LessonsDivine Transcendence: Form, Essence, Place and TimeQuiz

Knowledge and color can both be called attributes in ordinary speech, but their theological status is not the same. Color is a sensory quality of a physical body; affirming divine knowledge is not affirming a bodily accident of that kind.

Thus “God possesses attributes” is consistent with “God is free from creaturely bodily qualities.”

If the word “attribute” is forced to mean the same type of feature in every context, one either denies genuine divine perfections or assimilates them to physical conditions. Accurate reasoning examines the intended meaning and implications of each attribution.

Opening interactive controls...

An attribute of perfection is not a sensory accident

Divine Transcendence: Form, Essence, Place and Time

Knowledge and color can both be called attributes in ordinary speech, but their theological status is not the same. Color is a sensory quality of a physical body; affirming divine knowledge is not affirming a bodily accident of that kind.

Thus “God possesses attributes” is consistent with “God is free from creaturely bodily qualities.”

If the word “attribute” is forced to mean the same type of feature in every context, one either denies genuine divine perfections or assimilates them to physical conditions. Accurate reasoning examines the intended meaning and implications of each attribution.