Incommunicable Attributes of God

A long and 'big question' chapter - but well worth reading and thinking about.

The definition early on is useful - that communicable refers to things which God shares as opposed to things which He talks about. Although by the time I had got to the end of page 157 and the discussion about completenss and overlaps I was a little uncertain that the classification was actually going to be helpful!

Partway through page 159 the point is made that anthropomorphic language about God can only be understood rightly be continual reading of scripture so that what is being said is placed within the entire context of scripture. This would mean that someone who was not versed in the Bible would not really understand what is meant - for example - by "God is love" but because they have their own concept of love they would believe that they did. If this so, confusion could easily happen & probably does.

I found section 'f' on page 168 interesting when talking about the unchangeableness of God. While this is a position which I have held for as long as I can remember, the reasons presented here as to why this is important were useful. In a similar way, the opening thoughts on pages 168/9 on the meaning of the infinity of God were large & powerful statements.

Later on pag 169, there are some fascinating comments about 'before time' which - from our human & finite perspective - are very difficult to comprehend and must be particularly difficult for non-Christians who are trying to think about a god within the context of their own understanding. For example "before there was a universe, and before there was time, God always existed, without beginning, and without being influence by time."

The last part of page 176 & first of 177 seeks to address the question of whether God is directly present in unbelievers - which would seem reasonable since previously the point has been made that God is everywhere. I was left confused about what was being said here. Any insight?