Who Is God According To Catholicism?

The question of who God is has fascinated humanity across cultures and religions for thousands of years. If you’re short on time, here’s a quick answer: According to Catholic teaching, God is the all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving creator of the universe, revealed to humanity through Jesus Christ.

In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the Catholic understanding of God in detail – His nature, attributes, relationship to humanity, and revelation through Jesus Christ and the Church. With insights from Scripture, Tradition, and the teachings of the Magisterium, we will construct a rich theological portrait of the God worshiped by over 1 billion Catholics worldwide.

The Nature and Attributes of God

God as Trinity – Three Persons in One Divine Nature

Catholics believe in one God that exists as three divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. This is known as the Holy Trinity. The three persons are distinct yet coequal and coeternal, unified in one divine nature.

Each person has the fullness of divinity, but they play different roles. God the Father generates the Son, Jesus is begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and Son. The Trinity is considered a divine mystery that one can only begin to grasp.

Omnipotence – God’s Unlimited Power

Catholics hold that God is omnipotent, meaning all-powerful or almighty. God has unlimited might and ability to do anything that does not contradict His divine nature, like sinning or making logical absurdities. He created the entire universe ex nihilo (out of nothing) and sustains its existence.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). His power is beyond human comprehension, yet He sometimes limits it to allow for free will and natural laws of science to exist.

Omniscience – God’s Infinite Knowledge

Omniscience means all-knowing. Catholics profess God possesses infinite awareness, understanding, and wisdom. He knows everything that ever was, is now, or will be. According to Scripture, God’s knowledge extends to the most minute details, like the number of hairs on one’s head or when a sparrow falls from a tree.

He comprehends all mysteries, perceives every heart and mind, remembers all that occurs. His knowledge includes all possible things that could exist. It’s taught that while humans have limited knowledge, God has no boundaries and complete comprehension of reality.

Omnibenevolence – God’s Perfect Goodness and Love

The Catholic view of omnibenevolence means God is infinitely good, compassionate, merciful and loving. All perfect virtues exist in His essence to an infinite degree. He desires the authentic good and happiness of His creatures, not wishing harm or evil upon anyone.

Scripture attests God is love itself (1 John 4:8), that His mercy endures forever. The Catechism states, “God is love and in Himself He lives a mystery of personal loving communion.” Catholics believe that from God’s goodness stems all the blessings of creation, salvation, and hope.

God the Creator of Heaven and Earth

God Creates Ex Nihilo – Out of Nothing

According to Catholic teaching, God created the entire universe and everything in it out of nothing. This is known as creation ex nihilo in Latin. Before God created, there was absolutely nothing except God Himself. By His infinite power, God simply spoke the universe into existence.

As Genesis 1:1 states, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” This sets God apart from all the false gods, because the true God did not have to work with pre-existing matter, but rather created matter and energy itself.

God’s act of creation is a free and loving act that demonstrates His omnipotence and wisdom (CCC 296-298).

God Sustains All of Creation

Not only did God create the universe out of nothing, but He also actively sustains its existence at every moment. Creation does not have an independent existence apart from God. As the Catechism states, “Creation owes its existence to the will of God” (CCC 338).

If God were to ever withdraw His sustaining power, the universe would immediately cease to exist. This is known as God’s conservation of creation. The writer of Hebrews explains that Christ, the Son of God, “sustains all things by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3).

God continuously upholds the existence of all creatures great and small. Without Him, we would vanish into nothingness.

The Universe Manifests God’s Wisdom and Glory

The grandeur and beauty of the universe glorifies God, its Creator. According to the Catechism, “the beauty of creation reflects the infinite beauty of the Creator” (CCC 341). When we gaze up at the starry host in the night sky or look through a microscope at the intricacies of a living cell, we catch a glimpse of the wisdom, power, and artistry of Almighty God.

St. Paul proclaimed this truth: “Since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made” (Romans 1:20).

The order and design found in nature also speaks to God’s infinite intelligence. Modern science has only scratched the surface in understanding the astonishing complexity and harmony of the cosmos. This teleology (design) in creation led the medieval philosopher Thomas Aquinas to formulate his famous five proofs for God’s existence based on reason and observation of the natural world.

God’s Special Relationship with Humanity

Human Beings Made in God’s Image and Likeness

According to Catholic teaching, human beings are uniquely created in the image and likeness of God. This means that humans have the capacity to know and love God, reflecting the divine nature in a limited way.

When God created Adam and Eve, He breathed into them an immortal soul that reflects His own divine life and gives humans a share in God’s intellect and will. This sets humanity apart from the rest of earthly creation and shows that humans have a special role and dignity.

The Catechism states that “Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons” (CCC 357).

As images of their Creator, humans are called to participate in God’s plan by stewarding creation and living in loving relationships.

God Desires an Intimate Friendship with Each Person

Catholics believe that God loves each person infinitely and desires an intimate, loving relationship with every individual. Even though humans have fallen into sin, God never stops pursuing them and inviting them into friendship through Christ.

God speaks to people’s hearts, calling them to repentance, faith, and communion.

According to the Catechism, “God calls man first. Man may forget his Creator or hide far from his face; he may run after idols or accuse the deity of having abandoned him; yet the living and true God tirelessly calls each person to that mysterious encounter known as prayer” (CCC 2567).

God is always the first to take the initiative in seeking friendship with humanity.

Jesus perfectly reveals God’s loving plan, teaching that God is like a shepherd searching for lost sheep or a father eagerly awaiting his prodigal son’s return. Christ’s death on the cross to save sinners is the ultimate demonstration of God’s redeeming love for each person.

Through personal prayer, the sacraments and life in the Church, Catholics experience God’s grace and develop an intimate, lifelong friendship with Him.

God’s Providence Guides Human History

Catholics profess that God is actively involved in human history, working through the free choices and events of daily life to accomplish His loving plan. The Catechism states, “Divine Providence consists of the dispositions by which God guides all his creatures with wisdom and love to their ultimate end” (CCC 302).

Even amidst trials and tragedies, God mysteriously brings good from evil to draw humanity to salvation in Christ.

God guides the course of nations and cultures, acting in and through historical events and movements. According to the Second Vatican Council, “Throughout history, men continue to question the hidden purpose of the divine mind.

They constantly search for signs of God’s design and plan for mankind…Under God’s providence, the sui generis character of the Church is the foundation and guarantee of its permanent continuity in the midst of continual changes” (Gaudium et Spes, 4).

While respecting human freedom, God directs history through the working of the Holy Spirit in people’s hearts, providing the grace needed to cooperate with His loving plan. By discerning the signs of the times, Christians can see God’s hand at work amidst current events, bringing redemption out of upheaval and hope out of despair.

United to Christ, believers play an essential role in God’s ongoing work of renewing the face of the earth.

God Revealed in Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is the Fullness of God’s Revelation

According to Catholic teaching, Jesus Christ is the ultimate revelation of God. Through the Incarnation, God took on human flesh and entered into human history as a man, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is therefore the living Word of God, fully divine and fully human.

As the Catechism states, “The Son of God, by the Incarnation, ‘united himself in some sense with every man.’ He worked with human hands, thought with a human mind, acted by human choice, and loved with a human heart.

Born of the Virgin Mary, he has truly been made one of us, like us in all things except sin.” (CCC 464) In Jesus, the invisible God becomes visible, and the unknowable God becomes known to humanity.

Jesus reveals that God is loving, merciful, and desires intimacy with human beings. Through his teachings, healings, miracles, and ultimately his death and resurrection, Jesus makes the Father known to us. Jesus says, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

When we look at the life of Jesus in the Gospels, we come face-to-face with the living God in a definitive way. According to the Catechism, all God’s previous revelations throughout history find their fulfillment and deepest meaning in Christ Jesus (CCC 65).

Jesus’ Divine and Human Natures United in One Person

Jesus Christ is truly divine and truly human. In technical terms, Jesus has two natures – divine and human – that are hypostatically united in one divine Person. This union of natures in Christ is referred to as the “Hypostatic Union.”

Jesus is not simply a human person who was adopted as God’s Son, nor is he a demigod or half-human/half-divine creature. He is fully God and fully man. Everything that Christ did, he did as both God and man.

Jesus’ divine nature comes from the Father. He has the same divine nature as God, and shares the same divine attributes – eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, etc. His human nature comes from his mother, Mary. He has a real human body and soul, human mind, human will, and human emotions.

Yet these natures do not compete or oppose each other in him. They are perfectly united in the one Person of Jesus Christ.

The Catechism explains it this way: “The human soul that the Son of God assumed is endowed with a true human knowledge. As such, this knowledge could not in itself be unlimited: it was exercised in the historical conditions of his existence in space and time.

This is why the Son of God could, when he became man, ‘increase in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man’, and would even have to inquire for himself about what one in the human condition can learn only from experience.

This corresponded to the reality of his voluntary emptying of himself, taking ‘the form of a slave’.” (CCC 472)

Through Jesus, We Can Know God’s Love and Mercy

God’s love and mercy shine brightly in the Person of Jesus Christ. All of Christ’s ministry – his healing the sick, forgiving sins, welcoming outcasts and sinners – gives us a glimpse of God’s infinite love for humanity.

Jesus’ painful Passion shows us the depths of God’s redemptive love and his desire for our salvation. As Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way.”

Jesus’ resurrection and victory over sin and death is also a revelation of God’s mercy triumphing over evil. 1 John 4:10 beautifully summarizes it: “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.”

Through Christ, we come to know God not as a distant monarch but as a merciful Father who loved us so much that he sent his only Son for our sake.

The Catechism explains, “The Paschal mystery of Christ’s cross and Resurrection stands at the center of the Good News that the apostles, and the Church following them, are to proclaim to the world. God’s saving plan was accomplished ‘once for all’ by the redemptive death of his Son Jesus Christ.”

(CCC 571) In Jesus Christ, God’s plan of salvation has been fully revealed to us.

The Holy Spirit and the Catholic Church

Catholics believe the Holy Spirit was sent by Jesus Christ to guide the Church and lead it into all truth. The Holy Spirit assisted the apostles in spreading the Gospel after Christ’s ascension into heaven.

At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and gave them the gift of tongues to preach to people of many languages.

The Holy Spirit continues to guide the Magisterium, the teaching authority of the Church, so that it teaches without error on matters of faith and morals. Catholics believe that the Holy Spirit ensures the infallibility of the Church.

This charism of infallibility allows the Church to definitively interpret Scripture and Sacred Tradition.

The Magisterium Defends and Interprets Divine Revelation

The bishops of the Catholic Church, in union with the pope, constitute the Magisterium and teach with authority on matters of faith and morals. The Magisterium has the task of authentically interpreting and defending Divine Revelation, which includes Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.

The Magisterium provides clarity amid confusion, constantly reaffirming the core truths of the Catholic faith. For example, in the early Church, the Magisterium condemned the heresies of Gnosticism and Arianism.

In modern times, it has spoken against religious relativism and defended the sanctity of life.

Catholics Come to Know God Through Scripture and Tradition

Catholics believe God definitively revealed himself through the incarnation of his Son Jesus Christ. This revelation is found in Sacred Scripture, the inspired Word of God written by human authors, and in Sacred Tradition, the living transmission of the faith beginning with the apostles.

The Bible holds a preeminent place for Catholics, but needs an authoritative interpreter, which is the Magisterium. Sacred Tradition encompasses the liturgy, the teachings of popes and councils, the lives of the saints, and the Church’s art and music.

Together, Scripture and Tradition form a complete and reliable deposit of faith that allows Catholics to continually deepen their relationship with God.

Conclusion

Catholic theology provides a rich, multidimensional understanding of God’s nature and relationship with humanity. While ultimately transcendent and mysterious, God has chosen to make Himself intimately known through the Incarnation of Jesus Christ and the founding of the Church.

By embracing the revelations found in Scripture and Tradition, Catholics gain profound insights into who God is – One in Being and Three Persons, all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving. As we seek God in prayer, the sacraments, and acts of charity, we enter into the divine friendship which gives meaning, purpose, and salvation to our mortal lives.