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What are the attributes / nature of God?

FaithMulti-view · no verdict

Short answer

Scripture describes God through a set of attributes, qualities of his being revealed in Scripture and creation. Theologians traditionally sort them into incommunicable attributes (unique to God, self-existence, eternality, immutability, omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, sovereignty, simplicity) and communicable attributes (shared with creatures in a limited degree, holiness, love, justice, mercy, grace, patience, wisdom, faithfulness, goodness, truth). A key principle (divine simplicity) holds that these are not separable parts: God doesn't merely have love and holiness, God is love (1 John 4:8) and is holy (Isaiah 6:3); all his attributes co-inhere.

Question

What are the attributes / nature of God? What is God like? What does the Bible say about God's character and qualities?

Analysis

How we know God's attributes

SourceDescriptionTexts
General revelationCreation displays God's invisible attributes, power, wisdom, divinityRomans 1:19-20; Psalms 19:1
Special revelationScripture states God's character explicitlyHebrews 1:1-2
ChristThe incarnate Son is the fullest revelation of GodHebrews 1:3; John 14:9
The SpiritMakes Scripture's revelation effective to the reader1 Corinthians 2:10-14

Attributes are derived from God's self-revelation, not speculated. The two canonical OT self-disclosure texts are Exodus 34:6-7 (the LORD "merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth… who will by no means clear the guilty," WEB) and Exodus 3:14 ("I AM WHO I AM", BSB).

The incommunicable attributes (unique to God)

AttributeDefinitionBiblical ground
Self-existence (aseity)Exists from himself; needs nothing elseExodus 3:14; John 5:26
EternalityNo beginning or end; beyond timePsalms 90:2; Isaiah 57:15; Revelation 1:8
ImmutabilityUnchanging in essenceMalachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8; James 1:17
OmnipresenceEverywhere presentPsalms 139:7-12; Jeremiah 23:23-24; Acts 17:27-28
OmniscienceKnows all thingsPsalms 147:5; Hebrews 4:13; 1 John 3:20
OmnipotenceAll-powerful (consistent with his nature)Genesis 18:14; Jeremiah 32:17; Matthew 19:26
SovereigntyRules over allPsalms 103:19; Daniel 4:34-35; Ephesians 1:11
SimplicityNot composed of partsDeuteronomy 6:4; James 1:17

The communicable attributes (shared in creaturely degree)

AttributeDefinitionBiblical ground
HolinessTranscendent otherness and moral purityIsaiah 6:3; Leviticus 11:44; 1 Peter 1:16
LoveSelf-giving, covenant-faithful care1 John 4:8,16; John 3:16; Romans 5:8
Justice / righteousnessPerfect rectitude; never wrongs anyoneDeuteronomy 32:4; Psalms 89:14; Romans 3:26
MercyCompassion toward the miserableExodus 34:6; Ephesians 2:4; Titus 3:5
GraceUnmerited favorEphesians 2:8; Titus 2:11
Patience / longsufferingSlow to wrathExodus 34:6; 2 Peter 3:9
WisdomPerfect knowledge perfectly appliedProverbs 3:19; Romans 11:33; James 1:5
FaithfulnessReliability and covenant loyaltyLamentations 3:22-23; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:24
GoodnessMoral perfection and benevolencePsalms 34:8; Psalms 100:5; Mark 10:18
TruthVeracity and reliabilityJohn 14:6; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18

The "omni" attributes in focus

The three most-asked-about (from the dedicated deep-dives):

  • Omnipotence, God can do whatever is consistent with his nature; "Is anything too difficult for the LORD?" (Genesis 18:14, BSB); "with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26, BSB). This does not mean God can do logical nonsense (square circles) or act against his nature (he cannot lie, Hebrews 6:18; Titus 1:2; cannot sin, James 1:13). Those aren't limits on power; nonsense isn't a "thing" to be done.
  • Omniscience, God knows all things: past, present, future, counterfactual ("what would have happened", Matthew 11:21), and the inner heart (Jeremiah 17:9-10; Psalms 139:1-6). "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight" (Hebrews 4:13, BSB).
  • Omnipresence, "Where can I go to escape Your Spirit?" (Psalms 139:7, BSB); God fills heaven and earth (Jeremiah 23:24); "in him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28, BSB).

Divine simplicity, the attributes aren't separable parts

The classical doctrine of divine simplicity teaches God is not assembled from attributes the way a creature has traits. Each attribute is identical with God's essence:

ImplicationDescription
Attributes co-inhereGod's love is holy love; his holiness is loving holiness; his justice is merciful justice
God is undividedYou can't pit attributes against each other (love "vs." wrath as rival forces)
The cross integrates allThe cross displays love and holiness and justice and mercy and wisdom simultaneously (Romans 3:25-26)

These all stress that holiness, love, and justice meet, not compete, at the cross.

Contested points (multi-view)

Mainstream Christianity holds the "classical theism" picture; some modern schools revise it. This reference notes the classical view as consensus and flags the debates without endorsing:

QuestionViewPosition
Does God change / suffer?Classical theismGod is impassible (doesn't suffer) and immutable and simple (Augustinian-Thomistic)
Open theismGod is responsive to creation; some divine knowledge of future free acts is limited, a modern departure
Process theologyGod is in process with creation; classical attributes heavily revised, far from mainstream
Is divine simplicity strictly true?Classical / ReformedYes, strict simplicity
Some modern theologiansQuestion its absolute formulation
Is God in time or timeless?ClassicalTimeless eternity (outside time)
Some modern philosophersEverlasting within time (Wolterstorff, Swinburne)
Does God exhaustively know the future?Classical (Calvinist and Arminian and Catholic and Orthodox)Yes, exhaustively
Open theismFuture free choices not yet "there" to be known, minority evangelical view

Open theism and process theology are significant departures from the mainstream tradition; this reference presents the classical consensus and notes the alternatives where relevant.

The nature of God in one frame

Putting it together, the biblical-classical picture is of one God (Deuteronomy 6:4) who is personal, infinite-eternal-unchanging in his being, perfect in every attribute, and (in Christian theology specifically) triune, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one in essence and three in person. His attributes are not a checklist of separate traits but facets of one simple, perfect, undivided being whom Scripture says is fully knowable through revelation yet never exhaustively comprehended (Romans 11:33-36; Isaiah 55:8-9).

Sources, trace every one

Every cited verse, in full. Tap any reference to open it in the reader.

  • 1 John 4:8bsb

    Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

  • Isaiah 6:3bsb

    And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.”

  • Romans 1:19bsb

    For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

  • Psalms 19:1bsb

    For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

  • Hebrews 1:1bsb

    On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets.

  • Hebrews 1:3bsb

    The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

  • John 14:9bsb

    Jesus replied, “Philip, I have been with you all this time, and still you do not know Me? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

  • 1 Corinthians 2:10bsb

    But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

  • Exodus 34:6bsb

    Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,

  • Exodus 3:14bsb

    God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

  • John 5:26bsb

    For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.

  • Psalms 90:2bsb

    Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.

  • Isaiah 57:15bsb

    For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.

  • Revelation 1:8bsb

    “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come — the Almighty.

  • Malachi 3:6bsb

    “Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.

  • Hebrews 13:8bsb

    Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

On contested questions we show every major view, attributed and cited, and pick no winner. Answers are synthesized from primary sources, truth you can trace, not opinion.

What are the attributes / nature of God? · Bubble Bible