Divine Attributes: Knowing the Covenantal God of Scripture

by John C. Peckham

Publisher:

Baker Academic

, 2021

Overview

This book offers a clear and constructive account of the nature and attributes of God. It addresses the doctrine of God from exegetical, historical, and constructive-theological perspectives, bringing the biblical portrayal of God in relationship to the world into dialogue with prominent philosophical and theological questions. The book engages questions such as: Does God change? Does God have emotions? Does God know the future? Is God entirely good and loving? How can God be one and three? Chapters correspond to the major metaphysical and moral attributes of God.

Key Features

• Offers a clear and constructive account of the nature and attributes of God
• Examines the doctrine of God from exegetical, historical, and constructive-theological perspectives
• Addresses common theological and philosophical questions

Contents

Top Highlights

“The God of Scripture Knows, Plans, Wills, Calls, and Chooses but Has Unfulfilled Desires” (Page 5)

“I am God, and there is no other; / I am God, and there is no one like Me’ (Isa. 46:9 NASB; cf. Exod. 8:10; 9:14; Ps. 86:8). Yet given that ‘God created humankind in his image’ (Gen. 1:27), there is some likeness between God and humans, though far greater unlikeness.” (Page 2)

“However, numerous Christian theists affirm a qualified kind of divine immutability, meaning God’s essential nature and character are changeless, yet God voluntarily enters into real relationship with creatures and thus changes relationally. In Alan Padgett’s words, ‘God is immutable relative to essential divine attributes’ and ‘changes only in relational ways, in order to create and care for that creation.’²⁸ While denying that God is pure act, qualified immutability affirms divine aseity and self-sufficiency, meaning God does not depend on anything with respect to his existence or essential nature.” (Pages 45–46)

“As such, I agree with the many theologians who believe that language about God should be understood as analogical⁷⁹—that is, there is some analogy or correspondence between language as it applies to God and language as it applies to creatures, but there is also great dissimilarity because God is the utterly unique Creator of all. As God himself stresses, ‘I am God and not man’ (Hosea 11:9 NASB).” (Page 36)

“Whereas the God of strict classical theism is utterly transcendent, the God of process theology is nearly entirely immanent. A form of panentheism (literally ‘all in God’), process theology maintains that the world (the physical universe) is in God such that God cannot exist without some world and is always in the process of changing and growing as the world changes.” (Page 22)

Product Details

• Title: Divine Attributes: Knowing the Covenantal God of Scripture
• Author: John C. Peckham
• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Print Publication Date: 2021
• Logos Release Date: 2021
• Pages: 322
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: God (Christianity) › Attributes
• ISBNs: 9781493429431, 9781540961259, 9781540964120, 9781493429417, 1493429434, 1540961257, 1540964124, 1493429418
• Resource ID: LLS:DVNATTRBTSSCRPTR
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T23:26:07Z

About John C. Peckham

John C. Peckham (PhD, Andrews University) is professor of theology and Christian philosophy at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. He is the author of several books, including The Love of God: A Canonical Model, Canonical Theology, and The Concept of Divine Love in the Context of the God-World Relationship.