Day Six: Attributes of God, Part Three

For the last part of Day Six, I give my students a list of what the philosophy of religion has determined to be the general attributes of God. Anyone who studies religion, especially monotheistic religions, will come across a list like this. They are concepts that seem to be consistent about monotheistic (and some polytheistic) beliefs about God and who God is. This is really an introduction to these concepts so the students can see what most belief systems say God is.

Students will be able to list the “Attributes of God”.

•       1) God is Unique (There is no other being or things like God).

•       2) God is Infinite and Omnipotent (God is everywhere and all-powerful).

•       3) God is Eternal (There is no beginning or end to God; He is outside and inside time).

•       4) God is Immense (There is no limit to God; He is outside and inside space).

•       5) God Contains All Things (There is nothing outside of God’s power; but it is God’s nature of Love to not force us to do anything).

•       6) God is Immutable (God does not change).

•       7) God is Utterly Simple-A Pure Spirit (There is no division in God).

•       8) God is Personal (God seeks for us to experience Love; this is only possible if we have a personal relationship with Him).

•       9) God is Holy or Omnibenevolent (God Loves and is Loved perfectly).

I have to admit, I do not require my students to memorize these concepts. Much of the time, focus on memorization distracts us from the important concept at hand: God is real and God Loves us. I do not require students to be able to recall any of these ideas, yet we will come back to most of them throughout the course. Sometimes teachers get caught up in the nuances and the minutiae of a lesson or a concept and they lose sight of the purpose. I could take an entire class period and train my students to memorize and recall all of these attributes perfectly. They could give me perfect definitions of each of these concepts, but if they are focused on just the material information at hand, they forget what we are really talking about: this is a God who, more than anything us, desires us to be happy with Him and will do whatever He can to invite us into a relationship with Him. At the end of the lesson, I simply want my students to know that they are Loved by a God who has no reason or need to Love them except it is His nature.

Every lesson ends with an “Assignment”. They synthesize what they have learned in class and they write a description. This is how I measure if they have grasped the concepts at hand. I never have them take a quiz or list any of the concepts. I encourage them to use their notes to “practice” writing this. As they practice, the knowledge becomes more familiar, and when we review the following class period, they have read, reflected, quizzed, taken notes, and written an Assignment all about one topic. It is learning in multiple dimensions. It works for many students. The following class, we will begin to discuss what it means hen we call God “Father”.

(Perfect)