THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
Our gift of language belongs mostly to the realm of the man. It is a manifestation of divine goodness that man can use his language to give an explanation of divine and spiritual matters. No human language can give full meaning to heavenly and spiritual subjects. Our minds, being finite (having limited capacity) and fallen (sinful), cannot fully understand the being of God. God is beyond our comprehension, but it has pleased Him to use human language to give to us some concepts that can be used to make Him known to us. These concepts we call His attributes. And yet our finite understanding cannot penetrate His perfection and infinity.
Incommunicable Attributes
These perfections or attributes of God are generally distinguished as being communicable and incommunicable. God created man in His image and likeness then renewed him after he fell. This does not imply that sinners become divine and are partakers of the very being of God. When it is said that man partakes of the divine nature, this is meant only as an image or faint similitude, not as full equality. Nevertheless, some attributes are of such a nature that they cannot be found in man even as a faint reflection. These are named as incommunicable attributes. Examples would be all-sufficiency, eternity, and omnipresence. The attributes of God, which can be found in man as a reflection and in a faint resemblance, are called communicable attributes. Examples would be intellect, will, and power.
