‘Behold, the Lamb of God’s
ide o amnos tou
theou
College Study
31st teaching
4.1.2013
The ‘Negative’ Doctrines:
“God’s Infinity”
Turn to Psalm 145.
Tonight we come to the end of our list of the ‘negative’
attributes of God. It’s a fairly short list. What attributes of God are
‘negative’? Impassible. Immaterial. Incomprehensible. Impeccable. Immortal.
Immutable. And tonight we cover the last one: “God’s Infinity”. As the psalmist
wrote there in the 145th: “His
greatness is unsearchable”, unfathomable, borderless, without boundary:
infinite.
Note, it’s not God’s Infinitude as a separate and distinct
attribute, which kind of exists and stands alone but God’s INFINITY: a special
and unique infinity, an attribute and God-concept from which all the other
attributes stem. We cannot call it infinitude because it is not quite just
that. It’s not that simple. The word infinity, rather, encompasses all of God.
Infinitude implies a singular application of infinity. God’s infinity, however,
is a total application to everything about Himself. God’s Infinity is a broader
term. If you were wondering why we’re not calling this God’s Infinitude, well…
there you go.
This last of the Divine metaphysical attributes is also
perhaps the most perplexing. That the idea of infinity has puzzled and
bamboozled thousands of thinkers is apparent. Infinity is not an easy concept
to wrestle with. And infinity is also one of the most inhuman ideas any human
can come to think on.
“The more you approach infinity, the deeper you penetrate
terror.” Gustave Flaubert. I’ve shared that quote before, but I think it really
encapsulates how foreign and alien the concept of infinity is to everything we
know as human beings. Both Ancient Greek philosophers and modern philosophers,
mathematicians, scientists, physicists and astronomers (all extremely
intelligent men by human standards) each battled with ironing out the idea of
Infinity. It’s a tough concept.
The English Enlightenment philosopher John Locke says this
on the subject of the difficulty of infinity, specifically the difficulty of
even thinking about infinity: “Whatever positive ideas we have in our minds of
any space, duration, or number, let them be never so great, they are still
finite; but when we suppose an inexhaustible remainder, from which we remove
all bounds, and wherein we allow the mind an endless progression of thought,
without ever completing the idea, there we have our idea of infinity... yet
when we would frame in our minds the idea of an infinite space or duration,
that idea is very obscure and confused… For let a man frame in his mind an idea
of any space or number, as great as he will, it is plain the mind rests and
terminates in that idea; which is contrary to the idea of infinity, which
consists in a supposed endless progression.”
As I come to understand that quote, Locke says that the
fact you completed the thought of any amount of space or number or duration
makes that object finite and not infinite. It is easy to think about the
concept infinity, but immensely difficult to think of actual infinity. Think of
the biggest number you can, or the biggest space you can. They aren’t infinite.
There can always be one more number added, or one more inch added to the
deepest space you can think of.
And the concept of infinity becomes no easier to swallow
when we apply it to God.
A.W. Tozer in his book The
Knowledge of the Holy writes: “Of all that can be thought and said about
God, His infinitude is the most difficult to grasp. Even to try to conceive of
it would appear to be self-contradictory, for such conceptualization requires
us to undertake something which we know at the outset we can never accomplish.
Yet we must try, for the Holy Scriptures teach that God is infinite and, if we
accept His other attributes, we must of necessity accept this one too.”
So if you thought studying Systematic Theology was tough so
far… buckle your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
But all joking aside, God has included His Infinity as a
revealed teaching of Himself in His own Word. We should rise to understand it
as best we can, with the aid of His own Spirit of truth. And with four points
tonight, this is our aim: to understand God’s self-revealed Infinity.
1.
What is Infinity?
2.
The Divine Infinity
3.
Infinity and Attributes
4.
Finite Man’s Response
1.
What is Infinity?
So much confusion and debate arises because of a lack of
defining terms. If you get into an argument with someone over something, often
times it is because you didn’t ask “what do you mean”. In the case of studying
Infinity, we must similarly ask “what do you mean”.
The definition of Infinity is unlimited and boundlessness.
Something that is infinite is something that is immeasurable and unfathomable,
familiar biblical words there. Thus God’s infinity is a metaphysical,
non-communicable attribute which says God in His Being is without limit or
boundary.
Infinity of course is represented by the familiar
‘figure-eight’ symbol. The symbol is called a Lemniscate. A continuous unbroken figure.
The word infinity comes to us from, you guessed it, Latin.
The Latin word is infinitas, which
literally means ‘not the end’, or without end.
But the idea of infinity is far older than Latin. The
biblical New Testament language of Greek had the word aion, which is translated some 70 times in the KJV as for ever. For example Revelation 10:6, that the angel “swore by Him who lives forever and ever…”
speaking of God. There translated as forever
and ever are the words aionas ton
aionon: forever and ever or literally “to
the ages of the ages”, the Greek concept of forever.
So infinity simply means no limits. But did you know that
there are different kinds of infinity? It has been fascinating studying this.
But at the risk of running amuk and only talking about the concept of infinity
all night, let me just mention briefly a few kinds of infinities out there, and
then we will see how these kinds of infinities relate to God Himself.
There are apparently three kinds of infinity: mathematical,
physical and philosophical. Mathematics of course wrestles with the idea of
infinite numbers or an infinite progression, though infinity itself is not a
number but a concept. Physics contemplates whether actual infinity can or does
exist. And philosophy is there of course to debate the whethers and the whys of
infinity in the extraordinary abstract terms of which philosophy is so found.
Even more specifically than these three categories, though,
were the ideas that the ancient Greeks had about infinity. Aristotle,
philosopher extraordinaire, and student of Plato, said: “It is always possible
to think of a larger number… Hence the infinite is potential, never actual…” To
Aristotle, infinity was a potential to be reached by progression, such as a
progression of numbers (always adding 1 to 1 to 1 to 1 and so on), but not
actual. Infinity didn’t actually exist.
So to stop and consider at this point, is God a potential
infinity, that is an infinity of progression, an infinite sequence? Of course
not. God is uniquely not a number or an energy or distance to which infinity
applies, but a person to whom infinity applies.
Norman Geisler writes: “God’s infinity should be distinguished
from other concepts of ‘infinite’. God is not an infinite such as is found in
mathematics, where there are an infinite number of points between A and B; this
is an abstract infinite, not a concrete one, as God is. God is infinite in a
metaphysical way, not in a mathematical way; He is an actual infinite Being,
not an abstract one.
“Further, God is not an infinite series of real things; He
is not an endless series of moments, for example, of one after another. At
best, this would only be a potential infinite—where one more could always be
added. God is neither a series of moments nor is He capable of being added to
them. He is actually Infinite Being (not a series) and cannot be added to in
any way.”
That the biblical God is both complete and infinite is
clear from Scripture. God is not continually becoming more and more God. The
Bible calls Him perfect: complete and whole. He already is Himself, He already
is perfection. Thus God is not an infinite progression, but an infinite Being.
In other words, God is not quantitatively but qualitatively
infinite. He does not have infinite quantities but He has infinite quality.
Now that’s still a difficult concept. But we’ve only been
thinking of infinity in the realm of measuring, whether it is numbers or length
or space or time. But infinity applied to an Immaterial God is quite a
different and difficult thing.
You know what else is a difficult and different thing? The
Incarnation. Dude, the Infinite Being coming and inhabiting this tiny baby
body? What! Talk about throwing a wrench into our machine! The bizarreness of
the Incarnation is that the Infinite Being became tangible, material, physical
and finite in a body of flesh. He crossed
the infinite gap between infinite God and finite man.
That’s cray cray. But it leads us to our next point. We
know now that God is infinite. He is not potentially or progressively infinite,
but actually and perfectly infinite. Put that on your bumper sticker.
2.
The Divine Infinity
Again, everything we know about God come from His
self-revelations, most specifically: His Word. What we know about God, God
tells us.
So let’s have our Project Scriptura verses now and examine
if and how the Bible calls God infinite.
*I think it is plain once we realize it that there is a
difficulty in finding a verse specifically on God’s Infinity alone. We can find
verses on God’s infinite life or existence or power or knowledge or love, but
not just on infinity alone. Remember that Infinity is a blanket term. From
Infinity stem all other attributes of God. His infinity infuses and permeates
all of His attributes. Therefore the Bible describes God’s Infinity through the
attributes that His Infinity infuses.
We have addressed in past studies any limitations that God
may have. We’ve examined that the Bible says that God cannot lie and that God
cannot sin. We’ve considered that God is all-powerful, but that He has only the
power to do what it is possible to do (no circular squares or other nonsense
like that). As C.S. Lewis so aptly said: “You may attribute miracles to Him,
but not nonsense”.
While these may seem to indicate that God is not infinite,
they in fact do not. God’s Infinity does not indicate that He can do everything
including the logically and intrinsically impossible. God’s Infinity does not
indicate that He has an infinite amount of persons, no He is Three Persons.
God’s Infinity is much more specific than that. God’s only
limitations are the limitations of His own Self. Quote: “Infinity implies
simply that God exists in no necessary relation to finite things or beings, and
that whatever limitation of the divine nature results from their existence is,
on the part of God, a self-limitation.” In other words, all His limitations are
self-imposed.
Think of it in this way: God has a finite amount of
attributes. You can list them. Heck, we’ve begun to study them. If God had an
infinite amount of attributes, you could hardly study them. There would be no
place to begin and no attribute to end with. And if God had an infinite number
of attributes, then you could hardly know anything about God and you could
hardly call Him loving, for in His infinite attributes He might have the
attribute of being unloving. No, God has limitations, but this has nothing to
do with what His Infinity is. God has finite attributes, but these attributes
are infinite. God has limited attributes, but unlimited power, knowledge, love,
justice, holiness and grace.
In summary, limitations of God are limitations imposed by
Himself outside of Himself. All attributes which stem from His Infinity are
infinite. Everything that God has He has infinitely, though there are a finite
amount of things God has and does. I hope that helps clarify things.
But while we’re on the subject of Infinity in relation to
God’s attributes, check out our next point…
3.
Infinity and Attributes
In discussing attributes in the past, we’ve considered the
difference between physical attributes and metaphysical attributes: human
attributes and divine attributes.
I have physical and human attributes: I have human powers
and physical strength. I have a human brain with only limited capacity for
knowledge and learning. I exist only in one place at one time. Those who’ve
known me for any length of time know that I only have limited human morality:
I’m not perfect. Also I’m effected by time: I age. Oh, and I’m not immortal: I
have a limited human life-span. And ah yes my wisdom is no more than a man’s
wisdom.
Those are some of my attributes as a human being.
But now let us consider God’s attributes.
In relation to His Infinity, you can see that most His
attributes simply are regular attributes with infinity applied to them. God’s
infinite nature effects His attributes, making them infinite. You can see that
even in this brief list of attributes. Let’s make a list here:
Omnipotence = strength with infinity
Omniscience = knowledge with infinity
Omnipresence = presence with infinity
All-wise = wisdom with infinity
Unconditional Love = love with infinity
Impeccability = holiness with infinity
God’s grace = graciousness with infinity
Perfection = morality with infinity
Immortality = life with infinity
Eternity = existence with infinity
But there’s more besides. Paul says in Romans 11:33 that God’s judgments are unsearchable and His ways are
past finding out. Philippians 4:7
says that the peace of God passes all understanding. There is more to God than
just His attributes, and His Infinity reaches even there.
4.
Finite Man’s Response
How do you and I respond to God’s Infinity? It’s
non-communicable so there’s no hope of emulating it. Jesus is our role model
for many things, but certainly not for infinitude. The Bible never says “be
infinite as I am infinite, saith the LORD”. Not possible.
So what then? Infinity remains a foil not only to our
feeble minds and understanding, but also to our physical capabilities.
I found this quote on a website about John Bunyan, the
Christian writer. I don’t think it’s from him, but I couldn’t find a source.
Anyways, the quote goes: “By way of illustration, the limits of man’s
understanding are best appreciated when it is realized that he cannot fully
comprehend concepts of either the finite or the infinite. Consider that if we
were told outer space ended at a distance beyond us of one-thousand light
years, we would refuse to believe it. Instead we would desire to investigate
this ‘end’ of space and ‘explore beyond’, so to speak. On the other hand, if we
were told that space was eternal, limitless, we would just as strenuously
declare that it must eventually come to an end somewhere! Hence, as with the
sovereignty of God, so the infinity of God requires submission rather than
understanding.”
We cannot fully understand Infinity, and it is not our
responsibility to do so. Our responsibility however is to submit to God and to
worship God. And there are many attributes for which God is worthy of worship,
not least of all His Infinity. Infinity, then, is not so much an object for our
understanding as it is a mandate for our worship.
As Job 23:13
says “But He is unique, and who can make
Him change?”
How unique God is! How totally unlike all other gods. The
gods of the pagans, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, etc. were far from
infinite. They could die or be killed or fade away. None of those things can
affect the Infinite God.
How He should be an object of wonder, the center of our
adoration, the Infinite God upon whom we should be utterly, hopelessly and
totally fixated.
Listen to the words of the hymn-writer Isaac Watts: “Great God! How infinite art Thou! What
worthless worms are we! Let the whole race of creatures bow, and pay their
praise to Thee!”
And besides Infinity being a reason for us to worship God,
it is also a very good reason to trust God. Should you have faith in a human
being, even in yourself, who fails and has weakness? Or should you place your
trust in the One who’s Goodness cannot be measured? Him who’s Knowledge is
unfathomable, whose Presence is universal, whose Strength is insurmountable, whose
Wisdom is incalculable, whose Accomplishments are uncountable and whose Glory
is unsearchable!
Psalm 95:6, “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us
kneel before the LORD our Maker.”
For all these years, all these generations and centuries,
mathematicians and philosophers have debated Infinity, when all this time,
Infinity resided in God. All the searchings of men for Infinity were really the
yearnings of their heart of hearts for their Maker.
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