God in Christianity

=== Overview ===
{{Main article|Attributes of God in Christianity|History of Christian theology}}
{{Further|Diversity in early Christian theology|Great Apostasy|Nontrinitarianism|Son of God (Christianity)|Trinity}}

[[File:P46.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|A folio from [[Papyrus 46]] containing a copy of 2 Corinthians 11:33–12:9. This folio dates to between 175 and 225 AD.]]

[[Early Christianity|Early Christian]] views of God (before the [[Canonical gospel|gospels]] were written) are reflected in the [[Apostle Paul]]'s statement in [[1 Corinthians]] 8:5–6,<ref name="Bibleverse|1 Corinthians|8:5-6" /> written {{circa|AD 53–54}}, about twenty years after the [[crucifixion of Jesus]], and 12–21 years before the earliest of the canonical gospels was written:<ref name="Hurtado 2015"/>

{{blockquote|...for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.}}

Apart from asserting that there is one God, Paul's statement (which is likely based on pre-Pauline confessions) includes a number of other significant elements: he distinguishes Christian belief from the Jewish background of the time by referring to Jesus and the Father almost in the same breath, and by conferring on Jesus the title of divine honor "Lord", as well as calling him Christ.<ref name="Schnelle 2005"/><ref name="Hurtado 2015"/><ref name=BWell424/>

In the [[Acts of the Apostles|Book of Acts]] (Acts 17:24–27),<ref>{{Bibleverse|Acts|17:24–27}}</ref> during the [[Areopagus sermon]] given by Paul, he further characterizes the early Christian understanding:<ref name=Udo477>''Theology of the New Testament'' by Udo Schnelle (1 November 2009), {{ISBN|0801036046}}, page 477.</ref>

{{blockquote|The God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth}}

Paul also reflects on the relationship between God and Christians:<ref name=Udo477/>

{{blockquote|...that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us for in him we live.}}

The [[Pauline epistles]] also include a number of references to the Holy Spirit, with the theme which appears in [[1 Thessalonians]] 4:8<ref>{{Bibleverse|1 Thessalonians|4:8}}</ref> – "...God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit" – appearing throughout his epistles.<ref name=Dunn418 >''Theology of Paul the Apostle'' by James D. G. Dunn 2003 {{ISBN|0-567-08958-4}} pages 418–420</ref> In John 14:26,<ref>{{Bibleref2|John|14:26}}</ref> Jesus also refers to "the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name".<ref>''[[iarchive:anointedcommunit0000burg|The anointed community: the Holy Spirit in the Johannine tradition]]'' by [[Gary M. Burge]] 1987 {{ISBN|0-8028-0193-5}} pages 14–21</ref>

By the end of the 1st century, [[Clement of Rome]] had repeatedly referred to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and linked the Father to creation in 1 Clement 19.2,<ref>[[Wikisource:Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume IX/The Epistles of Clement/The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians/Chapter 19|1 Clement 19.2]]</ref> stating: "let us look steadfastly to the Father and creator of the universe".<ref name=Veli70>''The Doctrine of God: A Global Introduction'' by [[Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen]] 2004 {{ISBN|0801027527}} pages 70–73</ref> By the middle of the 2nd century, in ''Against Heresies'', [[Irenaeus]] had emphasized (in Book 4, chapter 5)<ref>[[Wikisource:Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume I/IRENAEUS/Against Heresies: Book IV/Chapter V.|''Against Heresies'', Book 4, chapter 5]]</ref> that [[Creator deity|the Creator]] is the "one and only God" and the "maker of heaven and earth".<ref name=Veli70/> These preceded the formal presentation of the concept of [[Trinity]] by [[Tertullian]] early in the 3rd century.<ref name=Veli70/>

The period from the late 2nd century to the beginning of the 4th century (approximately 180–313) is generally called the "epoch of the [[Great Church]]" and also the [[Ante-Nicene Period]], and witnessed significant theological development, and the consolidation and formalization of a number of Christian teachings.<ref name=Rahner375>Peter Stockmeier in the ''Encyclopedia of Theology: A Concise Sacramentum Mundi'' edited by [[Karl Rahner]] {{ISBN|0860120066}} (New York: Sea-bury Press, 1975) page 375-376: "In the following period, c. 180–313, these structures already determine essentially the image of the Church which claims a universal mission in the Roman Empire. It has rightly been termed the period of the Great Church, in view of its numerical growth, its constitutional development and its intense theological activity."</ref>

From the 2nd century onward, [[Western Church|western]] creeds started with an affirmation of belief in "God the Father (Almighty)" and the primary reference of this phrase was to "God in his capacity as Father and creator of the universe".<ref name="Kelly">Kelly, J.N.D. ''Early Christian Creeds'' Longmans:1960, p.136; p.139; p.195 respectively</ref> This did not exclude either the fact the "eternal father of the universe was also the Father of Jesus the Christ" or that he had even "vouchsafed to adopt [the believer] as his son by grace".<ref name="Kelly" /> [[Eastern Church|Eastern]] creeds (those known to have come from a later date) began with an affirmation of faith in "one God" and almost always expanded this by adding "the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible" or words to that effect.<ref name="Kelly" />

[[Augustine of Hippo]], [[Thomas Aquinas]], and other Christian theologians have described God with the Latin term {{lang|la|ipsum esse}}, a phrase that translates roughly to "being itself".<ref>{{Citation|chapter=St Augustine and Being|title=Journal of the History of Philosophy|date=19 August 1968 |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=79–80 |doi=10.1353/hph.1968.a229574 |s2cid=169898847 | chapter-url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/229574/summary}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|chapter=Saint Thomas Aquinas|title=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|year=2018 |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University | chapter-url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aquinas/}}</ref> God's [[aseity]] makes the Christian God not "a being" but rather "being itself", and can be explained by phrases such as "that which is with no reliance on anything external for its being" or "the necessary condition for anything to exist at all".

As time passed, theologians and philosophers developed more precise understandings of the nature of God and began to produce systematic lists of his attributes. These varied in detail, but traditionally the attributes fell into two groups: those based on ''negation'' (that God is impassible) and those positively based on ''eminence'' (that God is infinitely good).<ref name="Hirschberger"/> [[Ian Ramsey]] suggested that there are three groups, and that some attributes, such as ''simplicity'' and ''perfection'', have a different logical dynamic which from such attributes as ''infinite goodness'' since there are relative forms of the latter but not of the former.<ref>Ian T. Ramsey, ''Religious Language'' SCM 1967, pp.50ff</ref>