Of God, and of the Holy Trinity
“…most free, most absolute, most loving”
I can’t help noticing that, in the list of the divine attributes, love is number seventeen.
God is:
1. One only
2. Living
3. True
4. Infinite
5. A Pure Spirit
6. Invisible
7. Without Body, Parts or Passions
8. Immutable
9. Immense
10. Eternal
11. Incomprehensible
12. Almighty
13. Most Wise
14. Most Holy
15. Most Free
16. Most Absolute
17. Most Loving
The Bible certainly teaches us that God is all of these things. In fact, if He lacked any of them, He wouldn’t be God.
“For in [Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” (Colossians 2:9) Everything the Father is, the Son is also. Which of the divine attributes listed above best describes the Son of God, who “for us and for our salvation came down from heaven”? Surely love comes quickly to mind. If this so, it seems odd that the list is arranged as it is.
It is interesting, I think, to note that St. Augustine, in his later years, described God as being “most high, utterly good, utterly powerful, most omnipotent, most merciful and most just.”
