personal, father, love

• god as personal

  doesn't mean god is literally a person, its analogical

  a god who is experienced in a personal sense, a relationship with god

  a personal god is therefore immanent within the world but the godhead is transcendent and unknowable

  moltmann

  moral standards are objective and given by a personal god
• luke 11:1-13

  god is portrayed as personal

  'father', 'kingdom', 'daily bread', 'forgive us', god portrayed as neighbour 'knock and the door will be opened to you'
• god as father

  male anthropomorphism, yahweh is a patriarchal father

  god punishes his children. adam and eve - ordains different roles for men and women, agriculture is toil and sweat for men and childbirth is painful (genesis 3:16-19)

  god lays down absolute laws and doesn't hesitate to punish

  eg destruction of kingdom of israel by assyrians or kingdom of judah by babylonians
• god as jesus' father

  jesus uses the title father to refer to god frequently

  in the lords prayer, the wording makes it feel like christians share the father/son relationship of jesus with god as they pray

  abba - my father
• mark 14:36

  abba, father, all things are possible to thee..
• god as love

  how can he be loving if the problem of evil exists?
• god as love examples - deuteronomy

  steadfast love in deuteronomy - 'the faithful god who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments..'
• god as love examples - john

  through the suffering and death of jesus in john

  'for god so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. for god sent the son into the world ... that the world might be saved through him'
• god as love examples - john 2

  god is the basis of loving others as he is love

  'beloved, let us love one another, for love is of god, and he who loves is born of god and knows god. he who does not love does not know god, for god is love'
• god as love examples - john 3

  love described the trinity being mutually indwelling. 'the father loves the son' isnt just a metaphor, its part of the trinity's nature. again in john, jesus suggests gods love for him is pre-existent 'given before the foundation of the world'
• god as love examples - matthew

  love is the basis of human relations. jesus says the greatest commandment is 'you shall love the lord your god with all your heart and with your soul and all your mind' and then 'you shall love your neighbour as yourself, on these two commandments depends all the law and the prophets' means the whole sphere of human activity is encapsulated within the commands to love god and other people
• god as love examples - genesis

  being made in gods image means gods love must be reflected in the human capacity for agape

  michaelangelo's the creation of adam
• problems with god as love - limited omnipotence

  if god is identical with love and goodness then it must be impossible to do anything other than good (impeccability)

  is god really omnipotent?

  1 god is maximally good

  2. therefore there are things he cannot do like torture

  3. you can imagine a being greater than god doing these things

  4. therefore god isnt omnipotent
• problems with god as love - is divine simplicity coherent?

  idea god is identical with his attributes, god is love, is called doctrine of divine simplicity

  plantinga - if god is identical to his properties then he is a property, if he is a property he cannot be the personal god of abrahamic trad
• problems with god as love - worthy of worship?

  if god has no choice but to be all good, he is incapable of being evil. is he worthy of worship?

  swinburne - if the reason you do a good action is that your were drugged so that doing the good action is unavoidable, you are not praiseworthy for doing it, if god is unable to avoid doing good due to his impeccability, then it seems he is not praiseworthy either
• god as king

  full of kingly titles eg majesty, lord, sovereign etc - metaphor obviously shows god has absolute power

  shown in isaiahs vision of yahweh
• god as king - isaiah's vision

  'lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple ... holy holy holy, is the lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory ... woe is me! for i am lost, for i am a man of unclean lips and i dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the king, the lord almighty!'
• god as king - explaining isaiah's vision

  throne is the ark of the covenant

  yahweh was envisaged presiding over a heavenly council in a way an earthly king presided over his court, subservient to yahweh

  relates to OT - 'let us make man in our image', us means gods attendant court
• god as king - psalms

  psalms 24, 27, 93, 95-99 are enthronement psalms as they celebrate yahwehs kingship

  eg 97:1 the lord reigns, let the earth rejoice

  97:9 lord art most high overall the earth, exalted far above all gods

  99:1,4 he sits enthroned upon the cherubim, might king, lover of justice
• god as king - psalms continued

  psalm 24 - yahweh is 'king of glory, strong and mighty in battle' and yahweh sebaoth, the lord of hosts, referring to leadership of hosts/gods in heaven

  most important in the NT is jesus as the messiah (king/annointed one)

  'the christ of god', christ in greek meaning messiah. warrior king who gets rid of romans expected, but nt jesus role is to bring about the kingdom of god
• god as king - kingdom of god

  john the baptist - 'repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand' in matthew

  interpretations of gods kingdom include a new relationship between god and humanity with jesus as the messiah, who dies and is resurrected to atone for humanities sins

  or an ongoing reality inseperable from jesus and the church

  or a future event heralded by the second coming of the messiah where the forces of evil are defeated and the dead are raised to eternal life