Thread by @scottrswain

The argument for divine simplicity from divine naming:

1. Scripture applies a number of names, titles, and descriptions to God. Among these, pride of place goes to "YHWH" and "Elohim" in the OT.

2. "Elohim" is a class term like "man." In ordinary usage, class terms apply to many different things that hold something in common: Adam is a man. Abraham is a man. And so forth.

3. In accordance with this ordinary usage, the OT applies the term "Elohim" not only to YHWH but also to other so-called gods, "the gods of the peoples."

4. "YHWH," on the other hand, is a proper name like "Abraham." In ordinary usage, proper names pick out individual members of a class, distinguishing them from other members of a class.

5. Here's where ordinary rules of usage break down. The OT affirms that YHWH is "the Elohim" (Deut 4:35). This has two implications for our understanding of both "YHWH" as a proper name and "Elohim" as a class term.

6. The singular identity that the proper name "YHWH" picks out is no ordinary singularity. YHWH is not a member of a larger class. YHWH is "one" in a very peculiar sense (Deut 6:4).

7. Moreover, "Elohim" is not a class term that, strictly speaking, admits many members. "You [YHWH] alone are God" (Ps 86:10). The gods of the nations are, in fact, "nothing" (Isa 41:24).

8. What does this have to do with divine simplicity? The doctrine of divine simplicity denies "composition" in God. Among other facets of the doctrine, this includes the denial that God is a composite of individual and nature, that God is *this* version of *that* thing.

9. This facet of the doctrine of divine simplicity seems to be one implication of OT patterns of divine naming which identify YHWH exclusively with Elohim. The name "YHWH Elohim" is the OT's eloquent testimony to the simplicity of God. YHWH alone *is* Elohim, there is no other.