• UNIT 1: GOD’S NATURE AND ATTRIBUTES

    Key Unit Competence:
    Assess different theistic views on the nature of God and the related lessons
    to enhance unity, solidarity and mutual respect.

    Introductory activity

    Human inquiry about the nature and attributes of God has never ceased in
    the course of time, some related God to what they are, to what they fear or
    to what they hope to be. According to you, basing on religious experience
    as a beliver what do you understand by God, what characterizes his nature
    and action for all creations? How does God’s nature influence people
    actions and attitudes?

    The human mind has a very difficult understanding on who is the cause of
    everything while Himself is caused by none. This is what philosophers and thinkers
    refer to as “uncaused cause”. The experience teaches us that everything came
    from something else, and whatever exists must have a cause that was before
    it. When somebody asks himself or herself, “Where did God come from?” he/
    she presupposes the knowledge of the concept of cause and effect. The idea of
    source and origin are already firmly fixed in the mind of every individual. From a
    very early age, everyone intuitively knows that everything around him came from
    something else, and he/she simply extends that concept upward to God. The
    concept of God is hard to grasp, since it introduces a category with which He
    is totally unfamiliar.

    The Nature of God: God’s nature means His characteristics, His attributes,
    His qualities. “I read somewhere that man can not really know anything about
    the nature of God.” This means that God is beyond our experience.We can
    not know Him with only our mind, if He does not reveal Himself to us. From the
    begining, God has spoken to our ancestors and revealed Himself to them as
    eternal, almighty, and righteous. God continues to reveal Himself to everyone

    of us today as merciful, protector, and savior. This unit will discuss generally the
    nature of God and qualities that He shared to human beings that help them to
    live in close relationship with Him.

    1.1 Communicable and non communicable attributes of
         God

    Learning activity 1.1

    1. Using various sources of information explain the qualities of God
    identified from following passages.
    Exodus 15:11-13: “Who among the gods is like you, Lord?
        Who is like you? Majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working
        wonders? You stretch out your right hand, and the earth swallows
        your enemies.”
    Isaiah 55:8-9: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
        are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are
        higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and
        my thoughts than your thoughts.”
    2. Basing on your christian and personal relationship with God, who is
    God to you/ to your family?


    between Him as the Creator and mankind as His creatures. Some of

    these attributes are love and wisdom, mercy, knowledge, power, honesty,

    helpfulness, goodness, truth, and compassion. These communicable

    attributes find their fullest expression in God but can also be displayed

    on a smaller scale by His human image-bearers. They also regulate the

    relationship between human beings themselves. For example, when a

    person forgives the offender, manifests the attribute of mercy and pardon.

    When a person tells the truth, she/he reflects the attitudes of truth of His

    creator, These attributes are on the lower level in comparison with the

    Incommunicable attributes.


    God’s attributes are not independent but interconnected and interdependent.
    They are shared by all the three persons of the Trinity. God neither gains nor

    loses attributes. Because God is a one being, it is impossible to divide Him into

    parts, so as to separate His goodness from His wisdom. Instead, each attribute

    describes the others; for example, God’s holiness is immutable, omnipotent,

    and eternal. God’s attributes have crucial implications for our day-to-day lives.

    Hence, an accurate understanding of God is foundational to know Him, serve

    Him, and become like Him.


    A. Incommunicable Attributes of God
    All theistic religious teachings agree on the attributes of God and the most

    supreme being who does not have neither beginning nor end. The following are

    some attributes that are reserved for God alone.


    Infinite Nature and Self-Existence of God
    One of the attributes that most distinguishes God from mankind is His infinite

    nature. The word infinitude or infinity refers to His eternal self-existence. God

    has always been in existence: In the beginning, God was present (Genesis.

    1:1). God is everlasting and His rule over the universe is everlasting (Isaiah

    40:28; Psalms. 93:2). He created heaven and earth. He is Alpha and Omega

    (Rev.1:8) He is the Lord who was and is and is to come (Revelation 4:8-9).

    Human beings and other creatures have a beginning and have an end. They

    have time and place of origin. God does not have a time or place of origin; He

    is the source of All Things. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the

    end.


    The finite universe owes its existence to the infinite God. God is eternal. This
    means that before the creation of time and space, the triune God existed eternally

    without anything or anyone else in the universe. He created everything we see

    because of his own glory. God’s act of creation therefore displays His love and

    majesty. God is the source of all life. Because He is completely self-existent,

    He is not caused by or dependent upon anything outside Himself (John 5:26).

    As His creatures, our physical life, spiritual life, and even eternal life with Him, all

    have God as their source (Acts of the Apostles 17:28).

    Scripture indicate that all things are “from him and through him and to him”

    (Romans. 11:36). This can be expressed in the following words:

    That all things are “from Him”: God indicates that He is the source of
        all things.

    That all things are “through Him”: God indicates that He is the means
       of all things.

    That all things are “to Him”: God indicates that He is the goal of all
        things.


    All human beings are Children of an Infinite Father and are made to live in
    fellowship with Him. The greater our understanding of who God is, the more our

    own hearts become filled with contentment and satisfaction in Him. Through

    his words in the Bible, He always invites us to bring all our concerns to Him

    and trust Him with everything. However, compared to His greatness and self-

    sufficiency, all things in our lives are small; yet, He invites us to come to Him

    anyway. God does not need us or the rest of creation to survive. We glorify

    and bring Him joy for our interest. He is All-sufficient. Do not think that God

    created people because he was living lonely. By nature, God has no source,

    while other creatures came from, are ruled, permitted and controlled by Him. He

    is a sovereign God (Ephesians 1:11).


    Omnipresence and Omnipotence of God
    Omnipresence of God
    The concept “omni” comes from a latin word which means “all”. Human beings

    are limited by space and time. When confronted with coincident demands on

    our time, we often excuse ourselves by stating that we can not be in two places

    at once. God, however, is everywhere at once. The biblical teaching of God’s

    omnipresence demonstrates that there is no place in heaven or earth, nor the

    entire universe, where God is not present in the fullness of His being (Psalms

    139:7–10; Jeremiah 23:23–25, Joshua1:15; 1 Chronicles16:34; Psalms

    33:11; Hebrews 13:5). He is also present in all hearts and in our lives


    The doctrine of divine omnipresence teaches that God is at the same time present
    in every part of the universe. As a spiritual being, God does not experience spatial

    constraints and is not barred from any location. Moreover, when God is present

    in all places, He is present in the fullness of His being. God is everywhere and

    at the same time because of his spiritual nature. Scripture attests that God rules

    from the highest place and His influence is everywhere.

    Christians in all places and times can trust that their God is in absolute control and

    is actively at work in their lives. The God who is exalted on high (transcendent) is

    also present with His people (immanent). Scripture affirms God’s commitment

    to His creation and His people. So God accompanies His people in the valley

    of the shadow of death (Psalms. 23:4). God is present on earth and in heaven

    (Deuteronomy. 4:39). God dwells both in the high places and with the humble

    and lowly (Isaiah. 57:15). God will be with His children to the end of the age

    (Matthew. 28:20), never leaving or forsaking them (Hebrews. 13:5).


    In our daily christian life, the doctrine of God’s omnipresence offers tremendous
    encouragement telling us that God is with us in the midst of trial and adversity.

    God is committed to His people and never forsake them. Since God alone is

    omnipresent, Satan is spatially finite and we must rely upon God’s power and

    presence in spiritual warfare.


    Again, the doctrine of divine omnipresence also offers a grave warning to those
    who oppose God. They can never flee from Him. It is also a warning to those

    who experience God’s common grace but do not respond in faith. They will one

    day experience divine punishment.


    Omnipotence of God
    The term “potent” means “powerful”. God is Almighty. The power of God is

    unlimited (Ephesians 1:18-23; Hebrews 6:18; John 10:17-18; Psalms147:5;

    Ephesians3:20-21; 1Peter 5:6; John 15:5; Genesis 17:1; John 32:17; Matthew

    19:26.


    The Omnipotence of God is linked to His supremacy: the greatness, the power,
    the glory, the victory and majesty of God (1Chronicles 29:11-12). God has also

    ability to care, to guide and to protect his creatures: which is His providence
    .
    God is then our refuge and protector. Humility, respect and to live peacefully are

    the values that should characterize us.


    To say that God is sovereign is not to say merely that He is stronger than everyone
    else, although this is true. Rather, to call Him sovereign is to ascribe to Him a

    rule and authority that transcends space and time, leaving nothing outside its

    scope as the biblical passages highlights it (Psalms 33:1–22; Psalms 93:1).

    God’s reign and sovereignty mean his rule and reign over all things. He is most

    powerful and has the authority over everything. All things belong to God and

    exists for His Glory. Therefore, in all circumstances, God is at work for the glory

    of His name and the good of His people (Romans. 8:28).

    Omniscience of God

    God possesses perfect knowledge. Therefore, He has no need to learn. He has

    never learned and cannot learn “All knowing”. It is impossible to hide anything

    from God, visible or invisible (Proverbs 15:13; Psalms 33:13; 1Chronicles

    28:9). The knowledge and wisdom of God supersede that of human being.

    God is wise at the level He devises perfect ends and to achieve that ends by

    the perfect means. So God makes no mistakes (Romans 11:33). The following

    are important things for knowing more about the Omniscience of God:

    God’s knowledge is intuitive, not discursive. Human knowledge comes to
       us by way of observation, reasoning, comparison, induction, deduction,

       and so on. In other words, we learn. But God’s knowledge is intuitive,

       by which is meant that it is innate and immediate. Therefore, God does

       not learn: He simply knows. He neither discovers nor forgets.


    God’s knowledge is also simultaneous, not successive. He sees things
        at once and in their totality, whereas we know only as the objects of

        knowledge are brought before us, one bit after another. With God the

        act of perception is complete and instantaneous. God thinks about all

        things at once.


    God’s knowledge is independent, not dependent. He does not receive
       his knowledge from anyone or from anything external to himself.


    God’s knowledge is infallible, not subject to error. As Ronald Nash has
        said, “Divine omniscience means that God holds no false beliefs. Not

        only are all of God’s beliefs true, the range of His knowledge is total; He

        knows all true propositions”. God is always correct in what he knows.


    God’s knowledge is infinite, not partial. “Known unto God are all His
        works from the beginning of the world” (Acts of Apostles 15:18). God

        knows exhaustively all his own deeds and plans. He also knows us

        thoroughly and exhaustively. No secret of the human heart, no thought

        of the mind or feeling of the soul escapes his gaze. (1 Chronicles.

        28:9a; Proverbs. 15:3; Psalms. 69:5; 139:1-4; Isaiah. 40:27-

        28; Ezekiel. 11:5; Jeremiah. 17:9-10; 1Kings 8:39; Matthew. 6:8; Acts

        of Apostles 1:24; Hebrews. 4:13; 1 John 3:20.)


    God has exhaustive foreknowledge over all things that come to pass,
        including the morally accountable choices made by men and women.

       God alone declares what is to come. God alone knows the future, for

       God alone has ordained it. The truth of God’s omniscience should

       affect our worship and adoration of him.

    God’s knowledge of the secrets of our hearts should have a profound
       influence on our personal and practical holiness: If a man’s conscience

       easily follows something that is sensible under the knowledge of God,

       temptations have no encouragement to come near him that is constantly

       armed with the thoughts that his sin is booked in God’s omniscience

    The knowledge of God is fearful of sin. It is also the foundation of
       comfort and assurance. If God is omniscient, then he knows the worst

       about us, but loves us notwithstanding! The apostle John writes: “This

       then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our

       hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For

       God is greater than our hearts and He knows everything” (1 John 3:19-


    Holiness and Immutability of God

    Holiness of God:

    This attribute refers to God’s majesty and His perfect moral purity. There is no
    sin or evil thought in God at all: pure and righteous in the entire universe. God

    is separated from sin. God is also incorruptible. God is Holy. From Isaiah, this

    holiness is explained in God’s infinite majesty and glory (Isaiah 6:1-5). Other

    text related text are 1Peter 1:16, Psalms 22:3; Isaiah 57:15; Revelation 6:10;

    John17:11; 1Samuel 2:2; Psalms 77:13; Luke1:49ss.


    The Hebrew word translated into English as “holy” primarily indicates separation
    or the act of setting apart. The Holiness is one of the most prominent attributes

    of God. It highlights His separation from creation as the infinitely superior One

    and His absolute moral purity (Exodus 15:11; Isaiah 6:1–7).


    The holiness of God surpasses everything that exists. God is therefore distinctly
    and infinitely superior to His creation and His creatures. To say that God is holy

    is to ascribe to Him kingly majesty (Exodus. 15:11; Psalms. 22:3). i. God’s glory

    is too difficult for human beings to behold or comprehend. The church is at its

    strongest when it recognizes and honours the holiness of God.


    God is completely without sin or moral blemish hence his all of God’s decisions
    and judgments are perfect. Being totally and infinitely Holy, God is not neutral

    toward good or evil. God takes delight in all that is true, worthy, and upright.


    Because God’s very nature is one of purity, He loves sinners but cannot tolerate
    sin. It is only through the righteousness of Jesus Christ that guilty sinners can

    be reconciled to God.

    Immutability of God

    “I am the Lord, and I do not change that is why you descendants of Jacob are

    not destroyed” (Malachi 3:6). God is always the same yesterday today and

    tomorrow. God is unchangeable in His being. This attribute shows the quality

    of the unchanging nature of God (Isaiah 46:9-11; Ezekiel. 24:14; James1:17;

    Psalms 3:11; John17:15; 2 Timothy1:9; Numbers 23:19). In our daily life, we

    must develop the value of honesty.


    In human experience it is hard for anyone to go a day, even an hour, without
    changing in some way. Our actions, plan, desires, thoughts and emotions are

    in a constant state of changing. God, however, never changes His mind or His

    course of action in the world. The biblical view of God’s immutability, showing

    how His character, word, plan, and salvation never change (Psalm 102:25–28;

    Isaiah 14:26–27). God neither lies nor takes back what He has said (Number.

    23:19).


    Fallen human beings, on the other hand, tend to twist the truth, change their
    minds, or mislead others intentionally or unintentionally. Even human laws

    change, but God’s Word stands forever (Isaiah. 40:8). d. Jesus taught that it

    would be easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a single stroke of

    God’s law to fail to be accomplished (Luke 16:17).


    In all generations, God’s standards are the same, and His plan of salvation is the
    same and unchangeable. God’s eternal decrees can never be altered. God’s

    plan for salvation did not change. Though God’s redemptive work advances

    throughout human history, His plan of salvation has remained unchanged. The

    spiritual rebirth that believers experience is a new birth unto eternal life and is

    not a merely short-term sample of divine favour. God’s promises to believers are

    given unconditionally and with absolute certainty.


    Mercifulness of God
    Both the Old and the New Testaments underline the merciful nature of God.

    Sometimes the punishment of God went with His forgiveness. This can be

    understood when one considers how God dealt with Israel as chosen nation

    in several instances of their rebellion. God Himself declares,
    For your God is
    Merciful God, He will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with

    your ancestors” (Deuteronomy 4:31)


    The mercy of God refers to God’s goodness. God is Merciful at the level our sins
    cannot inhibit His good plan for us. Into the New Testament Jesus highlighted the

    mercy of the Father where He invites us to do the same among us, “be merciful,

    just as your Father is Merciful” (Luke 6:36). The mercy and kindness of God

    cover the heaven and the earth and they are uncountable (Psalms 35:6; 57:70;

    108:8; Revelation 4:3; Exodus 34:6; Micah 7:18; Isaiah 27:7; Lamentations

    3:33; Jeremiah 44:22; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Job 10:15; Hosea 14:4; Psalms 51:1;

    Romans 3:34; Deuteronomy 29:19-20). The values to be developed in our daily

    lives are sharing, helping, tolerance, and empathy. God’s saving grace is super-

    abound. There is no amount of sin that God cannot forgive.


    Mercifulness also means that, when we deserve punishment, He doesn’t
    punish us, and in fact blesses us instead. Mercy is the withholding of a just

    condemnation. Throughout the Bible, God gives many illustrations of His mercy.

    For Christians, The fullness of his mercy was fulfilled in in Jesus Christ.


    Examples of God’s mercifulness:
    God was merciful to Solomon in 1 Kings 11:13.
    God was merciful to Israel in captivity (Psalm 106:45; Nehemiah 9:31).
    David illustrated God’s mercy when he showed kindness to
        Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9:7).

    God’s mercy was illustrated every year on the Day of Atonement, when
        the high priest entered the Holiest Place and sprinkled the blood of the

        sacrifice before the mercy seat (Leviticus 16:14).

    Another example of God’s mercy is found in Matthew 18:23–27. In
       this parable, Jesus describes a rich ruler who was owed a large sum of

        money. The ruler ordered that money be collected, but then the debtor

        came and begged for mercy. The ruler, in turn, graciously forgives the

        debt.


    Mercy is coupled with other attributes of God in Psalms 86:15, “You, O Lord,
    are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love

    and faithfulness”


    God’s mercy is originating from His love for us. He is merciful, because He is
    love (1 John 4:8). As sinners, we deserve punishment (Romans 3:23). Since

    God does love us and is merciful, He sent His Son (John 3:16). The fullness of

    His mercy is seen in Matthew 27. Jesus is brutally beaten and murdered on our

    behalf; Jesus received our just condemnation, and we received God’s mercy.

    Because of His love, God wants us to be with Him. There is an inseparable

    connection between God’s love and mercy. Jesus laid down His life and

    became the sacrificial lamb (Isaiah 53:7; John 1:29) so that God’s mercy could

    be extended to us. That is the ultimate act of God’s mercy (Ephesians 2:4–5).

    To our eternal benefit, “mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13b).


    To the list of non-communicable attributes the following are also very inportant

    Sovereignty :God is the supreme being who answers to no one and
        who has the absolute right to do with his creation as he desires (1

       Timothy 6:15; Isaiah 46:10).

    Spirit :God exists completely and sufficiently as an immaterial being--
        without physical characteristics (John 4:24; Luke 24:39).

    Transcendence :God’s transcendence is the product of the
        relationship between God’s essence and creation. God transcends

        space and time in that he is not dependent on them nor affected by

        them (Psalm 139:7-10).

    Uniqueness :God alone is God. There is no one like him. He is
       completely “other” than all things that exist (Isaiah 43:10; 44:6-7).


    B. Communicable attributes of God
    Communicable attributes are shared to Humans because they were created in

    the image of God. They regulate and keep the relationship between the creator

    and Humans and between humans themselves.


    “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ
    loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God”

    (
    Ephesians 5:1-2).

    The Lord also has communicable attributes, or attributes that He shares with
    human beings to at least some degree. Passages such as
    Genesis 1:26-27,
    which teaches that we are made in God’s image, presuppose that there are

    some things that human beings hold in common with the Creator that other

    creatures do not. We are like God in ways that nothing else in creation is like

    God, although we are not so like Him that there is no distinction between Creator

    and creature. Furthermore, Paul’s exhortation to imitate God in today’s passage

    also indicates that human beings, have the capacity to reflect the character of

    the Lord and His attributes in who they are and what they do (
    Ephesians. 5:1).

    When we speak of God’s communicable attributes, we are referring primarily
    to His moral attributes such as love, goodness, and kindness. In one sense, we

    must not forget that there is a basic incommunicability of even these attributes,

    for insofar as such things as the love and goodness of God are infinite, we

    cannot imitate them. Nevertheless, because we bear God’s image, there is a

    manner in which we exhibit these attributes by way of analogy. For example, the

    kind of love we have as creatures is not identical to the kind of love our Creator

    possesses. However, at the same time, our love is not wholly dissimilar, such

    that there is no point of contact whatsoever with the love of God. Our Creator

    loves truly that which is lovely. As regenerate people, we possess the capacity

    to do the same.

    Consider also God’s attribute of holiness. The holiness of God encompasses
    several concepts, including the fact that He is inherently set apart from creation
    and that He is morally pure, without any hint of darkness or sin. We cannot
    possess holiness in the sense of being inherently set apart from creation;
    however, by the renewing work of God’s Spirit, Christians are continually
    purified over the course of our lives (1 John 3:3).

    Space prohibits us from studying all the Lord’s communicable attributes. We
    close today with a brief look at wisdom. Our Creator is the “only wise God”
    (Romans 16:27), but in His grace, He shares His wisdom with us. In our
    fallenness, we are foolish creatures, but our Lord has given us His Word, by
    which He grants us wisdom by His Spirit (Proverbs. 1:1-7).
    – Goodness: Being good can only be understood in relationship to God
        and his character. Humans can be good in relation to one another, but
        their standard is subjective. Therefore, true goodness is understood
        in light of the revelation of God in his Word. We can emulate the
        goodness of God, but we can never be perfectly good.

    – Justice :Where God always does what is perfectly right according to
        the law, we do not behave perfectly. We can be lawful, and in so doing
        we emulate the perfect justice of God.

    – Knowledge :Where God knows all things (1 John 3:20), we only know
        partially. Our knowledge is incomplete and always will be incomplete.

    – Love :God is love (1 John 4:8) and expresses his love perfectly through
      Jesus. Because we are touched by sin, our expression of love towards
       others will always be tainted. But we are still able to express it.

    – Rationality : God’s mind is perfectly rational since all that God
        possesses in knowledge and wisdom necessitates his perfect thought.
       We, on the other hand, are imperfectly rational. Our conclusions and
       deductions are not always correct. They cannot be since we are
       affected by sin and do not have all knowledge.

    – Mercy : God s merciful.Mercy is not getting what we deserve. We
        can exhibit mercy to others though we do not always do it properly and
        perfectly.

    – Speech : We can speak and communicate. This is an attribute we
        possess, but our communications are never perfect. An attribute of
        God is his speech. He said “let there be light” (Genesis 1:3), and it
         was so. God always speaks truth, and it contains power. Our speech
         is not always true, nor does it contain the same creative power as God’s
         speech.

    – Truthfulness
    :Truth is a quality where statements properly reflect
         actuality, but it is also a quality of character possessed by God. We
        can be truthful, but our ability to be truthful is damaged in part because
        of our lack of all knowledge and also because of our sin.

    – Wisdom :People are capable of expressing wisdom, which is the
       proper use of knowledge. But this is best done in light of scriptural
       revelation. We can possess wisdom but not perfectly. God, however,
       possesses wisdom perfectly and always makes the right decisions as
       well as the best ways to accomplish his decisions.

    The standard for true love, wisdom, kindness, justice, and so on is the character
    of God Himself. This means that we cannot define these moral qualities without
    reference to the Lord and that we cannot base our understanding of these
    qualities on the way the world understands them.

    Application activity 1.1

    1. With clear examples differenciate communicable from
    Incommuncable attributes of God.
    2. Eplain how the following attributes are communicable and show
    the their importance to humanity.
    a) Goodness
    b) Truth
    c) Knowledge/wisdom
    d) Jusitce
    e) Love

    1.2 Oneness and Trinity of God

    Learning Activity 1.2

    Read the following Biblical textract and answer the following questions

    After Jesus finished saying this, “I have made you known to those you gave
    me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me. They
    have obeyed your word, and now they know that everything you gave me
    comes from you. I gave them the message that you gave me, and they
    received it; they know that it is true that I came from you, and they believe
    that you sent me.... Father! May they be in us, just as you are in me and I
    am in you. May they be one, so that the world will believe that you sent me.
    I gave them the same glory you gave me, so that “they may be one, just
    as you and I are one”
    , so that “they may be completely one”, in order
    that the world may know that you sent me and that you love them as you
    love me. John 17: 20-23.
    – Basing on the two bolded sentences what is the pray of Jesus
       about?
    – Basing on the content of the prayer, what is the relationship between
       Human race, Jesus and God to whom the prayer is addressed?

    Christian views of oneness of God
    God is the source and end of all things; uncreated, sufficient, necessary being;
    infinite, immeasurable, eternal; all-present, all-knowing, all-powerful, creator,
    redeemer, and consummator of all things; immanent without ceasing to be
    transcendent, Holy One present in our midst; absolutely free, self-determining,
    spiritual, responsive; whose operations are incomparably good, holy, righteous,
    just, benevolent, loving, gracious, merciful, forbearing,

    1. God’s creation. We recognize the invisible God and his eternal love,
          power and glory by observing his visible creation. “For since the creation
          of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by
          the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that
          they are without excuse” (Romans 1: 20).

    2. Divine revelation, which culminated into the incarnation of the Word
          (Son) of God in Christ. “No one has seen God at any time. The only
          begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him”
          (John 1: 18). “Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the
          one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matthew 11: 27). “And we
          know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding,
          that we may know Him who is true” (1 John 5: 20).

    The Holy Trinity is one of the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. God
    is ONE single undivided divine essence (being) distinguished in three distinct
    Persons: God the Father, His Word/Wisdom (God the Son), and His Holy Spirit
    (God the Holy Spirit). Unlike the divine essence, which is ONE uncreated and
    unique, human nature is one but not unique because it is reproduced every time
    a human being is born. The one triune God has existed since eternity’s past well
    before his creation. He is eternal. He has no beginning and no end. There was
    never a time when God the Father existed without his Word/Wisdom (Son) or
    his Holy Spirit (life). God is accommodating his eternal truth to the limitations of
    human language and mind, just as, for example, a human father must use simple
    language when trying to explain something difficult to his child.

    Because of the single undivided divine essence of the Godhead, the three
    divine Persons of the Holy Trinity have only one single will or energy. This
    means that no one of the three divine Persons acts independently from the other
    Persons. There is always mutual concurrence (John 5: 19; 10: 30).

    The three divine Persons are of the same one undivided essence, and have, by
    their very nature, the same attributes without distinction pertaining to eternity,
    will, energy, power, glory and authority. The distinction between them is based
    on their hypostatic attributes (properties) which are incommunicable: the Father
    – original cause, unbegottenness, and paternity; the Son – begottenness (from
    the Father) and sonship; and the Holy Spirit – procession (from the Father).
    God the Father does not make God the Son and the Holy Spirit any more than
    a mother makes her child.

    Within the single divine operation, each Divine Person shows forth what is
    proper and distinctive to him in the Holy Trinity: the Father is primarily but not
    exclusively the creator of all (God above us). The Son (the Word/Wisdom of
    God the Father) is primarily but not exclusively the one by whom all things were
    made, and through whom redemption is effected (God with us). The Holy Spirit
    is primarily but not exclusively the life giving and sanctifying principle (God in
    us and in all creation). The one God is present in all the triune acts and out
    workings.

    The Divine Persons are interior one to the other and, hence, receive nothing
    from outside – but they are not confused with one another since they find
    themselves within a perpetual movement and communion of being and love.
    This total interpersonal communion intensifies the personal character of God
    to the highest degree. The perfect unity of the divine Persons in the Holy Trinity
    is based on perfect love characterized by complete self-denial. The concept
    of egoism does not exist in this unity. The Holy Spirit, the third divine Person
    of the Holy Trinity, is the comforter that establishes our communion with God.

    Through the Holy Spirit, God dwells in the Christian believer. The Holy Spirit
    progressively sanctifies and deifies the Christian believer in Christ. Through the
    Holy Spirit, the Christian believer participates in the energies of God. We can
    say that: the Spirit is God within us, the Son is God with us, and the Father is
    God beyond us.

    It is important to emphasize the fact that a unipersonal god is an eternally lone
    person confined within his own being with no other to love, cannot experience
    the fullness of the interpersonal essential godly attributes of the exceedingly rich
    communion, love and self-giving expressed from all eternity’s past within the
    relationship of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. The interpersonal attributes
    of the Biblical God (e.g. love, communication, empathy, and self-giving) have
    been expressed from all eternity within the relationship among the three persons
    of the Holy Trinity.

    Biblical teaching on the Holy Trinity
    The biblical teaching on the Holy Trinity is rooted in the Old Testament, which
    points to it. Therefore, the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity is an elaboration
    of traditional Jewish theology. According to some notable Jewish scholars, views
    on the Holy Trinity were present among Jews of Jesus time.

    Christ, the promised Messiah, has spoken through the prophet Isaiah about
    seven hundred years before His incarnation and birth (Come near to Me, hear
    this: I - the Son, have not spoken in secret from the beginning. From the time
    that it was, I was there, and now the Lord God (the Father) and His Spirit have
    sent Me” (Isaiah 48: 16; 42: 1; Genesis 3: 22). “The Spirit of the Lord God (the
    Father) is upon Me (the Son), because the Lord has anointed Me to preach
    good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim
    liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound”
    (Isaiah 61: 1; 63: 7-10).

    In both verses, the Lord God is God the Father, and the Spirit of the Lord God is
    the Holy Spirit. God appeared to Abraham in the form of three men. They spoke
    to him as One, and Abraham worshiped the One (Genesis 18: 1-5, 9-19).
    Abraham lived about 2000 years before Christ. The angels glorify God in the
    heavenly realm by singing the hymn of the Three-Holies: “Holy, holy, holy is the
    Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory” (Isaiah 6: 3b; Revelation 4: 8).

    The New Testament amplifies, clarifies, and emphasizes the doctrine of the
    Holy Trinity. It affirms both the deity and the unity of the Father, his Word (the
    Son), and his Holy Spirit, for there are three that bear witness in heaven: the
    Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. “And the angel
    answered and said to her (Mary), ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the

    power of the Highest (the Father) will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy
    One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1: 35). “And the Holy
    Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him (Jesus), and a voice came
    from heaven which said, ‘You are My beloved Son; in You I (the Father) am well
    pleased” (Luke 3:22; Matthew 3: 16-17; 17: 2-5; Acts 20: 28). The baptismal
    formula affirms the divinity, the distinctness, the equality, and the unity of the
    Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the
    nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
    Spirit” (Matthew 28: 19; 16: 15-17).

    The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are distinguished and all present at Jesus
    baptism (Matthew 3: 16-17). St. Paul’s threefold apostolic benediction joins
    together equally and distinctly the Christ (the Son), God (the Father), and the
    Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13: 14). The Holy Spirit of God the Father declares the
    Son: “By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus
    Christ has come in the flesh is of God (the Father), and every spirit that does
    not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the
    spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in
    the world” (1 John 4: 2-3). The Holy Spirit is a divine Person in the Holy Trinity,
    who proceeds from the Father and is sent by both the Father and the Son, as
    Christ said: “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the
    Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me”
    (John 15: 26; Colossians 1:13-16; Hebrews 1: 1-4). The unity of the triune
    God is perfected due to the following:

    1. The three divine Persons of the Holy Trinity: the Father, his Word (the
         Son), and his Holy Spirit are of the same one undivided divine essence.
         They are of the same one undivided divine substance and nature.
    2. Although there are three divine Persons in the Godhead, there is only one
         will and one common energy in the Godhead. The Father, the Son, and
         the Holy Spirit have only one and the same divine will, not three; and
         only one divine energy, not three. Therefore, there can never be conflict
         of wills within the Godhead. None of the three divine Persons ever acts
         separately from the other two. They are one God, not three gods. Christ
         said: “I and My Father are one” (John 10: 30).

    3. There is only one source in the Godhead: God the Father. He is the only
         unoriginated origin in the Godhead. God the Son is begotten by God the
        Father. God the Holy Spirit proceeds from God the Father.

    4. Each of the three divine Persons of the triune God dwells and exists in
        the other two, without confusion or separation: “Jesus said to him, ‘Have
        I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip? He who
        has seen me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the

       Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?
       The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the
       Father who dwells in Me does the works” (John 14: 9-10).

    5. “God is love” (1 John 4: 8b). Ontologically, God is a being of absolute
        divine love. Love is the very mode of God’s triune being as a unity. The
        unceasing mutual perfect infinite divine love characterizes the personal
        divine relations of the three divine Persons of the Holy Trinity. The human
        desire for love reflects this divine reality.

    The Christian profession of faith which begins with God, for God is the First and
    the Last, the beginning and the end of everything. For example, the catholic Credo
    begins with God the Father, for the Father is the first divine person of the Most
    Holy Trinity; our Creed begins with the creation of heaven and earth, for creation
    is the beginning and the foundation of all God’s works. (CCC: 200) I believe
    in one God. These are the words with which the Niceno-Constantinopolitan
    Creed begins.

    The confession of God’s oneness, which has its roots in the divine revelation of
    the Old Covenant, is inseparable from the profession of God’s existence and is
    equally fundamental. God is unique; there is only one God: “The Christian faith
    confesses that God is one in nature, substance and essence.

    (CCC 201) To Israel, his chosen, God revealed himself as the only One: “Hear,
    O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God
    with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” Through the
    prophets, God calls Israel and all nations to turn to him, the one and only God:
    “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is
    no other.. . To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. ‘Only in the
    Lord, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength

    The Old Testament testifies that Jesus is God “Before me there was no God
    formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me
    there is no saviour” (Isaiah 43:10-11). “Is there a God beside me? yea, there is
    no God; I know not any” (Isaiah 44:8 ). “Remember the former things of old: for
    I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me” (Isaiah
    46:9).

    The New Testament Testifies That Jesus is God “There is none other God
    but one” (I Corinthians 8:4). “But to us there is but one God, the Father” (I
    Corinthians 8:6). “But God is one” (Galatians 3:20). “For there is one God” (I
    Timothy 2:5). “you believe that there is one God; you do well: the devils also
    believe, and tremble” (James 2:19).

    Definition of the doctrine of the Trinity Trinitarianism is the belief that there are
    three persons in one God. This has been stated in various ways, such as “one
    God in three Persons” and “three persons in one substance.” It holds that in
    God are three distinctions of essence, not just of activity.

    • Islamic view on oneness of Allah (God)
    Muslims worship the same God as the Jews and Christians,Allah but they
    believe, above all else, that Allah, or God, is the sole divine deity, who does not
    share his divinity with other partners. There are three traditional categories of
    Tawhid: the Oneness of Lordship, the Oneness of Worship, and the Oneness
    of Allah’s Names.

    Oneness of the godhead is the fundamental principle of all heavenly religions
    and a specialty of the religion of Islam. Divine prophets called people to belief
    in oneness of God and monotheism and prohibited them from polytheism and
    duality. The Holy Prophet of Islam began his mission with monotheism and in
    the first stage announced: Say ‘there is no god except Allah’.

    Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are all considered monotheistic faiths, but for
    Islam, the principle of monotheism exists to an extreme degree. For Muslims, even
    the Christian principle of the Holy Trinity is seen as a detraction from the essential
    “oneness” of God. Islamic belief encourages absolute and strict monotheism.
    The Arabic term Tawhid is used to describe this belief in the absolute Oneness
    of God. Tawhid comes from an Arabic word meaning “unification” or “oneness”.

    Muslims believe, above all else, that Allah, or God, is the sole divine deity,
    who does not share his divinity with other partners. There are three traditional
    categories of Tawhid: the Oneness of Lordship, the Oneness of Worship, and
    the Oneness of Allah’s Names. These categories overlap but help Muslims to
    understand and purify their faith and worship.

    • Oneness of Lordship
    Muslims believe that Allah caused all things to exist. Allah is the only one who
    created and maintains all things. Allah is not in need of help or assistance over
    creation. While Muslims greatly respect their prophets, including Mohammad
    and Jesus, they firmly separate them from Allah. On this point, the Quran says:
    “Who is it that provides you with sustenance out of heaven and earth, or who is
    it that has full power over your hearing and sight? And who is it that brings forth
    the living out of that which is dead, and brings forth the dead out of that which
    is alive? And who is it that governs all that exists?” (Quran 10:31).

    • Oneness of Worship

    Because Allah is the sole creator and maintainer of the universe, it is to Allah
    alone that Muslims direct their worship. Throughout history, people have
    engaged in prayer, invocation, fasting, supplication, and even animal or human
    sacrifice for the sake of nature, people, and false deities. Islam teaches that the
    only being worthy of worship is Allah. Allah alone is worthy of prayers, praise,
    obedience, and hope. Islam condemns all activities that are intended to worship
    others God. Whoever is involved in idolatry commits a grave sin of shirk which
    is unforgivable in Islam.

    • Oneness of Allah’s Attributes and Names
    The Quran is filled with descriptions of Allah’s nature, often through attributes and
    special names. The Merciful, the All-Seeing, the Magnificent, etc. are all names
    which describe Allah’s nature. Allah is seen as distinct from his creation. As
    human beings, Muslims believe that one may strive to understand and emulate
    certain values, but Allah alone has these attributes perfectly, in full, and in their
    entirety.

    Application activity 1.2

    1. “God is one in Trinity”. Baisng on the clear and precise biblical text,
         discuss this Christian affirmation.
    2. Discuss the Islamic view of Oneness of God.


    1.3 Qualities from the Oneness and from other attributes of
           God
    Learning activity 1.3

    1. Discuss the following Rwandese saying: Ijambo ryiza ni mugenzi
         w’Imana.
    2. Using various resources identify and discuss qualities that humans
         have and are given by God himself to God.
    3. What is the importance of the identified qualities


    God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male
    and female he created them. Man occupies a unique place in creation and was
    given special ability and duties in the world according to creation account. Of
    all visible creatures only man is able to know and love his creator. He is the only
    creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake, and he alone is called
    to share, by knowledge and love, in God’s own life. It was for this end that he
    was created, and this is the fundamental reason for his dignity, he is able to
    taste the eternal attributes such as goodness, justice, truth, Love, Holiness and
    perfection (CCC 356).

    Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a
    person which other creatures do not possess.. A human being is capable of
    self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into
    communion with other persons. And he is called by grace to a covenant with
    his Creator, to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature can
    give in his stead. God created everything for man, but man in turn was created
    to serve and love God and to offer all creation back to him.

    It is man that great and wonderful living creature, more precious in the eyes of
    God than all other creatures! For him the heavens and the earth, the sea and
    all the rest of creation exist. God attached so much importance to his salvation
    that he did not spare his own Son for the sake of man. Nor does he ever cease
    to work, trying every possible means, until he has raised man up to himself and
    made him sit at his right hand. “In reality it is only in the mystery of the Word
    made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear.

    St. Paul tells us that the human race takes its origin from two men: Adam and
    Christ. The first man, Adam, he says, became a living soul, the last Adam a life-
    giving spirit. The first Adam was made by the last Adam, from whom he also
    received his soul, to give him life. The second Adam stamped his image on the
    first Adam when he created him. That is why he took on himself the role and
    the name of the first Adam, in order that he might not lose what he had made in
    his own image. The first Adam, the last Adam: the first had a beginning, the last
    knows no end. The last Adam is indeed the first; as he himself says: I am the
    first and the last.

    • Unity of human race
    Because of its common origin the human race forms a unity, for “from one
    ancestor God made all nations to inhabit the whole earth”. The human race is in
    the unity because it originates from one God. The unity of its nature, composed
    equally in all men and women of different races, colours and nationalities made
    of a material body and a spiritual soul; in the unity of its immediate end and its
    mission in the world; in the unity of its dwelling, the earth, whose benefits all
    men without discrimation, by right of nature, may use to sustain and develop
    life; in the unity of its supernatural end: God himself, to whom all ought to tend
    and to end. «This seems to be the law of human solidarity and charity”, without
    excluding the rich variety of persons, cultures and peoples, assures us that all
    men are truly brothers and sisers.

    The human person, created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal
    and spiritual. The biblical account expresses this reality in symbolic language
    when it affirms that “then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and
    breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Man
    or human race is therefore entirely willed by God”.

    In Sacred Scripture the term “soul” often refers to human life or the entire
    human person. But “soul” also refers to the innermost aspect of man, that which
    is of greatest value in him, that by which he is most especially in God’s image:
    “soul” signifies the spiritual principle in man.

    The human body shares in the dignity of “the image of God”: it is a human body
    precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it is the whole human
    person that is intended to become, in the body of Christ, a temple of the Spirit.

    Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity. Through his very bodily condition
    he sums up in himself the elements of the material world. Through him they are
    thus brought to their highest perfection and can raise their voice in praise freely
    given to the Creator. For this reason man may not despise his bodily life. Rather
    he is obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honor since God has
    created it and will raise it up on the last day.

    The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be
    the “form” of the body i.e., it is because of its spiritual soul that the body made
    of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two
    natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature.

    Equality, interdependance between Women and Men
    Man and woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God: on the one
    hand, in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respective
    beings as man and woman. “Being man” or “being woman” is a reality which is
    good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity which
    comes to them immediately from God their Creator. Man and woman are both
    with one and the same dignity “in the image of God”. In their “being-man” and
    “being-woman”, they reflect the Creator’s wisdom and goodness.

    In no way is God in man’s image. He is neither man nor woman. God is pure
    spirit in which there is no place for the difference between the sexes. But the
    respective “perfections” of man and woman reflect something of the infinite
    perfection of God: those of a mother and those of a father and husband.

    God created man and woman together for complementarity and unity. The
    Word of God gives us to understand this through various features of the sacred
    text. “It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for
    him”. The woman God «fashions» from the man›s rib and brings to him elicits on
    the man›s part a cry of wonder, an exclamation of love and communion: «This at
    last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”. All these biblical text show that
    Men and women share the same humanity.

    Man and woman were made “for each other” not that God left them half-made
    and incomplete: he created them to be a communion of persons, in which each
    can be “helpmate” to the other, for they are equal as persons (“bone of my
    bones. . .”) and complementary as masculine and feminine. In marriage God
    unites them in such a way that, by forming “one flesh”, they can transmit human
    life: «Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.» By transmitting human life to their
    descendants, man and woman as spouses and parents cooperate in a unique
    way in the Creator›s work.

    In God›s plan man and woman have the vocation of «subduing» the earth as
    stewards of God. This sovereignty is not to be an arbitrary and destructive
    domination. God calls man and woman, made in the image of the Creator «who
    loves everything that exists», to share in his providence toward other creatures;
    hence their responsibility for the world God has entrusted to them.

    The “mastery” over the world that God offered man from the beginning was
    realized above all within man himself: mastery of self. The sign of man’s familiarity
    with God is that God places him in the garden. There he lives “to till it and keep
    it”. Work is not yet a burden, but rather the collaboration of man and woman with
    God in perfecting the visible creation.

    Goodness / Kindness, Love and Compassion

    God is holy; love, just, good, merciful, gracious, faithful, truthful, patient, and
    wise. When we talk about being “conformed to the image of Christ,” this is
    the list we are describing. These things show us how to reflect who God is
    as Christ did. The more gracious I become, for example, the more I reflect
    Christ, who perfectly images God.

    The goodness of God is one of the attributes of God, as well as a description
    of His very essence. God, by nature, is inherently good, as Psalms 34:8 tells
    us: “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge

    in him.” He is the foundation of goodness and of everything good that humans
    have or do towards their fellow men or nature. People can have good traits or do
    good deeds, but goodness is not in our character. Our goodness comes from
    God. God is good in perfect sense.

    The Goodness of God is evident in all His creations and accomplishments.
    “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). We
    cannot earn and do not merit His goodness. It is available to us regardless of
    our station in life, and even though we are not worthy of it (Matthew 5:45). “He
    causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous
    and the unrighteous.” “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has
    made” (Psalm 145:9).

    Humans personalize goodness of God. It is not surprising to here people saying
    “God is so good to ‘N’ or to me; this implies that He is good to each of us
    personally, in ways that meet our individual needs. His goodness provides us
    with benefits such as:
    – It gives us the perfect model of goodness. By knowing God and
       learning about His goodness, we recognize true goodness and strive
       to do good things. “You are good, and what you do is good; teach me
       your decrees” Pslams 119:68. We can look to God as the perfect role
       model to teach us about goodness and how to do good things.

    – It assures us that God’s purpose for us is good. Just as parents want
       good for their children, our Heavenly Father wants only good for
       us. James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming
       down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like
       shifting shadows.” Humans should remember, however, that good
       things may not always show up as happy experiences. Sometimes
       good can come disguised as adversity or hardship, but God can use
       difficulties for good, as we learn in Romans 8:28 “And we know that
       in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have
       been called according to his purpose.”

    – It offers us security and encouragement. We can depend on the
       unchanging goodness of God. Psalm 51:2 says, “The goodness of
       God endures continually”. God will always be good. His character
       does not change. He will continue to be the creator of all things good
       and we can be confident He will provide good things for us according
       to His perfect plan.

    – It draws us to God. The purpose of God’s goodness is to draw us to
       Him. For Christians, this was manifested in the highest degree when
      God sacrificed His Son, Jesus, for our salvation n. Because of His
      goodness we have been given opportunities to hear His word and to
      claim eternal life by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior.

    The Goodness of God is the core attributes of our humanity of our Christian faith.
    It is because of His desire for our good that He provided salvation through His
    son. Everything God does is for our good. We can see proof of the goodness of
    God all around us in the life-sustaining provisions He supplies from crops that
    provide our food, to the very air we breathe. We can have goodness in us, and
    even desire to do good, but true goodness comes from the One who is perfectly
    good and wants good things for all people. Our goal should be to show the
    goodness of God to others every day.

    Love
    The love of God for his creatures is perfect and pure human of love is a reflection
    of God’s love. Though to value love that two or more people reflect, family
    members, or the relatives however, the perfect love is for God who did not even
    spare his only Son for the sake of sins. This is the true and highest value of love.

    Generosity
    Humans are perfect recipients of the good and perfect gifts of God, goodness
    toward others means generosity. It means we recognize that God gives us good
    things not so that they might terminate on us, but so that we might steward
    them on behalf of others. God gives good things to us generously, risking no
    loss in doing so. We, too, should give good things to others generously. We
    should be generous with our possessions, our talents, and our time on behalf of
    others because we see these good gifts as a means to bring glory to their Giver
    instead of to us.

    Justice
    God is just all the time. When humans cease self justifying motives and pursuing
    their won interest, begin to have eyes for the needs of our neighbors. They turn
    their attention toward securing justice for the weak and the oppressed. God
    refers to himself as a “father of the fatherless and protector of widows” (Psalms
    68: 4-5). As his children, we ought to carry this family identity into the spheres
    of influence he gives us. Those of us who have any form of advantage must seek
    to use it to benefit our neighbors.

    Mercy and forgiveness
    God is perfect, slow to chide and swift to bless, he cleanses sins and become
    as white as snow. He shows rain to good and bad people. In the same sense
    humans sacrifice their bitterness and anger for the sake of extending forgiveness,
    love. The vast mercy of God has fallen from our view. We must obey the will of
    God for our lives to “be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36)

    Truth and wisdom
    God is truthful all the time. Truth and wisdom was communicated to humanity,
    created in God’s likeness and image. God communicated to us his Truth. We
    have a sense of truth though we can not know the reality and the future in the
    perfect sense. Truth and wisdom allow to be in right relationship with God and
    others. God’s truth is communal, given not merely so that the individual can live
    in right relationship to God, but so that the individual can live in right relationship
    with others. All humans have the idea of what is true and good. Living the truth
    will inevitably prevent humans from falsehood, prejudices and will inevitable
    enhance justice. Wisdom given to humans helps them to discern and judge
    what is good and what is bad, right and wrong.

    God made us in His image (Genesis 1:27), which means He imprinted upon us
    several of His attributes. This sets us apart from the beasts of the field and the
    birds of the air (Genesis 1:28).

    Yet, God did not endow humans with all of His characteristics, hence why man
    stands at a lower rank than even the angels (Hebrews 2:7). For instance, both
    God and humans have an innate sense of justice (Proverbs 21:15) Although we
    all share in this sense of wrong and right, due to our sin nature, we can have this
    to a lesser extent or a polluted version thereof. In addition to a sense of justice,
    God and humankind have the ability to love. For this reason, Jesus told us the
    two greatest commands: love God and love our neighbor (Matthew 22:37-39).
    Of course, we cannot exercise the amount of love God has for us. The Greek
    even has a word for it: agape, unconditional, selfless love. Yet humans love
    others in a deep friendship sense.

    Knowledge
    God gifted us with our ability to think and know about Him. Without such
    knowledge, we cannot come to know about God’s goodness and His saving
    work.

    Reason:
    God has given us the skills to reason and think logically, he created us with
    reasons and conscience to think critically on matters and then take responsible
    decisions. These decisions are taken with full will and consent. Humans should
    see each other as brother and sister since the same God created them without
    any discrimination. This implies the unity of human race. The basis for human
    rights, human freedom and human dignity place above every creature in the
    world. This helps humans to have a better place in the world and keep good
    relationship between us and God and hope being as perfect as Him despite
    human sinful nature.


    Application activity 1.3

    1. Discuss how interdependence and complementarily between men
         and women are willed by God?

    2. Compare and contrast the following human qualities in relation to
        God’s attributes or Character: Goodness, justice, truths, kindness,
        wisdom, peace, and Love
    .

    1.4 End Unit Assessment

    End of unit assessment

    1. God is Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omnipotent. Discuss this
        affirmation.
    2. Identify and discuss exhaustively qualities that humans derived from
        the attributes of God and their implication in the relationship of all
        humans in the world?
    3. God is one in three persons. Discuss.

    UNIT 2: RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND UNITY IN DIVERSITY