THE

GOODNESSOF GOD

THE GOODNESS OF GOD

How Jewish and Christian writers considered this concept

CONCEPTS COMPARED

THE ANCIENT GREEKS THE BIBLE

Unmoved Mover God of Jews and Christians

Creator God Creator God

Detached from creation Involved with the world and people

No Divine commands given God commands his followers

No personal qualities God shows love mercy etc

THE GOODNESS OF GOD

An initial Question

WHICH COMES FIRST

GOODNESS OR GOD ?

Does belief in God imply an external moral standard?

Or

Is God good by definition?

For the writers of the Bible

THE GOODNESS OF GOD

Is the foundation of all moral thinking

Is not an abstract quality

Is not a secular human ideal

Shows what God is when he creates and commands

Is what is seen when he deals with human beings

THE GOODNESS OF GOD

Is an interactive issue

God is not just an ideal to follow

God reacts to people

God sets a standard and watches to see what happens

For our Biblical writers

Only God is truly good

Man may be described as good

Things may be called good

Insofar as they conform to the will of God

THE GOODNESS OF GOD

GOD’S WORK

IN

CREATION

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth ?

Tell me if you have understanding

Who determined its measurements –surely you know ?

Or who stretched a line upon it ? On what were its bases sunk ?

Or who laid its cornerstone ?

When the morning stars sang together

And all the sons of God shouted for joy

THE GIFTS WHICH GOD GIVES

The Lord is good to all, And his compassion is over all that he has made.

All thy works shall give thanks to thee O Lord Psalm 145 verse 9

THE GOODNESS OF GOD

Is a constant theme of prayer and praise in the Bible

You are good and you do what is good – teach me your decrees.

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love endures for ever.

Praise the name of the Lord, praise him you servants of the Lord

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God

The goodness of God is seen in the blessings of the Covenant. This was the agreement God made with Israel. Moses went back and set

before the people all the words which the Lord had commanded him to speak Exodus 19:7

Hear O Israel; The Lord our God is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Can anger really be a sign of God’s goodness ?

Consider possibly “Righteous Indignation”

Other possible ideas about

THE GOODNESS OF GOD

Include

God shows pity or mercy

The love of God

God’s guidance for individuals

IT’S PROBLEM TIME !

So

With all this goodness

Does it mean that perfection is what God is?

Perfection is unchangeable – it’s an absolute

Yet the Bible produces lots of evidence to show that God changes his mind about things

A God who has a relationship with humans must be able to change !

CAN GOD SUFFER ?

GOODNESS AND JESUS

How could God assume human form?

If God is timeless how does he enter time?

When God was away in the world, was he in heaven as well?

GOODNESS AND THE CHRISTIAN

Hopelessness of the Christian position which cannot aspire to the goodness of God

Christians say

God shows unconditional goodness towards a constantly failing mankind