'High' view of God (1)

In my previous posts (What ‘kind’ of God?), I tried to show that it is very easy to fashion God to our liking. Easy to make him into the ‘kind’ of God we might be able to live with or, as Marcion (84-160 AD) did, reject him altogether. The result is that we might end up worshipping a god made into our own image – an idol (one we idealise) – and not the God of the Bible.

But, is it possible that to go the other way, having such a ‘high’ regard of God that we also end up with a god that is not God?

Systematic Theology (Dogmatics) endeavours to systemise what we believe as Christians. One of Systematic Theology’s main fields of study is known as the Doctrine of God. For example, “How can we believe in one God if we believe in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit”? Nowhere in the Bible will you find the word(s) Trinity or Triune God. It was only in the 3^rd century that Tertullian used this term to explain that the Father, son and Holy Spirit is one in essence but not in person.

Theologians also think about the qualities or characteristics of God under, what is called, ‘The Attributes of God’. You will find a whole list of attributes of God here. For most of us, this is what God is ‘like’ or, at least, should be like. These attributes creates a sense of the ‘high’ regard for the God of the Bible.

The problem is that some texts in the Bible seem to be in conflict with some of God’s attributes. The question is, “How do we deal with these ‘conflicts’?” Should we harmonise the text with what we believe God to be, or should we align our theology with Scripture?