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JJM

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I've been told that the Eastern Orthodox do not believe that God is absolutely simple. In the West it is generally considered correct as a result of the Divine Simplicity and the fact that First John says "God is Love" to say that since God is Lord of Heaven and Earth therefore Love is Lord of Heaven and Earth. My question is even without a concept of absolute simplicity could and Orthdox person say something similar? What about God is Wisdom, therefore Wisdom is Lord of Heaven and Earth?
 

Mary of Bethany

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My uneducated answer would be "no". God is the Source of those things, but He is not those things.

The "God as simplicity" denies the understanding of God's Essence and Energies, and relegates His Grace to a created "thing" that He bestows upon us, rather than the Orthodox understanding of Grace as God's (uncreated) Energies that unites us to Himself.

Someone better than I at answering this will come along, and correct me if need be.

Mary
 
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Knee V

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I think that both of the two above posters are correct, depending on how we're looking at things. As Christos Anesti pointed out, both of those titles are used in Orthodox hymnography. But, in line with what Mary of Bethany said, God is not these things as we understand them, just as God is not "being" as we understand it. From the saints that I've read, when they really get to know God they begin to understand what it means that "God is love" (or "God is wisdom, or what have you). But until we're there we'll have to settle with the fact that God is above even the titles that Scripture gives Him.
 
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ArmyMatt

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I would say it depends on how one defines what simplicity is. the West have a dogma called Divine Simplicity as stated earlier, which from my understanding means that there is no difference between God's Essence and His Energies. that His Grace and His blessing are created, whereas we say that they are His active presence (ie God Himself). so for us, yes God is simple in His Essence because Divinty does not change, just not in the same way that has been defined in the West.

but in my opinion. if Jesus is called the Wisdom of God, and He is God, then one can say that God is Wisdom

Fr Thomas Hopko actually has a reflection on Christ as the Wisdom of God:
http://http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/namesofjesus/jesus_-_the_wisdom_of_god
 
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