Argument: This is by Anselm, George Hegel, and Rene Discards. God
is the greatest of all conceivable beings. Now a being that does not exist cannot be the
greatest of all conceivable beings. Therefore, God must exist.11

The Revelation of God

In the Bibliology author has cited that there are two basic types of revelation they
are General Revelation means God’s communication of Himself to all persons at all times
and in all places. Another one is Special Revelation which involves God’s particular
communications and manifestations of Himself to particular persons at a particular time.

Necessity of God’s Self-Revelation

God is a necessary being by nature cannot exist, and what cannot exist has
existence in and of self-existence. 12 God’s transcendence makes Him inaccessible to
creatures unless He reveals Himself. The nature of mankind necessitates divine revelation
for knowing and worshipping God (Ps.97:9,113:4-6).
10
Barackman, Practical Christian Theology: Examining the Great Doctrines of the Faith, 42.

11
Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker book House, 2013), 159.

12
Geisler, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 71.
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Mankind Nature: Humans, being dependent creatures, cannot naturally see God or
fully understand His thoughts (Job 23:3-9; 1 Tim. 6:16). Even unfallen man needed
divine revelation for obedience (Gen.2:16-17; Isa.55:8).
Mankind State: Mankind’s moral fall and subsequent sinful condition intensified
their need for divine revelation, especially that which concerns salvation (2 Tim. 3:15),
and for God to take the initiative in revealing Himself to them (Gen. 3:89; Luke 19:10). 13

Nature of God and His Constitution

The term nature refers to the complex of attributes that make the distinction from
everything else. Every attribute is identical to His being. He is what He has. Whatever
God is He is completely and simultaneously. The Bible suggests the identification of
God’s essence with all of his attributes. This means God’s nature is His “essence” and His
“essence” is His nature.14

God Has Three Personhoods

God exists as three distinct persons the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt.
28:19), with each One possessing His separate personhood, which makes Him to be a
person. These include a unique selfhood with its self-awareness (Exod. 3:13-14; Lev.
11:44-45; Isa. 44:6,) and self-determination (Rom. 11:33-34: Eph. 1:11).15

God Has a Single Divine Nature

This single divine nature is that essence, with its qualities and powers, that makes
the three Persons of the Trinity to be God. The substance of God’s divine nature, which is
uncreated and which underlies all His outward manifestations, is spirit (John 4:24). There
are three Persons the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each of Whom possesses His

13
Barackman, Practical Christian Theology: Examining the Great Doctrines of the Faith, 43.

14
Reymond Robert, A New Systematic Theology of The Christian Faith (Nashville: Thomas
Nelson, 1998), 172.

15
Barackman, Practical Christian Theology: Examining the Great Doctrines of the Faith, 47.
 18

separate personhood. This makes each Person God, and They share one divine nature
which makes Them One God.16

Attributes of God’s

Definition

The name “attributes” is not ideal, since it conveys the notion of adding, the term
“properties” is better, as pointing to something proper to God and God only. 17 The
attributes of God are the qualities that are inherent in the substance. 18 The attributes of
God are those distinguishing characteristics of the divine nature which are inseparable
from the idea of God and which constitute the ground for his various manifestations to
his creatures.19

Classification of The Attributes of God’s

Incommunicable and Communicable Attributes: Incommunicable represent those

attributes that admit of no extension and only belong to God. Communicable attributes,
which, to a limited degree.20

Incommunicable Attributes

His Self-Existence: This means that God is independent in His Being. He is not
only independent in Himself, but also causes everything to depend on Him (John 5:26). 21

16
Barackman, Practical Christian Theology: Examining the Great Doctrines of the Faith, 47.

17
Louis Berkhof, The Doctrine of God (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.1941), 45.

18
Henry Clarence Thiessen, Lectures in Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing
Company, 1989), 79.

19
Strong, Systematic Theology, 444.

20
Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology Volume 1,2 (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications,
1976), 225.

21
Berkhof, The Doctrine of God, 54.
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It is correct to say that God is uncaused, not self-caused. 22 By self-existence, means that
God has the ground of His existence in Himself (Exodus 3:14; 6:3).23
Immutability: This means that God is unchangeable and thus unchanging. This
does not mean that He is immobile or inactive (Mal. 3:6, Jam 1:17).24
God is Infinite: The infinity of God is that perfection of God by which He is free
from all limitations25. He is in all, and over all things (Ps.139:7-12, Act.17:28).
Omnipotence: By this we mean the power of God to do all things which are
objects of power, whether with or without the use of means (Gen. 17:1).
Omniscience: God’s perfect and eternal knowledge of all things that are objects of
man’s knowledge, whether actual or possible, present or future. (Ps. 4:5, Gen. 16:13).
Omnipresence: God in the totality of His essence, without diffusion or expansion
penetrates and fills the universe in all its parts (Ps. 139:7-10; Acts 17:27, 28).26
God is Eternal: This means that He is free from all the limitations of space, He is
exalted above all the limitations of time (Ps. 90:2, Isa.57:15).27

Communicable Attributes

God’s spirituality

God is Spirit: God exists as a being that is not made of any matter, has no parts or
dimensions, and is unable to be perceived by our bodily senses (John 4:24).
God is invisible: All of his spiritual beings will never be able to be seen by us, yet
God still shows himself to us through visible, created things (John 1:18).28

22
McCune, Systematic Theology Volume I, 177.

23
Emery H. Bancroft, Christian Theology Systematic (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing
House, 1961), 73.

24
Ryrie, Basic Theology, 54.

25
Berkhof, The Doctrine of God, 55.

26
Bancroft, Christian Theology Systematic, 80-82.

27
Hodge, Systematic Theology: The Complete Three Volumes, 400.

28
Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, 148.
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Intellectual of God Attributes

Knowledge of God: God may be defined as that perfection of God whereby He

knows Himself and all things possible and actual in one eternal (I Sam. 2:3; Job 12:13).
Wisdom of God: Means that perfection of God whereby applies His knowledge to
the attainment of His ends in a way which glorifies Him most (Rom. 11:33, Eph.
1:11,12).
The veracity of God: He fully answers to the idea that the Godhead is perfectly
reliable in His revelation and sees things as they are (Ex. 34:6; Num. 23:19).29

Sovereignty of God

The word means principal, chief, and supreme. It speaks first of position.
Ultimately God is in complete control of all things, though He may choose to let certain
events happen according to natural laws that He has ordained (Acts 15:18, Ps. 135:6). In
establishing the laws, physical and moral, by which all creatures are to be governed.30

Moral Attributes of God

Goodness of God: God which prompts Him to deal bountifully and kindly with all
His creatures (Ps. 145:9,15,16).31
God’s Lovingness: By love, we mean that attribute of the divine nature in virtue
of which God is eternally moved to self-communication (John 16:27; Rom. 5:8).32
God’s Righteousness: Righteousness in God is that perfection of His character
and holiness in which His actions and attitudes are always in conformity with His perfect
being (Ps.145:17, Jer. 50:7).
God’s faithfulness: He is trustworthy to act or perform by His word, promises, or
sayings (Ps. 119:90, 1 Cor. 10:13).

29
Berkhof, The Doctrine of God, 68.

30
Hodge, Systematic Theology: The Complete Three Volumes, 445.

31
Ryrie, Basic Theology, 77.

32
Strong, Systematic Theology, 263.
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God’s Mercifulness: The Old Testament word for mercy is racham, which is a
word expressing a deep and tender feeling of compassion and pity (Deut. 4:31, 2 Cor.
1:3).
God’s Gracious: The word is used charis in both the Testaments. God’s Grace is
His undeserved, unearned, (2 King 13:23, Eph. 1:7).33
Truthfulness: means “agreement to that which is represented” (John 17:3), and
thus cannot lie (Titus 1:2).
God’s Holiness: God’s holiness means not only that He is separate from all that is
unclean and evil but also that He is positively pure and thus distinct from all others (Lev.
11:44, John 17:11).34

The Triunity

Definition

The Trinity comes from the Latin word Trinus combination of two words trias
which means “three” and nus means “one”. It means three-in-one which renders Trinity.
The Theological Framework: There are two terms used. First, the Ontological
Trinity; applied to the Trinity refers to the eternal and immanent distinctions within the
Godhead. Another one is the Economic Relations by sustaining one another in the
Economic of Redemption.35

Progressively Revelation of Trinity in The Scripture

Partial Revelation in the Old Testament: The doctrine of the Trinity is not
explicitly found in the Old Testament but several passages suggest or even imply that
God exists as more than one person. For instance, in Genesis 1:26, “Let us.” In Psalm
110:1 “The LORD says to my lord”. And Isaiah 63:10, “God’s people rebelled and
grieved his Holy Spirit.”
33
McCune, Systematic Theology Volume I, 144.

34
Ryrie, Basic Theology, 60.

35
Morton H. Smith, Systematic Theology Volume 1,2 (n. p: The Ephesians Four Group;
Www.Freebiblesoftware.Com, 2016), 115.
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Complete Revelation of the Trinity in the New Testament: There are several
passages where all three persons of the Trinity are named together Jesus Baptized (Matt.
3:16,17), At the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry (Matt. 28:19), the New Testament authors
generally use the name “God” (Gk. theos) to refer to God and the name “Lord” (Gk.
kyrios) to refer to God the Son. then it is a clear trinitarian expression in 1 Corinthians
12:4-6.36

The Eternal Generation of The Son

The Nicene Creed (381) affirms that Jesus’ sonship is ontological, not merely
economic. God’s necessary existence means the Son, being fully God, has no origin or
cause. He is self-existent with the complete ground of his being. Thus, the Son’s
existence is contingent rather than necessary, not temporal, and it is not by the Father but
by His will. Calvin says that “the Son receives from the Father neither his existence nor
his divine nature, but his sonship. He is Son because the Father has made him Son. And
since the reverse is also true, we could say that just as the Son receives his sonship from
the Father, the Father receives his fatherhood from the Son.”

The Eternal Procession of The Holy Spirit

Procession refers to that eternal act whereby the Father and the Son. The Father
and the Son send the Spirit to earth so that he proceeds from them. The names of the
Spirit in the original languages, ruach, and pneuma, suggest the image of divine breath:
the Spirit proceeds from God as our breath proceeds from our mouths (John 14:26,
15:26).37

Misinterpretation of The Trinity

Tri-theism: In early church history John Ascunages and John Philoponus taught
that there were three who were God but they were only related in a loose association.
36
Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, 302.

37
John M. Frame, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief, (Philipsburg: P&R
Publishing Company, 2013), 465.
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Sabellianism or Modalism: This is by Sabellius (A.D. 200) he understood all three

as simply three manifestations of one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Arianism: The Arian doctrine had its roots in Tertullian, who subordinated the Son
to the Father which denied the deity of Christ. Only God was the uncreated One; because
Christ was begotten of the Father it meant Christ was created by the Father.38

Explanation of Trinity Based on The Scripture

The plural form of the noun for the God of Israel, (elohim), is sometimes regarded
as an intimation of a trinitarian view. This is a generic name used to refer to other gods as
well. Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said [singular], ‘Let us make [plural] mankind in our
[plural] image.’” The Scripture writer does not use a plural verb with ‘elohim,’ but God is
quoted as using a plural verb concerning Himself. Similarly, Isaiah 6:8 reads: “Whom
shall I send [singular]? And who will go for us [plural]?.” 39 Another OT reference is in
Isaiah 61:1 the Spirit of the Lord God (Holy Spirit) is upon the speaker, the speaker is
anointed by the Lord (God the Father). And Jesus as fulfillment of this passage, embodies
all three roles King, Priest, and Prophet, and reveals the Triune God.

The Decree of God

God’s decree is His eternal plan, whereby, according to His decretive will and for
His glory, He foreordained everything that comes to pass.

Characteristics of God’s Decree

The decree is a single plan encompassing all things, nothing is outside the scope
of God’s sovereign rule (Eph. 1:11). The Decrees covering all things was formed in
eternity past but is manifested in time (Eph. 1:4). It is a wise plan because God who is
wise has planned what is best (Rom. 9-11). The decree is according to God’s sovereign
will and does as He pleases (Dan. 4:35)
38
Paul Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago: Moody Press, 1989; reprint, Telangana:
GS Books, 2017), 203.

39
Erickson, Christian Theology, 351.
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The Decree has Two Aspects: The Directive Will of God in which God is the
author; He actively brings about the events. He creates, controls and establishes kings and
governments (Dan. 2:21); He elects people to be saved (Eph. 1:4, Dan. 4:35). Second,
The Permissive Will of God. Even though God has determined all things man is
nonetheless responsible for sinful acts. (1 Sam. 8:5). The purpose of the decree is the
glory of God (Ps. 19:1). Although all things are encompassed in the decree, man is
responsible for sinful actions (Acts 2:23). Some aspects of the decree are carried out by
people (Acts 16:31).40

Manifestation of The Decree

In the Material realm: The creation of the world and universe in all its aspects
comes under the divine decree of God (Ps. 33:6-11). Human life has also been decreed
(Job 14:5), as well as the manner of our departure (John. 21:19; 2 Tim. 4:6-8).
In the Social realm: God has decreed the family (Gen. 2:18) and ordained that
marriage be indissoluble (Matt. 19:1-9) the decree of marriage.
In the Spiritual realm: First, sin and the decree. God may permit to manifest evil
(Rom.1:24-28). God may directly prevent evil (2 Thess. 2:7). God may direct evil acts of
men to accomplish His purpose (Acts 4:27-28). God does not make men Sin, yet all
things are within the scope of God’s sovereign plan. Second, Salvation and the Decrees.
God chose and predestined believers to salvation from before the foundation of the world.
(Eph. 1:4-5; 2 Tim. 1:9).41

Conclusion

In conclusion, Theology Proper is foundational to Christian theology. It seeks to

understand who God is, exploring His attributes, such as omniscience, omnipotence,
omnipresence, holiness, justice, love, and immutability. Through theology proper,
believers gain a deeper comprehension of God's character and His relationship with
creation. This understanding informs and shapes other areas of theology and Christian
40
Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology, 208.

41
Ibid., 253.
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living, nurturing deeper worship, trust, and devotion toward God, most importantly in
understanding the nature of the Trinity. Whatever is rendered in this chapter is fully held
by the author of all these statements.
The negative impact of improper study of theological dispute causes the readers to
embrace Atheism, Pantheism or Polytheism. Therefore, exploring God's existence
harmonized the readers to know God-Existence through theological arguments or by the
critics. Sometimes the term Trinity may bring perplexity in understanding but one must
know that these three are One in their essence they share the same attributes and they
have sameness. And in their substance, they are not different beings but three Persons in
their existence.