[03/21/19]
Thus far, I have considered what I would suggest is the most basic understanding of what it means for any god to be god. I have set forth the idea of sovereignty – absolute sovereignty – as the single most defining characteristic of that which we would construe to be a god. I have briefly shown that in order for this sovereignty to be absolute, there can be no outside dependencies, which requires that there is no outside agency involved in this god coming into being; no parent, no creator. A sovereign god will necessarily be a self-existent god. This has led us to the point that said god, being self-existent, must therefore be the first cause of all that exists. I have furthermore insisted that the sovereignty of this god requires that there is no outside agency that can bring about his demise, and that a god being would not do so of his own will. Ergo, this god being, if we determine there is such a being, is of necessity eternal. He has always been. Finally, in order to maintain the total independence of action that absolute sovereignty requires, I insist that this god being is perfect within himself, suffers no lack nor ever has, and experiences no excess.
So, then, I have a beginning list of characteristics by which we might recognize such a god being, and filter out claimants to god-ness who fall short. I have not, as yet, described anything about this god being which would prove such a being exists, or require in some way that such a being exists. But, these matters are so fundamental to my understanding of the nature of god, and I will go ahead and say that they are fundamental to my understanding of the Christian God, that they must be well established at the outset. They combine to (hopefully) provide a solid starting point from which to proceed.
Indeed, I would argue that they combine to provide a solid and very necessary starting point from which to consider anything pertaining to life and reality. But, before I get farther into that particular aspect of things, I think we should establish that such a god being as is described here does in fact exist.
