The Negative and Positive Attributes of God

The Negative Attributes

The ultimate, infinite, and the absolute are the negative attributes.

These attributes are possessed by God alone in his essence and as such, are not shared with his creatures - hence, the term negative.

Chemical reactions may take place in an infinite number of ways in the brain, and it may be absolutely true that this is so, but the brain itself is essentially neither infinite or absolute.  It has physical boundaries

which end, so its essence is finite.  It is also essentially relative, since there are conditions to its existence (it is a brain and not an apple, for instance).  

God, as fundamentally ultimate, infinite, and absolute, would be categorically different than anything in the natural order, he would be transformed into another dimension of reality.  

The negative attributes would apply in a general way to all the others: everything God is, everything God has, would be ultimate, infinite, and absolute.

The Positive Attributes

Being, mind, knowledge, power, and goodness are examples of positive attributes.

God would share these attributes with his creatures, thus they are positive: both God and humans would essentially have being, mind, knowledge, power, and goodness.

God, however, would have these attributes in an infinite and absolute sense, whereas for his creatures they would be finite and relative.  The positive attributes would be transformed by the application of the negative ones to them: thus being would become being-itself, power would become omnipotence, knowledge would become omniscience, goodness would become omnibenevolence.

By Truthseeker

Resources

• Of the Attributes of God: review of the negative and positive attributes of God.

• The Names and Attributes of God: the negative and positive attributes of God are examined.  

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