Chapter 3: God's Character-The Basis of His Reign

l. How and why is our knowledge of God limited?

We can't know anything about God until he exposes himself, discloses facts about himself, and
speaks with us, therefore our understanding of him is restricted. As Christians, we say God is
"the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," but such a statement has a limitation: everything we say
about God must be understood in light of what we find in Jesus. No matter how much biblical
and philosophical material we collect, our understanding of God will never be complete and
distinct.

2. What should we require of our language about God?

Everything we say about God should be based on our experiences with him, and everything we
know about God should come from his relationship with us, because we are his creatures. To
fully comprehend God, we must delve into his relationship with the world.

3. Why is it difficult for people to believe in God?

one of the primary reasons People find it difficult to believe in God because they doubt the
trinity. “How can anything be both three and one at the same time?” says the narrator. They find
it perplexing and believe the trinity is linked to polytheism, or the belief in several Gods.
However, this is not an erroneous relationship because God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Spirit are one and the same person, not three different people.

4. What evidence supports God's existence?

 natural wonders (complexity)

 human behavior

 everyone has an encounter with God in the realm of conscience/morality

 the existence of a universe

5. What are the biblical names for God, and what do they signify?

 El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty)

 El Elyon  (The Most High God)

 Yahweh Adonai (Lord, Master) (Lord, Jehovah)

 Nissi Jehovah (The Lord My Banner)

 Rapha Jehovah (The Lord That Heals)

 Shammah Jehovah (The Lord Is There)

6. What actions and qualities does the Bible attribute to God? ·

God is Holy, God is One, Heaven and Earth's Creator, and God is Love.

7. What is the nature of God's love, and how does it react to sin?

Agape love is how God's love is described: unconditional and all-encompassing. It goes above
human limits and expectations, and it does not waver in the face of sin (he will always follow us/
never abandon us). Even though God's wrath will finally fall on us, this is a means for Him to
prevent us from killing ourselves (if we do not choose to devote our hearts to him)- and in this
manner, God is demonstrating his tremendous love for us even at the end of time.

Chapter 4: The Nature of the Reign of God

1. According to Christian thought, what is God's relation to the world? How

As Creator, God is the source of life and is committed to the good of his creation (he tries to
build a RELATIONSHIP with people)

Monism: the idea is this, although the appearance of the things that surround us is different, the
reality is everything below it we are all connected and we are all one. If there is a Creator God
(as in Christianity) and a creation that is NOT Him, then monism is wrong.

Dualism: 2 higher opposite powers (good and bad): Christianity without perfect dualism (must
be the same) because the good will eventually destroy the bad

Polytheism: many gods

Pantheism: God is the power that maintains all reality, but he denies that he is anything but this
(God's function reduced to the function of the world, He is the earth)

Deism: God is responsible for bringing the world into existence, but that ended his concern for
him (master and absent owner)

does this concept differ from monism, dualism, polytheism, pantheism, and deism?
 2. What do the following divine attributes mean and what question(s) does each raise:
omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience?

God's omnipotence implies that he is all-powerful. This implies that God is limitless in
his might. God is all-knowing because he is omniscient. This implies that God is aware of
all things, including the past and future.

3. What do these divine activities involve: providence, prophecy, and miracle?

God's continual engagement with the world is known as Providence.

Prophecy is about knowing what God's intentions are, not about foretelling the future.

Help us awaken and deepen our trust in God via miracles.

4. What is the evidence for and against the idea that God somehow changes?

The evidence for God evolving is linked to his perception of a dynamic universe. This is based
on accounts of God reacting to events as they happen and demonstrating his sensitivity and love
for his creatures, which would imply that he is more sensitive to them.

His experience of the world being STATIC is the proof against God Changing. This religion
produces a stable, changeless God who can neither improve nor deteriorate (since he is already
flawless) (because he is a perfect God). As a result, he is dependable and trustworthy.

5. What is the essential meaning of the doctrine of the trinity and how did this

doctrine develops?

The doctrine's core meaning is fundamentally threefoldness in God's reality, which corresponds
to threefoldness in God's experience (Father, Son, And Holy Spirit)

HOW DID DOCTRINE COME TO BE: 1. Universe’s Architect (He is Father) 2 Jesus' lifetime
(He is God) 3. Jesus' encounter with the world (He is Holy Spirit) The idea of the trinity
combines the revelation (God's revelation in Jesus= SELF revelation) and God's identity.
 References

Goodreads.com. 2021. Reign of God — Reader Q&A. Retrieved from: