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who
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or what is god ask 10 different people
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who or what god is and you will probably
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get
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10 different answers however if you
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specifically ask
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10 christians it is likely that their
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answers will mention many of the
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following attributes
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number one god is one christianity is
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one of the world's major monotheistic
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religions
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monotheism is the belief in one god as
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opposed to believing in many gods
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the belief in one god traces back to the
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old testament figure of abraham
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abraham is considered as the founder of
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the jewish faith
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and what set the early jews apart from
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other tribes of the time
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was their belief in one god who exists
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outside of space
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and time they believed god created and
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sustained the universe
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rather than existing as one of many gods
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or deities
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inside the universe the jewish
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scriptures declare god
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is one and the jews were commanded by
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god to worship
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no other gods but me christianity began
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as a sect within judaism
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and so the belief in one god is equally
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important to christians
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as it is to jews number two
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god is eternal as we have just seen
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the belief in the existence of one god
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contains within it the idea that god is
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outside of space and
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time this means that god is not bound by
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time
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another way of saying this is that god
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is a temporal
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some might describe it as saying that
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god is timeless
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he has no beginning and end this belief
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often leads to representations of god as
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an old man
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whether these representations are
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helpful or not the point is that they
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attempt to show that god has been around
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for eternity
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you will not find the words a temporal
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or timeless in the bible
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but you will find descriptions of god as
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eternal
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revelation describes god as the alpha
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and the omega
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who was and is and is to come alpha and
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omega are the first and last letters of
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the greek alphabet
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the theologian both years suggested that
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to god all time exists at once
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he can see the past present and future
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together
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number three god is omnipotent
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omnipotent means all-powerful
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it is this belief in his omnipotence
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that allows christians to also believe
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in the following
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1. that god created the universe it is
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widely accepted that the big bang theory
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is the most accurate description of the
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early development of the universe
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and it presupposes that before the big
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bang singularity
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time and space did not exist
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christianity agrees and says that only
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an eternal and all-powerful being could
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create something from nothing
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two that god causes miracles christians
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believe that at certain points in time
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god intervenes to break the laws of
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nature
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in order to bring about something
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miraculous three
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that god can be incarnated in other
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words that god can take on human form
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while remaining the creator and
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sustainer of the universe
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the gospel of luke says nothing is
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impossible for god
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number four god is spirit earlier we
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said that god is outside space and time
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the belief that god is outside time
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leads to the view that he is eternal
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the belief that he is outside of space
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or matter
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leads to the view that he is not
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physical but is instead
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spirit the gospel of john states it very
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clearly
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god is spirit this belief has further
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implications
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firstly it means that god is not
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physical he cannot be located
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and even if an explorer could search the
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whole universe
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they would not find god in a specific
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place or time
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secondly if god is not physical this
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means he is not gendered
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he is neither male nor female although
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christians have traditionally referred
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to god in male pronouns
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the bible also uses female metaphors or
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images to describe god
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for example isaiah describes god as like
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a mother
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finally it means any representation of
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god such as an old white guy sitting on
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a cloud
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is subject to limitations and should be
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interpreted carefully and reasonably
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number five god is benevolent central to
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the christian understanding of god is
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that he is a good
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loving god he is not a malevolent or
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evil being
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furthermore he is not a neutral or
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impersonal force
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the bible describes the goodness of god
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in many ways
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psalm 86 says the lord god is gracious
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and compassionate
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the gospel of john says that it was out
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of love that god came to earth in the
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incarnation
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for god so loved the world the first
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letter of john goes further and says god
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is not just loving
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god is love god's love is demonstrated
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in his act of creation which is seen as
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a gift of life to all humanity
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god's love is also demonstrated in his
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forgiveness or mercy that he offers to
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humankind
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number six god is imminent god's
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imminence describes the belief that
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although god exists separate to the
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universe
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and in fact he could exist without the
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universe he nevertheless chooses to
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interact with the universe in space and
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time
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to put this another way god chooses to
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reveal himself to
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creation the bible is full of events
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where the writers describe
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god intervening acting within space and
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time
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for example when the israelites escaped
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from slavery and crossed the sea
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it is written god drove the sea back
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the belief in god's imminence also helps
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explain why christians describe god as
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omnipresent
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that he is everywhere while this might
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appear to be odds with the belief that
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god is outside space and time
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yet somehow is also present everywhere
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for christians this is more a reflection
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of god's sovereignty
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over all things the psalmist wrote where
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shall i go from your spirit
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in other words there is nowhere a human
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can go within creation to escape from
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god
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number seven god is personal earlier we
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said that god is loving or benevolent
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this belief also shows that god is not
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an impersonal force
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such as something you might see in a
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star wars movie but he is in fact a
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personal
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being who is able to act to choose to
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communicate
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to relate all the things that people do
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christians believe that humans can be in
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relationship with god
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and that he in fact created humans to be
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in relationship with himself
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the bible describes him as the living
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god when the authorities question
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jesus about his claims they ask are you
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the son of the living god
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this implies that god is a living being
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a being that relates
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the desires the judges that does all
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manner of things that require a
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consciousness or mind to be capable of
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doing
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number eight god is just christians
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believe that as well as being a good or
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loving god
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he is also the standard by which all
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morality is measured and defined
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god is the supreme being who sets the
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standards
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furthermore god has to be able to assess
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what is fair
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what is right what is just christians
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believe that god is the ultimate judge
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who can declare what is right and wrong
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and is therefore the source of moral
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truth
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furthermore this means that god is the
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being that will sit in judgment over
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humans both in this life
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and in the world to come christians
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believe that god oversees what happens
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to souls
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in eternity whether destined for heaven
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or hell
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finally christians believe that god is
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not just interested in seeing justice
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done in the hereafter
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but also in the present the bible and in
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particular the old testament prophets
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consistently preaches a message that
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challenges the injustices of the world
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and expects christians to act to fight
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injustice
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the bible declares the lord is a god of
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justice
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number nine god is omniscient to be
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omniscient is to be all
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knowing we saw earlier how the
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theologian botheous described god as
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seeing all
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time past present future simultaneously
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this means that god can see and
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therefore know everything that has
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and will ever happen furthermore
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christians believe that not only does
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god know everything about the physical
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world but he also knows what is
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happening within the heart or mind of
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humans
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psalm 44 says for god knows the secrets
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of the heart
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psalm 147 puts it another way his
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understanding is infinite
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god's omniscience also provides
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reassurance to christians in relation to
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the question of evil and suffering as it
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suggests that he alone knows how things
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turn out
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and therefore they are encouraged to
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trust in his knowledge and understanding
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of how to make things turn out for good
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number 10 god is holy the word holy can
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be confusing when applied to god
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when we describe a human being as being
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holy we typically mean that they are
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particularly
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devout or they are particularly moral
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however these descriptions do not apply
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well to god
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when christians describe god as holy
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they are attempting to show that he is
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perfect that he is the source of all
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goodness
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and he is completely separate or other
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to humans
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this also means that god is worthy of
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worship
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in the book of leviticus god says you
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shall be holy for i
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am holy in other words christians are
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called to give god honor and praise with
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their words and actions
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they are also called to attain or share
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in god's holiness by cooperating with
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the holy spirit
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at work within them thanks for watching
00:09:16
i've been mr mcmillan
