God

Attributes and Providence

28 passages, 6 quoted here · Broad agreement in this library · Against: Stoic Fate

What God is like, good, just and all-knowing, and how he guides the world without forcing anyone’s choices.

Where they stood

Each row is one claim. Each name is a writer, placed at the date of the passage. Select a name to read what they said.

2 of the 4 writers here teach: “God is uncreated, good, and seen in his works.” They answer a rival view: “God needs material offerings.”

teaches it partly rejects it later writer, summary only

God is uncreated, good, and seen in his works2 teach

Athenagoras ×2 Theophilus ×2

Providence does not cancel human liberty1 teach

Irenaeus

God needs material offerings1 reject

Justin

What each writer said, earliest first

Justin Martyr Rejects: God needs material offerings

c. 100–c. 165 AD · First Apology 10

We have learned that God does not need material offerings from human beings, since we see that He Himself provides everything. We have been taught, convinced, and believe that He accepts only those who imitate the good qualities that belong to Him — temperance, righteousness, philanthropy, and whatever else is proper…

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Greek

Ἀλλ᾿ οὐ δέεσθαι τῆς παρὰ ἀνθρώπων ὑλικῆς προσφορᾶς παρειλήφαμεν τὸν θεόν, αὐτὸν παρέχοντα πάντα ὁρῶντες· ἐκείνους δὲ προσδέχεσθαι αὐτὸν μόνον δεδιδάγμεθα καὶ πεπείσμεθα καὶ πιστεύομεν, τοὺς τὰ προσόντα αὐτῷ ἀγαθὰ μιμουμένους, σωφροσύνην καὶ δικαιοσύνην καὶ φιλανθρωπίαν καὶ ὅσα…

Athenagoras Teaches: God is uncreated, good, and seen in his works

fl. c. 177 AD · Plea for the Christians 10

That we are not atheists has been shown to me sufficiently, for we hold to one God, unborn, eternal, invisible, impassible, incomprehensible, and uncircumscribed, who is apprehended by mind and reason alone and encompassed by light, beauty, spirit, and indescribable power.

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Greek

Τὸ μὲν οὖν ἄθεοι μὴ εἶναι, ἕνα τὸν ἀγένητον καὶ ἀΐδιον καὶ ἀόρατον καὶ ἀπαθῆ καὶ ἀκατάληπτον καὶ ἀχώρητον, νῷ μόνῳ καὶ λόγῳ καταλαμβανόμενον, φωτὶ καὶ κάλλει καὶ πνεύματι καὶ δυνάμει ἀνεκδιηγήτῳ περιεχόμενον, ὑφ᾿ οὗ γεγένηται τὸ πᾶν διὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ λόγου καὶ διακεκόσμηται καὶ…

Athenagoras Teaches: God is uncreated, good, and seen in his works

fl. c. 177 AD · Plea for the Christians 12

Come now: if we did not believe that God stands over the human race, would we purify ourselves in this way? That cannot be said. But because we are convinced that we must give an account of our entire life here to the God who made us and the world—a God who is moderate, philanthropic, and slow to anger—we choose a life…

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Greek

Ἆρα τοίνυν, εἰ μὴ ἐφεστηκέναι θεὸν τῷ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένει ἐνομίζομεν, οὕτως ἂν ἑαυτοὺς ἐξεκαθαίρομεν; Οὐκ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν. Ἀλλ᾿ ἐπεὶ πεπείσμεθα ὑφέξειν παντὸς τοῦ ἐνταῦθα βίου λόγον τῷ πεποιηκότι καὶ ἡμᾶς καὶ τὸν κόσμον θεῷ, τὸν μέτριον καὶ φιλάνθρωπον καὶ εὐκαταφρόνητον βίον…

Irenaeus of Lyons Teaches: Providence does not cancel human liberty

c. 130–c. 202 AD · Against Heresies 4.37

God made humanity free from the beginning, possessing a power of its own, just as it possesses its own soul, so that it might use God's judgment voluntarily and not be forced by God. For coercion does not come from God; rather, a good judgment is always present to us. And for this reason He gives good counsel to all.

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Theophilus of Antioch Teaches: God is uncreated, good, and seen in his works

fl. c. 180 AD · To Autolycus 1.3

He is incomprehensible in glory, ungraspable in size, unknowable in height, incomparable in power, unarguable in wisdom, unimitable in goodness, and unspeakable in benevolence.

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Greek

Ἐρεῖς οὖν μοι· Σὺ ὁ βλέπων διήγησαί μοι τὸ εἶδος τοῦ θεοῦ. Ἄκουε, ὦ ἄνθρωπε· Τὸ μὲν εἶδος τοῦ θεοῦ ἄῤῥητον καὶ ἀνέκφραστόν ἐστιν, μὴ δυνάμενον ὀφθαλμοῖς σαρκίνοις ὁραθῆναι.

Theophilus of Antioch Teaches: God is uncreated, good, and seen in his works

fl. c. 180 AD · To Autolycus 1.5

Just as the soul within a human being is not seen — it is invisible to human eyes — yet is perceived through the body's movement, so also God cannot be seen by human eyes, but is seen and perceived through His providence and works.

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Greek

Καθάπερ γὰρ ψυχὴ ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ οὐ βλέπεται, ἀόρατος οὖσα ἀνθρώποις, διὰ δὲ τῆς κινήσεως τοῦ σώματος νοεῖται ἡ ψυχή, οὕτως ἔχοι ἂν καὶ τὸν θεὸν μὴ δύνασθαι ὁραθῆναι ὑπὸ ὀφθαλμῶν ἀνθρωπίνων, διὰ δὲ τῆς προνοίας καὶ τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ βλέπεται καὶ νοεῖται.

Other passages filed here (22)