A Loving God

[Flash]

Hi All
I was recently posed a question regarding the personality of God. My friend, who is also a hardcore catholic, is having some questions on this issue(not really doubts) I tried to reason it out inductively but found myself repeatedly "begging the question." I realize that this has a great deal to do with faith but I was wondering if all you philosophers out there could give me some concrete feed-back.

PS If this has already been discussed just refer me to the correct section. Thanks

Tuus Frater in Christo, Nathan

[Adeodatus]

Philosophically we can say very little about what God is. However we can say a lot about what God is not. God is not a dog, not physical, not an angel, not composed of parts, not in time or space, etc. We can say that God is simple, uncomposed, complete, perfect. And we could possibly (from philosophy alone) say that for God His being and His act of being cannot be distinguished except in our minds, i.e. [i]what[/i] God is is [i]that[/i] He is. God is existence itself. Everything else is derived, that is, the fact that it exists doesn't explain (fully) why it exists. But God is underived. He is existence itself. He simply [i]is[/i], and He is [i]simply [/i].

This is what God Himself tells us. When Moses asks His name, He says, 'I Am who I Am'. And later, 'You shall tell the sons of Israel, He Who Is has sent me to you.' "I Am" and "He Who Is" are both mysterious ways of speaking, but they tell us that God is simply existence itself.

In the New Testament we find the revelation that 'God is Love'. Love may be used in all sorts of analogous ways:
1. I love ice-cream
2. I love my dog.
3. I love my friend.
4. I love my wife.
5. I love God.

There is something common about the ways we use the word 'love' here, but we don't mean that we love ice-cream the same way we love God. Likewise, saying that God is Love does mean that His nature is Love and to Love, but what that is exactly we don't know. God loves, but His love is unlike anything else we know, because He is unlike anything else----and that is because God is not a thing. He is the maker of all things, but not a thing Himself.

So when we say that our sins make God angry or hurt God, we are using metaphorical language. God doesn't have emotions, doesn't get angry, cannot be hurt. When we say our sins make God angry, we can only mean that God, because He is love, will respect our freedom to choose life without Him, i.e. hell. If we really and truly believe in a God who has emotions and gets angry or hurt or wants vengeance, then that God is an idol---it is not the real and living and true God. We cannot hurt God. Not even desecrating the Host will hurt God----it hurts us, because it is a sacrilege. But God cannot be harmed, cannot be hurt. We can go to Him with our hurts, because the God who cannot suffer is the Only One who can save us from our suffering. (Jesus, who is God, suffered in His human nature---not in His divine nature).

When I say God doesn't have emotions, I don't mean God is a cold robotic being. All emotions are expressed of God only metaphorically, except for one. But 'love' is used of God [i]analagously[/i], i.e. it is true of God, but in a way beyond our understanding. God truly does love us. Because God doesn't have emotions, He doesn't depend on feelings. His love for us is so intense, utterly unchanging, not fickle. It is powerful, and it is the reason we exist, and will always exist. Even the devil only exists because God loves him, and will not stop loving him. The devil will never repent, and his torture is God's continuous love for him. And the same is true of all who freely, deliberately choose life without God. Likewise our purification which we call purgatory is achieved by God's love for us. Our bliss in heaven is seeing God directly, receiving that love within us.

So it is difficult to speak of God's "personality". He doesn't have anything like a human personality. And because God is Trinity, we could say that God is "tri-personal". We do not have a relationship with God as though with one single amorphous blob. We have a "tri-personal" relationship with God because we receive the Spirit as intimate gift, we become adopted brothers and sisters of Jesus, and God the Father truly becomes our Father. We relate to each of the Persons of the Trinity. This is the great mystery of our Faith. God 'smells of elderberries' us into the Tri-une Life, and the Trinity dwells in us, and we relate to each of the Divine Persons. Through our Baptism we are already sharing in the divine Life of the Trinity.

In summary: God is, and God is Love. And we have a Tri-Personal relationship with God.