Can Man Become God?

Kirsten gave me a book recently called "Now, That's a Good Question" by R.C. Sproul. It is a Q&A book that is a great survey course in Christian doctrine and worldview. It is not an apologetic book like Hank Hanegraaff's Bible Answer books which are great for defending the faith.

God's attributes

On page 6, Dr. Sproul is discussing the phrase "God is love." His comments got me thinking about the nature of God and how man may be created in the image of God but he cannot become God.


Dr. Sproul says, "When we talk about the attributes of God, we're referring to those characteristics that describe God's being [God is love]. When we describe [a person's] attributes, we usually make a distinction between a person and his attributes. For instance, you may say your mother is patient, but you wouldn't say that your mother is patience."


"But God is different from your mother in that it was God's being that defined attributes in the first place...God is His attributes."

I would add that man can have those same attributes but cannot be those attributes and therefore man cannot be nor become God.



Are we created or begotten?


This also reminds me of C.S. Lewis' discussion of creation versus begetting. In his book, Mere Christianity, his reasoning leads me to understand that God created man and placed him on this earth but God did not beget man.

"To beget is to become father of; to create is to make. And the difference is this. When you beget, you beget something of the same kind as yourself. A man begets human babies...But when you make, you make something of a different kind from yourself. A man...may make a statue which is very much like the man indeed. But, of course, it is not a real man."


"What God begets is God; just as what man begets is man. What God creates is not God; just as what man makes is not man. That is why men are not Sons of God in the sense that Christ is [Matthew 5:9; Romans 8:14; Galatians 3:26; Revelations 21:7]. They may be like God in certain ways, but they are not things of the same kind. They are more like statues or pictures of God."

Jesus is the only Begotten of the Father (John 1:14, 18; 3:16; Psalms 2:7; Acts 13:33-34; 1 Jn 4:9). Not man, not angels (Hebrews 1:5-7).