The God We Worship Is... Simple

This is fifth in a series called The God We Worship Is…

It seems strange that after establishing God to be incomprehensible, we go on to call Him simple.

In this context, when we say that God is simple, we do not mean that He is not complex, but that He is not composite. The reason we have to confess that God is not composite, is because He is independent. This is because every composite being is, by definition, a dependent being. It is dependent on at least two things: (a) the parts that make it up and (b) the composer of those parts. Therefore, if we were to deny that God is simple, i.e. made up of parts, then we would have to say that He is dependent on His parts and the composer that put those parts together; his parts would precede Him. If so, then God is no longer a se, but dependent on something other than Himself to be what He is.

Furthermore, God’s infinity also precludes us from saying that He is composite. If God is infinite, then He cannot have limits. Yet, anything that is made up of parts is limited by its parts, because parts are finite. If A is not B, then A lacks that which makes B, B, and vice versa. If so, then both A and B are lacking something and are not infinite. If A and B are not infinite, then AB cannot be infinite. As such, infinity also demands simplicity.

Thus, while the Scriptures never explicitly state that God is simple, that they speak of His self-existence, independence and infinity demands that we also confess that God is simple.

The old theologians used to say that “All that is in God is God”. This phrase has three implications.

Firstly, God is His essence. His essence and His existence are not two different things that make up who He is, because God is neither dependent on His essence nor His existence. Rather, what He is (essence) and that by which He is (existence) are one in the same. His act of existence is not something that He has, but something that He is. If His existence is something that He has, then He would not be self-existent, for His existence would logically have to be given from somewhere outside of Himself. Instead, because His existence is Himself, to be divine is to be the only true and living God.

Secondly, God is His attributes. Similarly to how He does not have His existence but is His existence, God does not have attributes, but is His attributes. His essence is identical to His attributes. He does not depend on qualities or characteristics outside of Himself to be what He is. He is good not because He has goodness, nor is He wise because He has wisdom. Rather, He is good and wise by virtue of being God. Katherin Rogers: “God neither obeys the moral order, nor does He invent it. He is Goodness Itself, and all else that is good is good in imitation of God’s nature.”[1]

Thirdly, His attributes are all identical to one another. Because God is simple, His essence is not made up of His attributes composed together to form a whole. As Dolezal puts it,

God’s essence is not simply a bundle of contiguous properties or attributes, each existing alongside the others as an integrated whole. His divinity is not a sublime set of great-making properties all splendidly arranged together in Him.[2]

His goodness is His wisdom is His righteousness is His love is His justice is His essence. This may seem counterintuitive because we are used to speaking of God’s distinct attributes. However, as Dolezal reminds us, God reveals His simple essence under different forms of creaturely multiplicity.[3] Think of it as a prism – the seven colours of light are actually identical in the same ray of white light. Likewise, the distinctions we make about God’s attributes are only through the prism of revelation – in the fullness of His being, they are all the same in God.

So why does simplicity matter? It matters because by simplicity, we understand God better. When we say that He is omnipresent, we know that He is truly present everywhere not in part, but in the fullness of Himself. When we say that He is triune, we know that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not parts that make up God. When we say that He is omniscient, we know that He does not accumulate all knowledge in parts. We learn from simplicity that no one attribute is superior or precedent in God, because all are identical. Simplicity controls the way we speak about God – it is the grammar that controls our theological language. We who claim to worship God must speak properly of God, and simplicity provides and guards the vocabulary to do so.

By simplicity, we also understand the gospel better. Why was it necessary for Christ to die on the cross for sins? Why could God not simply forgive sin? Because His love and mercy are identical to His wrath and righteousness. God’s justice is not different from His grace. Therefore, God cannot love without being just at the same time. His love is a righteous love – with the sacrifice of Christ, God is able to be just and the justifier of His people (Rom 3:26). In the same breath, God’s righteousness is a loving righteousness. That is why He sends sinners apart from Christ to eternal destruction – for the love of all things good, God destroys wicked men who taint His good creation and cause it to groan for redemption. Simplicity ensures that the gospel makes sense.

The doctrine of simplicity, though fallen on hard times, ought to be recovered. Without it, we would lack the right tools with which to speak and think about God. Though this devotional series treats each of God’s attributes as distinct, simplicity reminds us that this is accommodated language – in the infinite and incomprehensible being of God, He is not made up of parts.

• John Owen