aseity
Definition
Aseity (from Latin a se, “from itself”) is the theological concept for God’s absolute self-sufficiency: he exists from himself and is dependent on nothing and no one for his existence, nature, or action. Aseity is the ontological ground of all other divine attributes — God’s immutability, sovereignty, and omnipotence are only intelligible in light of the fact that he is the absolute First Cause, standing outside the causal network of creation. In this corpus, E.W. Bullinger is the only author who develops aseity as an explicit category.
Uses per Author
E.W. Bullinger
Bullinger connects aseity to the symbolic significance of the number one: God as the First has no antecedent and no equivalent:
“The great First Cause is independent of all. All need Him, and He needs the help of none.”
(Number in Scripture, Part II: ONE)
God’s aseity implies exclusivity — no second first is conceivable:
“‘One’ excludes all difference, for there is no second with which it can either harmonize or conflict.”
(ibid.)
Bullinger develops aseity through the biblical formulation “the First and the Last”:
“Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me.‘” (Isa. 44:6)
(ibid.)
“Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. I, even I, am the LORD; and there is no savior besides Me.” (Isa. 43:10-11)
(ibid.)
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last.” (Rev. 1:11,17; 22:13)
(ibid.)
Bullinger formulates aseity as a threefold primacy:
“He is the only one. There cannot be two firsts. He is first in priority of time. He is first in superiority of rank, and He is first in absolute supremacy.”
(ibid.)
God’s independence is for Bullinger his glory:
“Independence, in God, is His glory. Independence in man is his sin, and rebellion, and shame.”
(ibid.)