Norman Geisler Norman Geisler Systematic TheologySystematic Theology

Chapters 34 and 35

PPt prepared by Mark E. Hardgrove, Ph.D.

IMMATERIALITYIMMATERIALITY

This means that in addition to being eternal, God is also immaterial. In addition to being nontemporal God is also nonspatial. He is absolute Spirit, and as such He has no body and is not extended in space. God is not composed of matter, nor is He corporeal.

~Geisler

Biblical support for God’s Biblical support for God’s ImmaterialityImmateriality

Gen. 1:2 1 Tim. 1:17Ex. 20:4; 33:20 Heb. 11:27; 12:9;

12:231 Kings 8:27Isa. 66:1-2Luke 24:39John 1:8; 4:24Rom. 1:20Col. 1:15

ImmensityImmensity

Immensity is often confused with immateriality, immensity literally means “not measurable.” God is unlimited in extension. He is not limited by space, He is not part of space or limited to it. He transcends all space and time.

~Geisler

Biblical Support for ImmensityBiblical Support for Immensity

Gen. 1:1 Heb. 11:3Job 11:7-8Ps. 8:1; 57:5; 97:9Isa. 66:1-2John 1:3; 4:24Eph. 4:6Col. 1:16, 16

ConclusionConclusion

Geisler saysGod is both immaterial and immense. He is

not material and He is not spatial. Matter is finite, and God is not finite. However, they relate as Cause and effect, since Mind (God) made matter.

Matter is not eternal—it came into being. Nothing cannot cause something; consequently, there must be something that is not matter . . . that made matter.

OmnipotenceOmnipotence

Literally, omnipotence means that God has unlimited power. Theologically, it means that God can do whatever is possible to do. Or, God can do what is not logically impossible to do. His power is unlimited and uninhibited by anything else. However God cannot do what is contrary. The Scriptures affirm that God cannot contradict His nature (Heb. 6:18; 2 Tim. 2:13)

Biblical support for OmnipotenceBiblical support for Omnipotence

“Almighty” (Greek pantokrator) means “all-powerful.” See the following verses referring to God as Almighty.2 Cor. 6:18Rev. 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 16:7, 14; 19:6, 15; 21:22

God is called “infinite” in His understanding (Ps. 146:5), which implies omnipotence with respect to His power to know.

God’s Omni-

presence

OmnipresenceOmnipresence

Omnipresence literally means that God is everywhere present at once. Negatively stated, there is nowhere that God is absent.

It does not mean that God is creation; this is pantheism. God is not limited in space because He is nonspatial.

It does not mean that some of God is everywhere, but that all of God’s presence is everywhere present at the same time, and yet He also transcends time.

Biblical Support for OmnipresenceBiblical Support for Omnipresence

1 Kings 8:27Ps. 95:3-5; 139:7-10Jer. 23:23-24Matt. 6:6Acts 17:27-28Heb. 1:3Rev. 4:11

ConclusionConclusion

Geisler says The basis for God’s omnipotence and

omniscience are firm—biblically, theologically, and historically—and the arguments against these attributes are misdirected. God is all-powerful and everywhere present; as a result, He knows all there is to know about everything there is to know, and He has all the power He needs to perform everything He wishes to perform; that is, everything that is not a contradiction.