Good Question…What is God?

Understand that this is a nuanced question.  We are not talking about some abstract transcendence, some Grand Other, it is not something Universal in its conception.  Rather, this is the collected wisdom of Christianity, Presbyterian-style.  It is not about how we, humanity, created a Godly notion in our collective imaginations. 

Our presupposition is that God IS, that God revealed God-self to us, and that God has a plan for us.  Here is the kicker, God is unlimited, we are limited.  God creates, we are created.  How can we even wrap our minds around that?  That is where God gave us a strong hand up.  In our limited capacity, we call it Trinity.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that is the traditional trilogy of revelation.  It is how we, as limited humans, have come to best understand how God has chosen to self-reveal.  We use gender terms to understand that there is relationship within God.  We can identify how each is revealed to us in Scripture, and what their purpose is in God’s plan.  We use the term “Persons” in distinction to being “Things”, which again reflects the limits of human language. 

In the end, it is about how God has set up a process by which we can begin to comprehend what is incomprehensible.  But God was never about creating a faith where we might simply "comprehend" our God better.  Rather, our faith is about ever deepening our relationship with our God. 

These are the question and answers from Sunday’s portion of the Shorter Westminster Catechism.    

Q. 4. What is God?

A. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable, in God’s being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

Q. 5. Are there more Gods than one?

A. There is but one only, the living and true God.

Q. 6. How many Persons are there in the Godhead?

A. There are three Persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.