Packer's list of Gods Attributes in Knowing God

civic

civic

Well-known member
The two groups discussed in Packer’s Knowing God are the incommunicable and communicable groups of God’s attributes. In the incommunicable group is a short list of God’s attributes consisting of His immutability, His infinity, His omnipotence, His omniscient, His omnipresence, His sovereignty, His transcendence, His eternal and immanent attributes. According to Packer (1993), “The theologians called these qualities incommunicable because they are characteristic of God alone; man, just because he is man and not God, does not and cannot share any of them” (p. 99).
The two attributes of God that Packer writes about that are included in the incommunicable group are omniscience and omnipresence.

my list below to which I will add to ;)

1- God is Infinite- Self Existent- God is without Origin
2- God is Immutable- God Never Changes
3- God is Self Sufficient- God has no needs
4- God is Omnipotent- All-powerful
5- God is Omniscient- All-knowing
6- God is Omnipresent- Always everywhere
7- God is Love- Always loving
8- God is Good- Always good
9- God is Holy- Always holy
10- God is Just- Always perfect and right in all things
11- God is Merciful- Always kind and compassionate
12- God is Gracious- Always inclined to spare the guilty
13- God is Glorious- Always great and beautiful
14- God is Humble- Always acts in the best interest of others.
15- God is Sovereign- Always rules over His creation.
16- God is Immanence- Always knowable
17- God is Personal- Always seeking relationships
18- God is Eternal- no beginning
19- God is Transcendent
20- God is Impeccable- incapable of sin
21- God is Incomprehensible- cannot be fully known
22- God is Incorporeal- God is spirit
 
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I liked JI Packers book that comes with the study guide. I learned much about God that I did not know through reading and using the study guide.
 
civic said:
2- God is Immutable- God Never Changes
20- God is Impeccable- incapable of sin
Click to expand...

Good list. You should put the term "aseity" at #3 just so people know it when they come across it.

I question these two attributes, personally, I think they place artificial limits on God derived through human philosophical reasoning.

But there is a ton of nuance in how you define change/sin here.

There are some ways obviously God cannot change or sin, but I would argue not all ways.

See, a Calvinist is often very comfortable taking away even God's free will, and I think God is self-determining.

That's a super important attribute, maybe even the most important.

One translation of "I am that I am" is "I will be what I will be."
 
dizerner said:
Good list. You should put the term "aseity" at #3 just so people know it when they come across it.

I question these two attributes, personally, I think they place artificial limits on God derived through human philosophical reasoning.

But there is a ton of nuance in how you define change/sin here.

There are some ways obviously God cannot change or sin, but I would argue not all ways.

See, a Calvinist is often very comfortable taking away even God's free will, and I think God is self-determining.

That's a super important attribute, maybe even the most important.

One translation of "I am that I am" is "I will be what I will be."
Click to expand...
God without a free will is not God, but an idol. And man without a free will is nothing but a preprogrammed robot. :)
 
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And simplicity becomes a philosophical argument more-so than a theological one imho. I'm not a hard liner on either side of the debate and don't want to "box" God into a tiny corner. :)
 
civic said:
And simplicity becomes a philosophical argument more-so than a theological one imho. I'm not a hard liner on either side of the debate and don't want to "box" God into a tiny corner. :)
Click to expand...

That's a good methodology.

The problem I have with simplicity is it seems to logically demand the three persons of the Trinity be merged into one single thing, and not have true distinction.

People get too jumpy around the idea of "thritheism," because they get all foggy about the difference between person and being.
 
These are Gods Attributes apart from creation. Who God is within His own Being as Father, Son and Holy Spirit
:)



1-Aseity- Self Sufficient
2-Eternal
3-Omnipresent
4-Omnipotent
5-Omniscient
6-Love
7-Holy
8-Immutable
9-Perichoresis
10-God is One- Unity within the Godhead of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
11- Infinite
12- Transcendent
13- Humility
14- Good
15- Glorious

hope this helps !!!
 
Our God is an awesome God.

Video by Rich Mullins >>

When He rolls up His sleeves
He ain't just putting on the ritz
(Our God is an awesome God)
There's thunder in His footsteps
And lightning in His fists
(Our God is an awesome God)
And the Lord wasn't joking
When He kicked 'em out of Eden
It wasn't for no reason
That He shed His blood
His return is very close
And so you better be believing that
Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God
And when the sky was starless
In the void of the night
(Our God is an awesome God)
He spoke into the darkness
And created the light
(Our God is an awesome God)
Judgment and wrath He poured out on the Sodom
Mercy and grace He gave us at the cross
I hope that you have not
Too quickly forgotten that
Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God (Our God is an awesome God)
He reigns from heaven above (He reigns from heaven above)
With wisdom, power, and love (With wisdom, power, and love)
Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God
 

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