Heller M, Woodin W.H. (eds.) Infinity. New research frontiers (CUP, 2011)(ISBN 1107003873)(O)(327s)_MAml_

286 god and infinityactions (i.e., what God does) – God as kind, merciful, faithful, righteous, patient, good,gracious, and wise.When we say that God is kind, merciful, faithful, righteous, and patient, the word “God” isthesubjectofthedescriptions...Butwhatdoesitmeantosayallthesethingsof“God”?The answer lies in terms that explain the word “God” as such, e.g., terms like infinite,omnipresent, omniscient, eternal, and omnipotent.(Pannenberg 1991, p. 392)He first discusses the pivotal role of the concept of the Infinite in the definitionalattributes. He then turns to the second set of attributes, which, while “structurally”related to the concept of the Infinite found in the first set, are most clearly connectedwith the Johannine proclamation that the essence of God is love (1 John 4:8; Pannenberg1991, pp. 396, 432).Pannenberg notes that while the Bible does not refer directly to God’s infinity, it isclearly implied in its descriptions of God’s attributes: “Even if the Infinite is not theessential concept of God from which all the qualities of his essence are to be derived,it is still to be viewed as the initial concept of the divine essence to which all otherstatements about God’s qualities relate as concrete expressions of the divine nature”(Pannenberg 1991, p. 396). 25 By “infinity” Pannenberg at first means “that which standsopposed to the finite, to what is defined by something else.” It only secondarily meansthat which is endless. Freedom from limitation “is a consequence of negation of thefinite.” He tells us that in mathematics, this meaning of freedom underlies the idea of anunlimited progress in a finite series. In this way, the infinity of God is radically distinctfrom everything finite, limited, and transitory. When it is linked to the holiness of God,the concept of the infinite distinguishes God from all that is profane (Pannenberg 1991,pp. 397–98).Still, when Pannenberg develops this conception of the infinity and holiness ofGod, he adds a crucial new component to the previous, sharp distinction betweenthe infinite and the finite. God’s holiness not only opposes the profane world but“embraces it, bringing it into fellowship with the holy God.” For Pannenberg thisreflects a “structural affinity” between God’s holiness and God’s infinity. Finally, whenPannenberg summarizes his understanding of the concept of infinity in the doctrine ofGod, he specifically refers to Hegel:The Infinite that is merely a negation of the finite is not yet truly seen as the Infinite(as Hegel showed), for it is defined by delimitation from something else, i.e., the finite.Viewed in this way the Infinite is a something in distinction from something else, and itis thus finite. The Infinite is truly infinite only when it transcends its own antithesis to thefinite. In this sense the holiness of God is truly infinite, for it is opposed to the profane, yetit also enters the profane world, penetrates it, and makes it holy. In the renewed world thatis the target of eschatological hope the difference between God and creatures will remain,but that between the holy and the profane will be totally abolished (Zech. 14:20–21).(Pannenberg 1991, p. 400)25 This is Pannenberg’s translation of Boethius’s definition of eternity, who wrote: “interminabilis vitae totasimul et perfecta possessio.” Its standard translation is: “Eternity is the complete, simultaneous and perfectpossession of everlasting life.”