DAY 1

Our answer to the question of who God is lies within the pages of Scripture. There, we find a plethora of descriptions and examples of certain realities at play in God’s character; theologically, these are called “attributes.” When we ask who God is or what he is like, we’re hounding after his attributes: what are the contours of his character? What qualities make him who he is? What features belong to his divine being? Is he mean or kind? Is he fickle, fair, friendly?

After grappling with all that the Bible says about God, theologians separate these attributes into two lists: communicable and incommunicable. Let’s start with communicable. These are the attributes in God’s character that we have unique access to as humans made in his image. These attributes are “communicable” to us in that they can be transmitted to us or shared with us; they are characteristics that belong to God that can also belong to us. For example, God is merciful, and he calls us to be merciful; God is just, and he commands us to live justly. These are the things that allow the Bible to say we bear God’s likeness in certain ways.

But there are also attributes of God that belong to him alone. These aspects of his character and nature are “incommunicable” to us as humans. We do not possess them, and we never will simply because we are not God. An example of an incommunicable attribute is his omniscience or his all-knowing nature. God alone has all knowledge and wisdom within himself; he neither commands nor expects us to become like him in this way. Similarly, God is self-sufficient; he relies on no one and nothing to sustain his divine self, and the same could never be said for you and me. These attributes do not communicate to our human nature; he does not share them with us. They are God’s incommunicable attributes, and they are why the Bible also says there’s no one like him. 

In short, you could say the communicable attributes connect us to God, while the incommunicable attributes set him apart from us, drawing the line between creature and Creator. On one hand, considering the communicable attributes, it is clear we are like God to a degree, much like a child bears the image of his or her parent. On the other hand, considering the incommunicable attributes, it is clear God is entirely different from us.