LessonsEternal Divine Attributes: Knowledge, Power, Life and SpeechQuiz

لَيْسَ بِعَرَضٍ وَلَا مُسْتَحِيلَ الْبَقَاءِ
It is not an accident, nor something incapable of subsisting.

In the classical theological vocabulary, an accident (ʿaraḍ) is a dependent property discussed in connection with created subjects and originating states. Treating divine life or knowledge as such a state would import a beginning, need for a contingent locus, or loss of the attribute.

The attributes subsist in the divine essence, not in an externally separate subject. Yet subsisting in the essence does not turn an attribute into a second independently existing divine essence.

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An eternal attribute is not a created accident

Eternal Divine Attributes: Knowledge, Power, Life and Speech

لَيْسَ بِعَرَضٍ وَلَا مُسْتَحِيلَ الْبَقَاءِ
It is not an accident, nor something incapable of subsisting.

In the classical theological vocabulary, an accident (ʿaraḍ) is a dependent property discussed in connection with created subjects and originating states. Treating divine life or knowledge as such a state would import a beginning, need for a contingent locus, or loss of the attribute.

The attributes subsist in the divine essence, not in an externally separate subject. Yet subsisting in the essence does not turn an attribute into a second independently existing divine essence.