DX Attributes of God

Advanced Attributes of God

 “God is the fullness of Being and of every perfection, without origin and without end.” (CCC 213).

This section will cover some extra points about God's attributes and some implications of those attributes.

GoodnessEvil
AngelsDemons
TruthLies
HeavenHell

 Goodness: http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=5257 

EVIL DOES NOT EXIST IN ITSELF

This leads us to a deeper reflection of the 'existence' of evil. Evil does not exist in itself. Evil is always a twisting of the good. There is always some kind of good that is sought in evil, but it is disordered. I see a calculator. I realise I need a calculator. It is good for me to have that calculator so I take it. The fact that it belongs to someone else makes that act an evil act even though there is some 'good' in it - me having a calculator. So it is with every evil act. Evil, 'pure' evil does not exist - it is always the twisting of the good. Existence itself is a good.

SATAN, DEMONS AND DEVILS

Satan was a good angel who fell into sin and is forever stuck in his own sin.

"The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: "The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing."" (CCC 391) "Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels. (Cf. 2 Pet 2:4) This "fall" consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and his reign. The devil "has sinned from the beginning"; he is "a liar and the father of lies".(1 Jn 3:8; Jn 8:44.)" (CCC 392)  

While various saints have provided some insight into the fall of Satan, I think St Thomas Aquinas provides a good explanation of the fall of Satan. http://www.newadvent.org/summa/1063.htm#article6 

Angels have a superior intellect to us which makes a perfect decision of their will, since their intellect has a proper understanding of reality. Once an angel makes a decision, it is a total commitment. St. Thomas says that in the instant after Satan was created he had the choice to accept or reject God and he chose to reject God. Since this is a forever decision, he is a devil forever. All the angels had a choice and some followed Satan. All those who followed Satan are called demons or devil and are demons and devils forever. All the angels who chose God are now angels forever. You have a guardian angel who will always be a good angel.

YOUR GUARDIAN ANGEL

"See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven." (Matt 18:10) (more scriptures on angels)

You have a personal guardian angel who is always with you, ready to help you and always praying for you. The saints encourage us to get to know our guardian angel. So pray to your guardian angel, ask for help and as Pope John XXIII did, send him on errands, eg Pope John XXIII would send his angel to help make a particular meeting run smoothly. 

EWTN ON GUARDIAN ANGELS

PRAYER TO YOUR GUARDIAN ANGEL

GOODNESS

Good is the infinite Good. Everything else is relative to God's infinite goodness. 

"..."more" and "less" are predicated of different things, according as they resemble in their different ways something which is the maximum" (Aquinas' five ways, New Advent, Summa Theologica). If something is said to be beautiful it must have been compared to something that is a standard of beauty. This is the same for all things, to say something is more good then something else, this means to have comapared it to something which is by is by definition the most good thing. Ps 119:68, Gn 1:31, Ps 145:9, 1 Tim 4:4.

Truth

Due to God's self sufficency and totality in His being, He is real in himself and as such He does not require any others for his existence, thus making him real, of himself, because of this he is the most real. From this this flows the understanding that his is truth himself as truth is  what is in accord with reality.

Mystery

“God is mystery” (CCC 206)

We can sum up these quotes with these two:

“All creatures bear a certain resemblance to God, most especially man, created in the image and likeness of God. The manifold perfections of creatures - their truth, their goodness, their beauty all reflect the infinite perfection of God. Consequently we can name God by taking his creatures" perfections as our starting point, "for from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator".” (CCC 41)

Many have sought to work out if there is an ultimate reality and what it is like. ….. Therefore it is possible “God, the beginning and end of all things, can be known with certainty from created reality by the light of human reason” (DV 6).

The attributes of God we have explored are based on natural theology. But God himself has revealed other attributes which are based on what He has done and said. What He has done and said is called revelation.

 God knows what will ultimately make you most happy in this world and lead you to the greatest fulfillment and He wants to guide you to that vocation. Ps 147:4-5, 1 Jn 3:20, Jr 1:5, Ps 139:1-6, Mt 10:30.


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