Six Attributes of God in the Old and New Testaments
This paper examines six foundational attributes of God—justice, mercy, wisdom, love, goodness, and greatness—as they appear across both the Old and New Testaments. Drawing on scriptural references from books including Proverbs, Psalms, Romans, James, and Ephesians, the paper argues that God's character remains consistent throughout all of Scripture. It engages briefly with critics such as Copan and Seibert who question whether God's attributes are uniformly positive, and responds that a faith-based reading of Scripture reveals a coherent divine character. The paper concludes that these six attributes animate all of God's actions and are accessible to those who approach Scripture through the lens of faith.
- Introduction: Overview of six divine attributes examined
- Justice of God: God as judge in both Testaments
- Mercy of God: Conditional mercy shown throughout Scripture
- Wisdom of God: God's wisdom and critics' objections addressed
- Love of God: Love as God's defining animating characteristic
- Goodness and Greatness of God: God's goodness and majesty across Scripture
- Conclusion: Faith required to perceive God's consistent character
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What makes this paper effective
- It supports every theological claim with direct Scripture citations from both Testaments, giving the argument a strong evidential foundation.
- It acknowledges and responds to scholarly critics (Copan, Seibert, Block), demonstrating awareness of counterarguments rather than ignoring them.
- The parallel structure — treating each attribute with Old Testament evidence followed by New Testament evidence — creates a clear, readable framework.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper consistently employs a compare-and-contrast method across the biblical canon: for each attribute, it identifies Old Testament passages and then locates their New Testament counterparts, building a cumulative case for continuity in God's character. This approach, sometimes called canonical exegesis, shows how meaning can be traced across an entire text tradition rather than isolated in a single passage.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief thesis statement identifying the six attributes to be examined. Each of the six body sections focuses on one attribute, follows the same two-part scriptural pattern (Old Testament then New Testament), and briefly addresses a scholarly objection where relevant. The conclusion synthesizes all six attributes and reframes the discussion around the role of faith in reading Scripture. The tight parallel structure makes this a strong model for thematic theological essays.
Introduction
The six most comprehensive attributes of God found in both the Old and New Testaments are His justice, mercy, wisdom, love, goodness, and greatness. This paper discusses each of these characteristics and demonstrates, using references from both Testaments, that God always possesses these attributes and that His character does not change from one collection of books to the next. In doing so, the paper shows that God's character is defined from the beginning in a way that remains consistent with its definition in the modern era of revelation.
Justice of God
The justice of God is described in multiple places in the Old Testament. Ecclesiastes 3:17 states: "God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed." Proverbs 21:15 adds: "When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers." And Proverbs 28:5 states, "Evildoers do not understand what is right, but those who seek the LORD understand it fully." In other words, the Old Testament clearly articulates that God is concerned with justice and will judge one and all — He is, therefore, the God of justice.
This characteristic does not change in the New Testament, where God is still described as the One Who will judge the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1; 1 Peter 4:5). Hebrews 10:30 declares: "For we know him who said, 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' and again, 'The Lord will judge his people.'" Romans 12:19 similarly states, "Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord." The consistent message throughout both Testaments is that God is concerned with justice. While God wants His people to be concerned with justice as well, the writers of the Epistles make clear that ultimate justice will be delivered by Him alone. In asserting this, they leave room for Christians to explore works of mercy in their own lives while recognizing that God will dispense justice as He sees fit.
Mercy of God
The mercy of God is a quality often described in both the Old and New Testaments. Seibert argues that the God of the Old Testament is not merciful at all times, pointing to Deuteronomy 7:1–2 to show that God commands His people to show no mercy to the enemy. What must be understood, however, is that God in this instance is demonstrating justice: the faithless are destroyed, while those who have faith are saved. Mercy is always shown to those who trust in God, as is evident throughout the many trials of King David and throughout the Psalms. Mercy is thus a quality of God, though in the Old Testament it is often conditional upon faith.
Hebrews 4:6 states, "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." This mercy is, however, conditional, as Christ notes: "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you" (Matthew 6:14). People who want forgiveness must themselves show forgiveness; they cannot assume that all their sins will be pardoned if they extend none to others. Thus, in the New Testament, the mercy of God is conditional just as it is in the Old Testament — the condition being the same in both: that people have faith in God and demonstrate that faith through Christ-like actions (Moberly 2004).
Conclusion
God's mercy, love, greatness, justice, wisdom, and goodness are all on display in both the Old and the New Testament. However, just as these qualities were shown to those who believed, it takes faith to see them. Critics who read with eyes of unbelief often encounter only a god who is a mere reflection of their own prejudice and anger, rather than the consistent, redemptive character revealed throughout the whole of Scripture.
Bibliography
Block: "Israel — Ancient Kingdom of Late Invention."
Copan: chs. 1–2.
Hays, Richard B. "Reading the Bible with Eyes of Faith: The Practice of Theological Exegesis." Journal of Theological Interpretation (2007): 5–21.
Moberly, R. W. L. "Jonah, God's Objectionable Mercy, and the Way of Wisdom." Reading Texts, Seeking Wisdom: Scripture and Theology (2004): 154–68.
Seibert: ch. 1.
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