Divine simplicity

In classical theism, the doctrine of divine simplicity says that God is simple (without parts), in any manner whatsoever, including that his essence is identical with his existence.

The entity of God is taken to be identical to his attributes, eliminating any distinctions between them. Characteristics such as omnipresence, goodness, truth and eternity are identical to God's being, rather than attributes that make up that entity as a collection of abstract entities inherent to God as in a creature; in God, essence and existence are not distinguished.

Simplicity denies any physical or metaphysical composition in the divine being. God is the divine nature itself, with no accidents (things that inhere) accruing to his nature. There are no real divisions or distinctions of this nature; the entirety of God is whatever is attributed to him. For example, God does not have goodness, but is goodness; God does not have existence, but is existence. Divine simplicity is the hallmark of God's transcendence of all else, ensuring that the divine nature is beyond the reach of ordinary categories and distinctions (or, at least, their ordinary application). "Simplicity in this way confers a unique ontological status that many philosophers find highly peculiar." When it comes to God's essential nature or attributes, there are no parts or accidents; this is not to be confused with God's accidental or contingent relation to the world (God's non-essential or contingent properties, not God's nature).

Varieties of this doctrine exist among Jewish, Christian, and Muslim philosophical theologians, especially during the height of scholasticism. Its origins may be traced back to ancient Greek thought, finding apotheosis in Plotinus' Enneads as the Monad.

Views similar to divine simplicity were held by philosophers such as Plato, Thales and Anaximenes. Classical statements about divine simplicity can be found in Augustine, Anselm and Thomas Aquinas. In early Christianity, Philo of Alexandria said that the belief of God as utterly simple was widely held. One of the earliest mentions of divine simplicity in Christian theology is by Irenaeus (130 – c. 202 AD). Early Christian theology viewed simplicity as necessary for preserving God's transcendence; Athenagoras of Athens, in the second century, said that God is indivisible and unchangeable. Clement of Alexandria, Basil, and Cyril saw simplicity as preserving the transcendence and perfection of God.

Maimonides, in The Guide for the Perplexed, said:

If, however, you have a desire to rise to a higher state, viz., that of reflection, and truly to hold the conviction that God is One and possesses true unity, without admitting plurality or divisibility in any sense whatever, you must understand that God has no essential attribute in any form or in any sense whatever, and that the rejection of corporeality implies the rejection of essential attributes. Those who believe that God is One, and that He has many attributes, declare the unity with their lips, and assume plurality in their thoughts.

According to Maimonides, there can be no plurality of faculties, moral dispositions, or essential attributes in God. To say that God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-good is to introduce plurality, if these qualities are separate attributes. Maimonides concluded that it is untrue to say that God's power is greater than ours, that God's life is more permanent than ours, or God's knowledge is broader than ours. He believed that statements such as "God lives" or "God is powerful" are nonsense if they are interpreted normally, but they can be understood if analyzed as disguised negations. Maimonides also believed that negation is objectionable to the degree that it introduces complexity; God is neither this nor that, and verbal expression fails us. Citing Psalm 65, he concluded that the highest form of praise of God is silence.