By Jimmy Stephens:

On Christian Theism, God is self-existent, an idea freighted with a lot of metaphysical baggage. One metaphysical correlate is irrelativity. Who God is is not something defined by Platonic Forms or abstract properties or a force. God’s identity is something God has without depending on or emerging from or participating in anything other than Himself.

Because of this, an epistemological doctrine follows that God is incomprehensible. His identity is not limited to facts about the universe, human thought, and so forth, because all such matters are created. The only way to know God is to *be* Him or for Him to dip His toes into the stream of human experience and tell us Himself, metaphorically speaking.

This runs non-Christian Theists into a dilemma. How is it that we know God?

If we construct a natural theology from some non-revelatory category of human experience, then that entails that God’s identity is defined by that category, and He is not self-existent. Classical theists will readily note the problems following that concession.

For example, if reason unaided by divine revelation can hold God to “laws of thought” and so forth, then it is these laws of thought that exist paramount to all reality, over and above God, defining Him and so removing His aseity.

However, the observant philosophical theist will readily see the upcoming problem. For if revelation from God is not a public, historic matter verifiable by a community, then humans are universally unable to decipher mere claims of private oracle from objective acts of God. The Muslim, Mormon, and Reformed Christian all have means to resolve this problem by appealing to holy books attributed divine authorship.

What does a philosophical theist have?

It’s a Framian immanence-transcendence objection. If the deist god is supposed to share Yahweh’s holiness, how can he be known without divine revelation, thus reverting to theism? If the deist god is knowable apart from revelation, then he is not holy (transcendent), and therefore is only part of the universe to be accounted for, not the sole creator of it.

The deist god needs the Christian God’s properties in order for him to be a relevant substitute. But in borrowing the Christian God’s properties, the deist god either fails to really be deist or fails to be a substitute.

That’s where the car factory analogy came in. Even if we lacked the skill or ideas necessary to make a car factory, we still know everything needed to learn about a car factory according to principles unique to neither us nor the car factory. For example, mathematics, principles of engineering, colors, etc., are all ideas by which the car factory is defined and which the car factory does not possess uniquely. But if the car factory depends on reality outside itself – the aforementioned principles and ideas – to be defined and understood, then it is simply part of the universe, not an account of it.

Yahweh, on the other hand, possesses His properties in and of Himself. There is no principle outside of His act of revelation by which to acquire knowledge of him or by which He is defined. He is self-defined because He is self-contained: all truths about Him are grounded in Himself and cannot be shared unless He chooses to condescend.

The Self-Existent God: Beyond Metaphysical Boundaries

On Christian Theism, God is self-existent, a concept loaded with deep metaphysical implications. One crucial aspect is God’s irrelativity. Unlike beings defined by Platonic Forms, abstract properties, or external forces, God’s identity is intrinsic, emerging solely from Himself.

God’s self-existence means He is the only necessary being, relying on nothing outside of Himself for existence. This is opposed to contingent beings, which depend on other factors for their existence. God’s irrelativity implies that His identity and existence are wholly independent and do not participate in or derive from any external realities.

The Incomprehensibility of God

This leads to an essential epistemological doctrine: God is incomprehensible. His identity transcends facts about the universe and human thought since all such entities are created. To know God, one must either be God or have God reveal Himself through human experience.

Because God’s identity is not limited to created reality, human attempts to understand God are fundamentally limited. Our concepts and categories, derived from the created order, cannot fully encapsulate the nature of an uncreated being. Thus, divine revelation becomes the critical means by which God makes Himself known to us.

The Natural Theology Conundrum

Constructing a natural theology from human experience suggests that God’s identity is defined by that experience, undermining His self-existence. Classical theists recognize the problems here. For instance, if unaided reason subjects God to “laws of thought,” these laws then supersede God, compromising His aseity.

Natural theology claims that knowledge of God can be derived from observing the natural world and using human reason. However, if God’s identity and nature are truly independent of the created order, then any such knowledge would be inherently limited and potentially misleading. This raises the issue of whether human reason alone can truly grasp the divine nature without divine aid.

The Revelation Dilemma

If divine revelation is not public and verifiable, humans cannot distinguish private claims of oracle from objective divine acts. Muslims, Mormons, and Reformed Christians resolve this with holy books attributed to divine authorship.

Public and verifiable revelation provides a common ground for understanding and interpreting God’s self-disclosure. Without this, we are left with subjective interpretations and private revelations, which lack communal verification and can lead to divergent and contradictory understandings of God.

The Philosophical Theist’s Dilemma

What does a philosophical theist have? This brings us to the Framian immanence-transcendence objection. If the deist god shares Yahweh’s holiness, how is he knowable without revelation, thus reverting to theism? If knowable apart from revelation, he is not holy (transcendent) and becomes a mere part of the universe, not its creator.

The Framian objection highlights the tension between God’s transcendence (being wholly other and beyond creation) and immanence (being present and knowable within creation). A god who is fully knowable without revelation loses transcendence, becoming just another aspect of the universe rather than its creator.

The Car Factory Analogy

Imagine a car factory. Even without the skill to build it, we can understand it through principles like mathematics and engineering, which the factory does not uniquely possess. If the factory relies on external principles for definition and understanding, it is simply part of the universe, not the account of it.

In this analogy, the car factory represents a contingent being whose existence and operation depend on external principles. Similarly, if God’s identity and nature are defined by principles external to Himself, He would be a contingent being, not the necessary, self-existent creator.

Yahweh: The Self-Defined Creator

Yahweh possesses His properties inherently. No principle outside His revelation can define or acquire knowledge of Him. He is self-defined and self-contained. All truths about Him are grounded in Himself and shared only if He chooses to condescend.

Yahweh’s self-definition means that He is not contingent upon any external reality. His revelation is the means by which we come to know Him, and this revelation is grounded in His own self-existent nature. This underscores the uniqueness of Yahweh in Christian Theism, standing apart from deist gods who fail to encapsulate true transcendence and immanence.

In conclusion, the self-existence and incomprehensibility of God affirm that true knowledge of God comes through His self-revelation, distinguishing the Christian understanding of God from other theistic perspectives that rely on natural theology or private revelations. This highlights the necessity of divine revelation for any genuine understanding of the divine nature and preserves the uniqueness and holiness of Yahweh.