The Nature of God
Thirteen definitions of God (Elohim) drawn from Scripture, Fathers, and philosophers. Elohim is derived from el (strong) and ala (he adjured, bound): God gives and preserves His power to creatures and binds them to worship and gratitude. He is incomprehensible, unsearchable, invisible, ineffable, inexplicable — whom neither the mind reaches, nor the intellect, nor the senses, nor the tongue.
Chapter I (The Six Days of Creation)
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God (Elohim): Thirteen Definitions
— Elohim derived from el (strong) and ala (he adjured, bound); God gives and preserves His power to creatures and binds them to worship and gratitude.
"For "God" in Hebrew is elohim, which is derived from el, that is "strong," and ala, that is "he adjured, obligated, bound"; because God gives and preserves His power, virtue, and all good things to creatures"
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God (Elohim): Thirteen Definitions
— Elohim is the name of God as creator, governor, judge, inspector, and avenger, used by Moses so that men might know the founder of the world is also its judge.
"Elohim therefore is the name of God as creator, governor, judge, inspector, and avenger of all things"
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God (Elohim): Thirteen Definitions
— St. Leo's definition: God is He whose nature is goodness, whose will is power, whose work is mercy.
"God is He whose nature is goodness, whose will is power, whose work is mercy."
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God (Elohim): Thirteen Definitions
— Augustine's fourth definition: God is providence itself over all things; nothing happens that is not commanded or permitted from the interior court of the supreme ruler.
"Nothing happens visibly and perceptibly that is not either commanded or permitted from the interior, invisible, and intelligible court of the supreme ruler, according to the ineffable justice of rewards and punishments, graces and retributions, in that most vast and immense commonwealth of all creation."
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God (Elohim): Thirteen Definitions
— Augustine: God is He whom neither the mind reaches, nor the intellect, nor the senses, nor the tongue — incomprehensible, unsearchable, invisible, ineffable, inexplicable.
"God, says Saint Augustine in his Meditations, is He whom neither the mind reaches, because He is incomprehensible; nor the intellect, because He is unsearchable; nor the senses perceive, because He is invisible; nor the tongue utters, because He is ineffable; nor writing explains, because He is inexplicable."