The Goodness of God Flashcards
what is a biblical example of god’s goodness?
Samuel 1: 10-11 and 20 - story of Hannah
hannah prays to god for a child who she’ll dedicate to god, which he answers.
why is god good?
because the bible says so and there are actions mentioned in the bible that reflects his goodness
what are the 2 key ideas we see in the bible?
1) god is good
2) god’s actions are good
other than goodness, what else is god?
morally perfect
how is god’s goodness and care shown?
through his activity in the world (story of hannah)
what is said of god’s creation?
god’s creation is said to be good and reveal the goodness of God
what are the commands of god seen as?
good
what does the story of Abraham say?
god tells him to sacrifice his son
questions the goodness of god because of the immoral nature of the thing he is asking abraham to do
how do some christians say goodness is shown?
through the person of jesus
what/who is jesus meant to be?
meant to be God incarnate (in flesh)
what does jesus’s life and death show about god?
his love to the people through intervening to save them from their sins
what do the 10 commandments show?
that god’s goodness is also a matter of moral action - meaning that god intervenes in the world in good ways
maintaining the covenant between the Israelites and god is part of what?
god’s goodness
who does god maintain a relationship with?
the iseaelites
what does the relationship between god and the israelites show?
that god can forgive
god is good as he forgives people
what question does evil and suffering bring about?
can there be a good god despite all the evil and suffering in the world?
why do some people question whether god intervenes?
because they haven’t experienced miracles like others - it seems that god loves some and hates others - is this a good god?
what did god allow that makes people ensure of his goodness?
let destruction happen in places such as the city of Ai (joshua 8) and the sacrifice of isaac (gen.22:1-9)
why do some people say that we cannot comprehend god’s goodness?
because he is not like us - we have no level of comparison
if god acts within a world, what does this contradict?
the idea that god is immutable (unchangeable) because he will have to change somehow to do good
what does it mean because god is morally perfect?
he is the source of all goodness in the universe and it filters down through all creation (similar to plato’s theory of forms)
what does god is perfectly good mean?
that he lacks nothing, the ultimate standard of goodness
god is lawgiver and judge - what does this show?
giving the law shows his compassion for humanity, therefore it shows his goodness
god getting angry and punishing people is seen as good - why?
because it allows them to learn from their mistakes
eutyphro dilemma
= whether;
1) God causes things to be good by giving commands or
2) whether god commands good because they are already good
what would happen if god chose the first option in eutyphro’s dilemma?
then it would mean that if god commanded that ‘rape is not wrong’ then there would be nothing morally wrong with rape (makes god seem like a divine dictator)
what would happen if the 2nd option in eutyphro’s dilemma was chosen?
problems = goodness does not originate from god, but its independent of god. not supported in christianity (goodness comes from god)
