Doctrine
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God (Concept)

God (Theological Concept)

See also: God - The supreme being as a divine entity

The theological and philosophical concept of God—the nature, attributes, and understanding of the supreme being across the Abrahamic traditions. While God as a being explores the entity and its actions in history, this article examines the theological doctrines and philosophical concepts about God’s nature.

Monotheism

All three Abrahamic faiths affirm strict monotheism—belief in one God:

In Judaism

The Shema declares: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). God is absolutely one, indivisible, and incorporeal—without body, form, or division.

In Christianity

While affirming monotheism, Christianity teaches the doctrine of the Trinity: God as three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in one divine essence. This has been a point of theological distinction from Judaism and Islam.

In Islam

Tawhid (divine unity) is the central doctrine. The Quran declares: “Say, He is Allah, [who is] One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent” (Surah 112). Any compromise of God’s absolute oneness is considered shirk (the gravest sin).

Divine Attributes

Shared Attributes

Across traditions, God is understood as:

  • Eternal: Without beginning or end
  • Omnipotent: All-powerful
  • Omniscient: All-knowing
  • Omnipresent: Present everywhere
  • Transcendent: Beyond and above creation
  • Immanent: Present within creation
  • Holy: Absolutely pure and set apart
  • Just: Perfectly righteous and fair
  • Merciful: Compassionate and forgiving

Tradition-Specific Understandings

Judaism emphasizes God’s attributes as revealed in the Torah:

  • The 13 Attributes of Mercy (Exodus 34:6-7)
  • God as personal yet transcendent
  • Knowable through His actions, not His essence

Christianity adds:

  • God as love (1 John 4:8)
  • God as Trinity—relationality within the Godhead
  • Self-revelation in Christ

Islam teaches:

  • The 99 Names of Allah describing His attributes
  • God as utterly transcendent—“nothing is like Him”
  • Knowable through His signs in creation and revelation

God’s Relationship with Creation

Creator

All three traditions affirm God as the creator of all that exists ex nihilo (from nothing). Creation reflects God’s power, wisdom, and purpose.

Sustainer

God continuously sustains creation, governing its operation and providing for creatures.

Covenant Partner

Particularly in Judaism and Christianity, God enters into covenant relationships with humanity, especially through:

  • Abraham - covenant of promise
  • Moses - covenant of law
  • Jesus (Christianity) - new covenant

Judge

God will judge humanity, rewarding righteousness and punishing wickedness. This judgment reflects both divine justice and mercy.

Theological Questions

The Problem of Evil

If God is all-powerful and all-good, why does evil exist? Each tradition offers responses:

  • Free will: Evil results from human choice
  • Testing: Suffering refines and proves faith
  • Mystery: Some aspects of God’s purposes remain beyond human understanding
  • Eschatological: Evil will be defeated in the end times

Divine Transcendence vs. Immanence

How can God be both utterly beyond creation (transcendent) and actively present within it (immanent)? Traditions balance these through:

  • Mystical experience: Direct encounter with the divine
  • Revelation: God’s self-disclosure through prophets and scripture
  • Incarnation (Christianity): God becoming human in Jesus

Knowability of God

Can humans truly know God?

  • Judaism: We know God through His Torah and His deeds
  • Christianity: We know God supremely through Christ
  • Islam: We know God through His names, attributes, and the Quran, but His essence remains unknowable

Philosophical Theology

Classical theism, shared across traditions, holds that God is:

  • Simple: Not composed of parts
  • Immutable: Unchanging
  • Eternal: Outside of time or everlasting within time
  • Necessary: Must exist; cannot not exist
  • Perfect: Lacking nothing

Modern and contemporary theology has engaged with questions of:

  • Process theology: Does God change?
  • Open theism: Does God know the future exhaustively?
  • Divine emotion: Does God experience feelings?

Names of God

In Judaism

  • YHWH (יהוה): The ineffable name, considered too holy to pronounce
  • Adonai: Lord (spoken in place of YHWH)
  • Elohim: God (plural of majesty)
  • El Shaddai: God Almighty
  • HaShem: The Name

In Christianity

Inherits Jewish names plus:

  • Father: God as parent
  • Abba: Intimate form of Father
  • Trinitarian names: Father, Son, Holy Spirit

In Islam

  • Allah: The God (al-ilah)
  • Ar-Rahman: The Most Merciful
  • Ar-Rahim: The Most Compassionate
  • Plus 96 other names forming the 99 Names of Allah

Contemporary Relevance

The concept of God remains central to:

  • Worship and devotion
  • Ethics and morality
  • Questions of meaning and purpose
  • Interfaith dialogue
  • Atheist and agnostic critique
  • Scientific and philosophical inquiry

Understanding the theological concept of God—distinct from but related to God as a being—helps clarify how these faiths conceive of ultimate reality and humanity’s relationship to it.