a thou>and years, and a thousand vears as one day ' (2 P 3« ; cf. Ps 90^ ; see also Ro 1-").
(c) God is omniscient. — He knoAvs the hearts of all men [KapSLoyvQara iravnav, Ac !-■* ; cf. 15* ; the prayer in 1-^ is perhaps addressed to our Lord) ; He knows all things (1 Jn 3-'^). St. Paul eloquently exclaims : ' O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God !' (Ro 11^), and ascribes glory 'to the only wise God,' i.e. to God who alone is wise (16-^ ; the same phrase occurs in some MSS of 1 Ti 1", but ' Avise ' is there an inter- polation). Even the uninstructed Cornelius recog- nizes that we are in God's sight (Ac 10^). Such sayings cannot but be a reminiscence of our Lord's teaching that ' not one of them is forgotten in the sight of God' (Lk 12''). They are summed up in the expressions ' God is light' (1 Jn P) and * God is true' ('This is the true God,' 1 Jn 5^; for the reference here see A. E. Brooke's note in JCC, 1912, in loc). God 'cannot lie' ; see above (a).
(d) God is transcendent. — This Divine attribute had been exaggerated by the Jews just before the Christian era, but it is nevertheless dwelt on in the apostolic writings. The 'things of God' are indeed ' deep,' so that man cannot, though the Spirit can, 'search them out' (1 Co 2i»'- ; cf. Job \V). God, who 'only hath immortality,' dwells 'in light un- approachable, whom no man hath seen nor can see' (1 Ti 6ifi ; cf. Jn l'», 1 Jn 4i-- ''^»). He is spirit ( Jn 4^^ RVm) and invisible (Col 1^«, 1 Ti 1'^ He 11^), un- changeable (He 61"- ; cf. Mai S^, Ps 102-*^), infinite, omnipresent (Ac 7^^ 11-'-'" ; cf. Ps 139"'^-)- These statements do not mean, however, that God is altogether unknowable by men ; for God in His condescension reveals Himself to man (see above, 2).
(e) God is immanent. — That God dwells in man is stated several times. ' God is in you indeed,' says St. Paul (1 Co 14-=« AV and RVm; RV text has ' among ' ; the Gr. is eV iiixlv). ' There is one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all' (Eph 4^). 'God abideth in us' (1 Jn 4^2). His 'tabernacle is with men' and He 'shall dwell with them . . . and be with them' (Rev 21"). For the immanence of the Son and the Spirit in man see below, 6 (c) and 7.
(/) Moral attributes. — God is love (1 Jn 4^-^^); love is His very nature and being, and therefore love is the foundation of all true religion ; love is of God (v.^ ; see Brooke's notes on these verses [op. cit.]). The love of God is specially emphasized by Christianity ; cf . also Jn 3^® (the kernel of the gospel message), flo 5^- ^ S"-^, 2 Co 13'^ Col P^ (' the Son of his love '), 2 Th S^, 1 Ti 2* (desire of universal salvation), 1 Jn 2^ 3'. The ' love of God ' may be God's love for us, or our love for God ; but the latter, as St. John teaches (see above), comes from the former.
God is holi/. This attribute is emphasized both in the OT (Lv 11«) and in the NT (1 P l'^'-)- The four living creatures cry ' Holy {dytos), holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty' (Rev 4* ; cf. Is 6^). ' Thou only art holy ' (oaLos)* cry the conquerors (Rev 15^ ; cf. 16') — a striking comment on the as- cription of holiness to our Lord and to the Spirit (below, 6 (e), 7). Brooke {op. cit.) thinks it un- necessary to determine whether ' the Holy One' in 1 Jn 2-" is the Father or the Son.
God is Just ; He has no respect of persons (Ac 10^^ Ro 211, Gal 2«, 1 P 1" ; cf. Dt lO^'').
He is righteous (for the meaning of this see below, 6 (e)) ; St. Paul not only speaks of the 'righteous judgment' (diKaioKpicria, Ro 2' ; cf. 2 Th P), but of the ' righteousness ' {dLKaioffvvn), of God (Ro 1" 3-2 10^). On this phrase, St/catoo-wTj ^eoO, see an elaborate investigation by Sanday in HDB ii.
" The word ocrios (equivalent to the Latin phis) ' represents God as fulfilling His relation to His creatures, even as He requires them to fulfil theirs towards Himself ' (Swete, Com. in loc).
209-212 ; it was familiar to the Jews, and to them meant the personal righteousness of God. Many commentators take it, as used in the NT, to mean the righteous state of man, of which God is the giver. But in either case it predicates righteousness of God. In Ph 3* we find ttjv iK dead diKaioaOvTiv, 'the righteousness which is of God.' The Apoca- lyptist also emphasizes this attribute (Rev 15^ 16^-'').
God is merciful (Ro IP^ 15^, etc.). This is really the same attribute as love ; but it is not the same as the Musulman idea of the mercy of God, which can scarcely be distinguished from indilference. Love and justice combined produce the true Divine mercy.