11. Simplicity

Simplicity (Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology, Victor Books, 1986,) p. 43.

  1. Meaning. The attribute of simplicity means that God is not composite or compounded being. This has to do with His essence so that it in no way contradicts the revelation of the Trinity. But this attribute also reminds us that when we consider God as a Triune Being He is not divisible or composed of parts or multiple substances.
  2. Scripture. “God is Spirit” (John 4:24). By contrast, for example, human beings are spirit and matter. In the Incarnation, of course, our Lord became flesh, but the deity of the God-man was always and only Spirit.
  3. Ramifications. The simplicity of God underscores His self-existence (for there was no prior cause to form a composite being), assures us that God will never be anything other than Spirit, and enables us to worship in spirit; i.e., not in material ways.

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