Unit 2: God as ‘good’

Question 1

What are the Ten Commandments?

Answer 1

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make idols.
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honour your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
10. You shall not covet.

Question 2

How is God’s goodness revealed through creation?

Answer 2

• In Genesis, everything God’s created is described as ‘good’
• God provides everything that is needed to sustain the world and its inhabitants
• e.g. ‘he supplies the earth with rain’

Question 3

How is God’s goodness revealed through His provision of law?

Answer 3

• God desires that humans choose what is right
• He has given humanity the rules about how to life a good life in the Ten Commandments
• This shows that God wants people to act in a way that’s morally good and caring
• It’s because God is good that his rules are good, he doesn’t want humans to go to hell
• God allows free will

Question 4

How is God’s goodness revealed through judgement?

Answer 4

• God will judge all humans when they die
• God sees everything so he is able to judge fairly and ensure that justice is done

Question 5

How is God’s goodness revealed through salvation?

Answer 5

• God offers humans forgiveness
• In the Old Testament humans had to give an animal sacrifice to God in order to be forgiven of their sins
• God sent his son Jesus to die for the world and to pay the penalty for our sins
• If people have faith in Jesus and repent, then God will forgive them and they’ll be able to spend eternity with Him when they die
• By sending His Son, God made the ultimate sacrifice for humanity and this reveals His goodness

Question 6

What is the Euthyphro Dilemma?

Answer 6

• Whether something is morally good because God has commanded it, or if God has commanded it because it is good.
• If something is good simply because God commands it then in theory God could command anything, even something bad, and it would be good simply because he commands it.
• Alternatively, if God commands things because they are good, this suggests that goodness exists separately from God and that He too is dependent on this external goodness and can be subject to judgement.

Question 7

What are challenges to God’s goodness?

Answer 7

• Events that show a lack of God’s goodness include Noah and the Flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and God’s request to Abraham to sacrifice his Son.
• Some argue that the actions of God in the Old Testament show anger, jealousy and lack of justice
• For example, God enabled His own people to destroy other nations in order to take land for themselves

Question 8

Do a practice question

Answer 8

‘Explain the challenges to God’s goodness.’ 6 marks