From Alpha to Omega -- Explanation

From Alpha to Omega is the explanation of all things. In particular, it explains my presuppositions, paradigm, and purpose.

The outline shows everything at a glance. Here, in the explanation section, I will expand on the components of the outline, going over the meaning of each one. The notes are my personal comments on From Alpha to Omega, consisting of observations, commentary, and reasons for constructing the system in a certain way. You can jump between these three levels of From Alpha to Omega using the links provided. They will take you to the corresponding subject matter in the other levels.

He who is "I AM" is the beginning. In him we live and move and have our being. In order to understand anything, we must start with him, whom we call "God" by convention. So then, what is God like?

God has several primary attributes, of which it may be said that God "is" these things.

God is triune. He is one, without components or parts, entirely singular and simple. He also exists as three persons, designated the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each one is fully the one God, and each one is distinct.
God is existence. God not only exists, all things exist by and through him. He is the source, or the essence, of existence. This attribute is also called God's aseity, or his independence.
God is love. Therefore God seeks the good of others.
God is absolute. Whatever God is, he is that absolutely, infinitely, or completely. Thus, for example, God loves absolutely, unconditionally, infinitely, sacrificially. He is completely one and three, and absolutely triune.
God is sovereign. He is the ultimate authority, answerable to none others, while all others are answerable to him. God does what he pleases, unbound by any external constraints, with only himself as his own motive, power, and authority.
God is good. He is the source of justice, righteousness, faithfulness, and all other goodness. Goodness would not be good apart from God. Thus God is the source of all morality, and perfect in his moral character.

Starting from these primary attributes, we may derive at the other attributes that God has.

Truth: Truth must conform to reality if it is to be truth. But reality is simply the combination of existences. That is, reality is the sum of what exists and what does not exist. And existence comes from God. Since God "is" existence, in the same way he "is" truth. That is, God is the source of truth, and he is its perfect arbiter. God wills truth to be true, and so it is.
Logic: The set of rules that governs truth is called logic. Since truth has its source in God, these rules that governs truth also has its source in God. This means that, as with truth, existence, and goodness, God is both the source and the perfect example of logic. Logic would not hold if God did not cause it to hold, and God himself is impeccably logical.
Omnipotence: Reality is the combination of existences, as discussed under "truth". Since this existence combination is solely dependent on God, he can do anything by ceasing to support a particular reality and starting to support another. Because God is sovereign, he does this according to his own pleasure, without restrictions set by external agents. Thus God is omnipotent.
Omnipresence: Whatever exists, does so through God. Thus God is aware of whatever exists, and is omnipotently powerful over it. Thus everything that exists is fully before God, in that it can in no way thwart God's knowledge of it, or his power over it, or do anything to nullify or change God with respect to itself. This truth, that all of existence is fully before God, is expressed by saying that God is omnipresent.
Omniscience: Whatever exists, does so by the will of God. Whatever is true, is true by the will of God. It follows that nothing escapes the knowledge of God, since it is this very knowledge that sustains it. It is therefore said that God is omniscient.
Wisdom: In his omniscience, God knows everything, and in his goodness, God desires to do good. Thus he always knows how to do good, and will always act according to this knowledge in order to do good. This combination of goodness and knowledge is called wisdom.
Immutability: God is good, so he does not desire to ever cease being good, which means that he does not desire to ever cease being God. Since he is also omnipotent and omniscient, it is impossible that he be overpowered or tricked into ceasing to be good, or being God. Thus it is impossible that God should change, so God is said to be immutable.
Jealousy: God is good, and he is furthermore in the unique position of being absolutely good. As a part of being good, one should defer glory and honor to others better than oneself, and seek to receive the same in accordance with one's intrinsic goodness. However, God is the ultimate good, so God must not defer glory and honor to anyone else, while he must receive these as the source of all goodness. That is his obligation if he is to be good. Since God is indeed good, God does seek his own glory and defends his own honor, and is therefore said to be jealous.
Justice: God is good, therefore he is just. In his justice, he rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked.
Holiness: God is utterly distinct from everything else. Some things conform to goodness, but God is good. Other things exist, but God is the very source of existence. Because of these distinctions, we say that God is holy. In particular, God is utterly separate from anything that does not conform to his goodness, which is called sin.

So God is described by the above attributes. Out of the sum of his characteristics (i.e. out of his love, sovereignty, truth, goodness, etc.), God executed (is executing?) a certain plan.

This plan, which perfectly reflects the entirety of God's character, is the very same one that encompasses the creation, fall, incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, second coming, judgement, and the age to come.

Also as a part of the plan, God created the physical universe, which is different from the spiritual world.

text for creation of creature.

text for gospel

text for sdg

random notes

Explanations, a particular peculiar mortal, relationship between God and man (Spirituality, Incomprehensibility, and therefore transcendent. But also Personal. Mercy, Wrath, Immutability viewed in time.) Context of this webpage. Disclaimers, Bible as central dogma vs. Theology as central dogma, communicable/incommunicable vs. self-relational/creation-relational, meaning of apologetics, some preliminary apologetics.

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