Negative attributes of God.
1. The unity of God. (Unitas Dei.)
All creatures can exist at least in several copies. Besides God, there can be no other. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testament point to the unity of God to describe the majesty of God. Is. 43:10: "Understand that it is I. Before me no God was made, so after me there will be none." Especially emphatic Is. 45:5: אֲנִ֤י יְהוָה֙ וְאֵ֣ין עֹ֔וד זוּלָתִ֖י אֵ֣ין אֱלֹהִ֑ים [HEBREW]. 1 Cor. 8:4: Ουδεϊς ϑεός ετερος εΐ μή εϊς. This unitas Dei is to be known to God's people, and confessed in the world, Deut. 6:4: Hear, Israel, יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה׀ אֶחָֽד [HEBREW]. There is no objection to the fact that creatures are also called "god" in Scripture. Authoritative persons are called god because they have divine functions under God (propter analogiam veram, Ps. 82:6, compared with John 10:36: ϑεοί as much as προς ονς δ λόγος του ϑεοϋ έγένετο). The gods of the heathen are also called god because they are mistakenly ascribed existence and divine effects to themselves (propter analogiam
1365) 1 Tim. 2:6; Matt. 24:14.
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fictam, Deut. 4:28: אֱלֹהִ֔ים מַעֲשֵׂ֖ה יְדֵ֣י אָדָ֑ם [HEBREW]). But Scripture itself sharply distinguishes between so-called gods (λεγόμενοι ϑεοί) and the one who is God by his essence, beside whom there is no other, 1 Cor. 8:5: the ϑεοί πολλοί are λεγόμενοι ϑεοί. Hence the emphasis on "alone," μόνος, 1 Tim. 6:15. 16: μόνος δυνάστης, δ βασιλεύς των βασιλευόντων και κύριος των κυριευόν-των, δ μόνος εχων αϑανασίαν. God, then, is ens summum, sharing existence, agency, dominion, and prestige with no one. The gods of the heathen can do nothing, neither benefit nor harm (Is. 41:23), because they do not exist at all. The really existing creaturely gods, like the worldly authorities, can do something, but not without God. Therefore, in the Sunday church prayer, we pray that the one true God will preserve them in existence and function.
The unity of God has great practical significance. In the unitas Dei lies 1. the mighty admonition to adhere only to this one God, and that with an undivided heart (Mark 12:30; Deut. 6:5); 2. the great comfort that no one and nothing can harm us if God stands on our side, Rom. 8:31: Eι δ ϑεός ύπερ ημών, τις καϑ' ημών;
Following the unity of God, we can also refer to the much discussed question whether a definition of God can be given or not. In answering this question, it all depends on what we understand by definition. If we understand by it the indication of a genus, to which the thing to be defined belongs, together with indication of the differentia specifica, by which the thing differs from others, which belong to the same genus, then a definition of God is impossible. Because there is no other or others besides God (ούδεις ϑεδς ετερος εΐμη εις), the concept of genus is missing with respect to the concept "God," and thus the differentia specifica in relation to the genus also falls away. Baier therefore says very correctly:1366) Definitionem exquisite sic dictam, non est, cur quis postulet et expectet. [“There is no reason why one should demand and expect such a definition.”] Gerhard:1367) Deus non habet univocum aliquod genus cum reliquis entibus, nec simplicissima eius essentia ex genere et differentia est composita. [“God has no unequivocal genus with other beings, nor is his most simple essence composed of genus and difference.”] Gerhard's "Deus non habet univocum aliquod genus cum reliquis entibus" [“God does not have any kind of uniqueness with other beings”] is also applied to the popular "definition": Deus est spiritus independens. [“God is an independent spirit.”]
1366) Comp., ed. Walther, II, 14. <w:t xml:space="preserve">1367) Loci, L. De Nat. Dei, § 89.
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Very correctly Luther says:1368) "Who knows what is called God? It is above body, above spirit, above all that can be said, heard and thought." Gerhard shows in reference to Jn. 4:24: "God is a spirit", that also in this passage "spirit" is not stated in the same sense (univoce) of God and the angels, sed modo plane singulari, cum essentia infinita et finita, spiritus increatus et spiritus creatus plus quam toto genere differant [“but in a very singular manner, with an infinite and finite essence, the uncreated spirit and the created spirit differ more than the whole genus”] — But if we do not take the expression "definition" strictly, but understand by it a description (descriptio), then we could at most speak of a definition of God. For, however, we can and should describe God, according to the attributes which He attaches to Himself in His Word, as the one, simple, unchanging, omnipotent, omnipresent, righteous, in Christ gracious God, and so on. Yes, we can appropriately call the whole revealed Word of God, that is, the whole Holy Scriptures, a description of God. Would to God that we would make diligent use of this description at all times! As for the expression "definition", we have never been able to make friends with it in our own person in the doctrine of God, but we keep it with those who say: Deus non definiri, sed ex verbo suo revelato describi potest. [“God cannot be defined, but can be described from his revealed word.”]