God
From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science
God is the name commonly used for the supernatural being or deity who is conceived of by the monotheistic religions as the sole creator and ruler of the universe. He has many other names; most notably Jehovah or Yahweh in modern Christianity and Allah in Islam. Most theists hold that God is perfect, omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent. Questions regarding the existence and nature of God falls under the branch of philosophy known as metaphysics.
Various views on the ontology of God:
- Deism: God as separate from the physical universe, and not interacting with it;
- Theistic dualism: God as separate from our physical universe, and interacting with it;
- Immanentism: God as inseparable from the universe itself;
- Corporealism: Jehovah as a corporeal being, head of the council of Bene Elohim;
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God is One God
The monotheistic religions hold to one sacred doctrine, God is one and there is only one God. During Biblical times, this view was in stark contrast to the polytheistic religions (many Gods) practiced by the Greeks, Egyptians, and the many Canaanite and Persian cultures, such as the Babylonians.
The Bible very clearly and emphatically makes this point in places such as Deuteronomy 6:4 where is says Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one, or in Isaiah 44:6 where it says I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. The New Testament also echoes this central theme. 1Corinthians 8:4 says we know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one.
The covenant established between God and Israel is reliant upon the recognition by His people that God is the one and only God, and strong warnings were given in the Old Testament against making and worshipping idols—a practice which was common at the time even among the Israelites Leviticus 19:4 . The importance of this law is illustrated in it being the first of the Ten Commandments given to Moses. You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3 ). It should be noted that the "other gods" warned against here are not gods at all, but substitutes for God (idols), or simply mythological.
God in Three Persons
- Main Article: Trinity
The trinity of God is central to Christianity and it is used to describe the belief that God is a Father, a Son and a Holy Spirit. It is derived from the Latin trinitas, meaning, "threeness." Neither that word trinity nor any equivalent occurs in the Bible, but the doctrine is logically derived from many statements spread throughout the scripture.
The Image of God
As Adam is described in Genesis as being made in the image of God, an important subject in Biblical ontology is regarding the aspect of God that humans now possess. There are 2 basic definitions of the image of God.
Spiritual image
Adam was created to reflect the spiritual nature of Elohim. This belief, by far the most widespread among theists, holds that Adam was created in God's spiritual image, to reflect his reason and personality and ability to communicate. However, it is not believed that Adam was created in God's physical image, because it is believed that God has no physical existence or appearance.
Physical image
Adam was created to reflect the physical appearance of Elohim. This view, much less common than the spiritual view, provides that Adam was created in the physical image of Elohim. It is based on corporealism, or the belief that God has a physical body. Arguments for this view include:
- The same words used for image (tselem), and likeness (d@muwth), are used to describe the sons of the patriarchs. (e.g. "And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat [a son] in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth;" (Genesis 5:3 )[1]
- Elohim is plural, as is the phrase, "Let us make Man in our image," implying that the Elohim (plural, to include Jehovah Elohim and the Sons of God) decided to create man in their image;
- Jehovah Elohim (the "Lord of the gods") is described as physically walking through the garden. "And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden." Genesis 3:8 .
- "Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless;"—Genesis 17:1 ;
- "Now the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day."—Genesis 18:1 ;
YHWH
The four-character YHWH is the ancient Hebrew name of God. Biblical scholars refer to this combination as the Tetragrammaton (Greek: "word with four letters"). After the exile to Babylon, a tradition arose among the Jews that the name of God should not be spoken, to avoid breaking the commandment against taking YHWH's name in vain; in New Testament times it was only spoken once a year, by the high priest [verification needed]. Towards this end, the vowels were removed from the word (reducing it to the four consonants), thus preventing a reader from accidentally saying the word. Among the laity, it became customary to say "Adonai" ("the Lord") instead. When vowel points were added to the written text of the scripture, the vowel points of "adonai" were sometimes written into the word "YHWH", in order to remind the reader to say "adonai". After the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersal of the Jews among the nations, the true pronunciation was lost.
At the time of the King James translation of the Bible, scholars translated the Tetragrammaton using the consonants according to the Hebrew-Latin-English route that was common at the time (e.g. the Hebrew "י" translated to the Latin "I", which translated to the English "J"), resulting in the consonant combination "JHVH". To this they inserted the vowel points of "adonai" with the consonants "YHWH" (it appears that the translators were unaware of the origins of that Jewish custom). The result was the English word Jehovah, still in use in many circles. Modern scholarship, working directly with better Hebrew manuscripts, now believe that Yahweh is probably closer to the original pronunciation.
The name YHWH declares God as the self-existent one, the one who has life in himself and from whom the existence of everything else is derived:
Moses said to God, “Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you;’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: “I AM has sent me to you.” God said moreover to Moses, “You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations. Exodus 3:13-15
In the Hebrew, I AM is אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה
YHWH is the name that God uses in his covenant relationship with his people:
God spoke to Moses, and said to him, “I am Yahweh; and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them. Exodus 6:2-3
YHWH occurs more than 6,000 times in the Old Testament. In modern translations it is usually written "the LORD", using small capitals. Occasionally, the phrases "Yahweh Adonai" or "Yah Yahweh" are used and the translation may say "the Lord GOD". This usage conceals the widespread use of God's personal name and encourages the false idea that YHWH and Allah (or some other pagan god) are the same.
In the Septuagint, YHWH was translated by the Greek word κυριος (kurios), meaning "Lord", and that is used throughout the New Testament. The word κυριος was also used of the emperor, and the declaration "Jesus is Lord" was a direct contradiction of "Caesar is Lord". It should be stressed that both those phrases are claims of divinity. When a believer made that declaration, he was denouncing the emperor's claim to be a god and asserting that Jesus was God.
Related References
- Loving God with all your mind: logic and creation by Jonathan D. Sarfati for Creation Ministries International
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