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3. PATER.
It is often said that the New Testament introduced a new name of God, namely, Pater
(Father). But this is hardly correct. The name Father is used of the Godhead even in heathen
religions. It is used repeatedly in the Old Testament to designate the relation of God to Israel,
Deut. 32:6; Ps. 103:13; Isa. 63:16; 64:8; Jer. 3:4,19; 31:9; Mal. 1:6; 2:10, while Israel is called the
son of God, Ex. 4:22; Deut. 14:1; 32:19; Isa. 1:2; Jer. 31:20; Hos. 1:10; 11:1. In such cases the
name is expressive of the special theocratic relation in which God stands to Israel. In the
general sense of originator or creator it is used in the following New Testament passages: I Cor.
8:6; Eph. 3:15; Heb. 12:9; James 1:18. In all other places it serves to express either the special
relation in which the first Person of the Trinity stands to Christ, as the Son of God either in a
metaphysical or a mediatorial sense, or the ethical relation in which God stands to all believers
as His spiritual children.
V. The Attributes of God in General
A. Evaluation of the Terms Used.
The name “attributes” is not ideal, since it conveys the notion of adding or assigning something
to one, and is therefore apt to create the impression that something is added to the divine
Being. Undoubtedly the term “properties” is better, as pointing to something that is proper to
God and to God only. Naturally, in so far as some of the attributes are communicable, the
absolute character of the proprium is weakened, for to that extent some of the attributes are
not proper to God in the absolute sense of the word. But even this term contains the
suggestion of a distinction between the essence or nature of God and that which is proper to it.
On the whole it is preferable to speak of the “perfections” or “virtues” of God, with the distinct
understanding, however, that in this case the term “virtues” is not used in a purely ethical
sense. By so doing we (a) follow the usage of the Bible, which uses the term arete, rendered
virtues or excellencies, in I Pet. 2:9; and (b) avoid the suggestion that something is added to the
Being of God. His virtues are not added to His Being, but His Being is the pleroma of His virtues
and reveals itself in them. They may be defined as the perfections which are predicated of the
Divine Being in Scripture, or are visibly exercised by Him in His works of creation, providence,
and redemption. If we still continue to use the name “attributes,” it is because it is commonly
used and with the distinct understanding that the notion of something added to the Being of
God must be rigidly excluded.
B. Method of determining the attributes of God.
The Scholastics in their attempt to construct a system of natural theology posited three ways in
which to determine the attributes of God, which they designated as the via causalitatis, via
negationis, and via eminentiae. By the way of causality we rise from the effects which we see in