Q. 5. How many gods are there?

• AOR 1
• Augsburg Confession 1
• WSC 4
• WCF 2.1–2
• Belgic Confession 1

There is. God exists in reality, not merely as a concept in our minds. Among the many arguments for God’s existence is that the extraordinary order, design, beauty, and intelligibility of the universe points us to an infinite mind or intelligence who brought the world into being and has a purpose for its existence (see Q. 7). The universal sense of moral responsibility and struggle with conscience likewise points to a moral source or ground of the good to which all are accountable. “Every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God” (Hebrews 3:4). “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:20). “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1).

One. “The Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). “We all believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that there is a single and simple spiritual being, whom we call God—eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty; completely wise, just, and good, and the overflowing source of all good” (Belgic Confession 1).

True. All other gods are not gods at all. They are merely figments of the imagination. “We know that ‘an idol has no real existence,’ and that ‘there is no God but one.’ For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’—yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist” (1 Corinthians 8:4–6).

Living. God is a living being, an infinite fullness of life, and the source or fountain of all other living things. God lives, loves, creates, sustains, speaks, listens, teaches, guides, comforts, and responds to his creatures.

God. God is that “than which nothing greater can be conceived” (Anselm, Proslogion 2). God “is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of His own immutable and most righteous will, for His own glory, most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him; and withal most just and terrible in His judgments; hating all sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty” (WCF 2.1). Because God is infinite, the finite human mind cannot fully comprehend him, and human language cannot perfectly describe him. This is commonly called the incomprehensibility and ineffability of God. God “surpasses human wit and speech. He knows God best who recognizes that whatever he thinks and says falls short of what God really is” (Aquinas). “To comprehend the whole of so great a Subject as this is quite impossible and impracticable, not merely to the utterly careless and ignorant, but even to those who are highly exalted, and who love God” (Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 38.4).

Everlasting. God has always existed and will exist forever. God was not created. God does not depend on anyone or anything for his existence. “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Psalm 90:2).

Without body. “God is spirit” (John 4:24), and therefore “invisible” (1 Timothy 1:17). God is an invisible spirit “whom no one has ever seen or can see” (1 Timothy 6:16). When Scripture speaks of God’s “mighty arm” or “outstretched hand” (Deuteronomy 4:34), it is metaphorical, anthropomorphic language. God does not actually have hands, feet, or a body of any kind. Descriptions of God in human terms, or manifestations of God in a visible form, are accommodations to our weakness, not reflections of God’s essential nature.

Without … parts. God is one and cannot be divided. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three parts of God, as if each divine person was one-third God (see Q. 6). God’s attributes (e.g., power, wisdom, goodness) are not separate or incomplete parts of God; therefore, they cannot be opposed to one another. This is commonly called divine simplicity in the sense that God transcends composition and is fully and simultaneously all of his attributes.

Infinite. God is not finite or limited like creatures. God is not limited by time; he is everlasting or eternal. God is not limited in power; he is almighty or omnipotent. God is not limited in knowledge; he is all-knowing or omniscient. God is not limited in wisdom; he is perfectly wise. God is not limited by space; he is present everywhere or omnipresent. God is not limited in goodness; he is goodness itself (summum bonum). “As God’s power is always and everywhere, so what God is, He is always and everywhere” (Anselm, On the Incarnation of the Word 7). The only thing that God cannot do is contradict his own nature: “he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). God cannot die (1 Timothy 6:16), since he is everlasting. “God cannot be tempted with evil” (James 1:13), since he is pure goodness. God cannot use his power in a way that is foolish or unjust, since he is perfectly wise.

Goodness. God’s goodness is infinite and incomprehensible. It surpassess all human goodness. “No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18). “God is love” (1 John 4:8). On Mt. Sinai, the Lord passed before Moses and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation” (Exodus 34:6–7). God is kind, compassionate, and ready to forgive. However, God would not be truly good if he was indifferent to injustice and simply overlooked wickedness. As a just judge, God punishes unrepentant sinners and those who carry forward generational sins by wilfully participating in the sins of their parents.