In his book, God Is With Us, Dr. John Devine discusses God concept and several definitions. In this article he looks at the God concept in the classical theistic tradition and how that differs from other forms of religious thought. We might think God is all about love or peace, good intentions or divine intervention, but there is more to God than we can currently perceive. To understand God concept fully, it is necessary to look at all his attributes and how they relate to our comprehension of God.
The God concept has been defined by the ancients many times over. For the classical theists, God is omnipresent and omnipotent, He knows all things and does what He wishes. This means that God is not restricted by time and by any of the natural laws that we know. The classical theist also believed that God is perfect and has a perfect knowledge of all things. Finally the classical theists believed that God is omniscient or know all things, which includes His omnivillence or the divine knowledge.
As we look at God’s attributes, we see that there are two broad categories that can be used to describe God. The first category is attributed to God’s perfect knowledge and the second is attributed to God’s omniscience. It is easy to see how these two broad categories are related, the former attributes God’s complete knowledge and the latter attributes God’s omnivility or knowing all things. This is not to say that God doesn’t know what happens in the world; it just isn’t the complete knowledge that the classical theists believe God possesses. Rather, it just means that God’s omnivocity or omnivillence is not limited by our knowledge or reasoning.
The second category is more difficult to define. For our purposes we will assume that God’s omnivivity means that He has all knowledge and is aware of all things at all times. This is a broad concept that we are left with a lot of room to fill in as we grow as persons and learn more about God. In other words, our definition of God’s omnivility can change over time as we come to understand more about God and His attributes.
In the New Testament we find three distinctively individualistic statements attributed to God. In the book of Acts the twelve apostles are credited as the first teachers of the gospel. There is no mention of God’s omnivillence or knowledge in this book. This makes sense because the authors were traveling among those who were already familiar with the saving doctrine taught by the Father, and they were acting as mouthpieces for the Holy Spirit in conveying God’s revelation to the apostles. This doesn’t mean that they knew God or experienced God’s attributes, but they were acting as God’s spokesperson and as an extra means through which God reveals to men.
Paul attributed his knowledge of God to the Holy Ghost, and he thought that his preaching was meant to be an extra method through which God communicates with him. When we read the gospels, we come to realize that Jesus, as God incarnate, gave specific revelations to His disciples, and that these revelations are God’s word for them. The words aren’t words that have been altered by the translators, but are rather direct and clear.
Next we find the idea of God as omniscience. God’s word is infallible, which we know from the Word of God, and God’s omniscience means “knowing all things.” We don’t need any experience to know God, and God knows all things. Since God is omniscient, it follows that God’s omnivillence also must be unsearchable or omniscience, since all things are known and God knows all things.
A more complex and revealing idea of God’s omnivillence is expressed by the idea of theosis, which is defined as a personal relationship with God. As part of the personal relationship a person reaches a state of becoming what God wants them to be. We have a personal relationship with God, which is expressed in our experience of the Word of God. When this happens a person no longer needs to try and search for God outside of God, but instead can allow God to work through them and reach their goal because God has worked through them.