Divine simplicity

In monotheistic theology, the doctrine of Divine Simplicity says that God is simple (without parts). This is the idea that God does not exist in parts but is one unified entity, with no distinct attributes; that is, God’s existence is identical to God’s essence. The general idea can be stated in this way: The being of God is identical to the "attributes" of God. Characteristics such as omnipresence, goodness, truth, eternity, etc., are identical to God's being, not qualities that make up that being as a collection, nor abstract entities inhering in God as in a substance; in other words, one can say that in God both essence and existence are one and the same. This is not to say that God is a simpleton or "simple" to understand. As Peter Weigel states, "Divine simplicity is central to the classical Western concept of God." Simplicity denies any physical or metaphysical composition in the divine being. This means God is the divine nature itself and has no accidents (properties that are not necessary) accruing to his nature. There are no real divisions or distinctions of this nature. Thus, the entirety of God is whatever is attributed to him. Divine simplicity is the hallmark of God’s utter transcendence of all else, ensuring the divine nature to be 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." So when it comes to God's essential nature or attributes, there are no parts or accidents; this is not to be confused with, for example, God's accidental or contingent relation to the world (i.e., God's non-essential or contingent properties, not God's nature). Varieties of the doctrine may be found among Jewish, Christian, and Muslim philosophical theologians, especially during the height of Scholasticism, although the doctrine's origins may be traced back to ancient Greek thought, finding apotheosis in Plotinus' Enneads as the Simplex.