OMNIBENEVOLENT GOD

GOD IS GOOD Holiness Creation Commandments Miracles Answered prayer Jesus Love Justice How does each of these things illustrate the goodness of God?

THE BIBLE PROCLAIMS THE GOODNESS OF GOD ‘He is good; his love endures for ever.’ 2 Chronicles 7:3 Read through worksheet

WHAT EXACTLY DOES IT MEAN TO SAY THAT GOD IS GOOD? ‘the perfections of everything exist in God, he lacks no excellence of any sort’ Aquinas, Summa Theologica. Swinburne draws analogies between God’s goodness and the role of a parent. E.g. rewarding and punishing.

ISSUES REGARDING GOD’S BENEVOLENCE What is the relationship between God and goodness? Can God do evil? Should a good God reward and punish? If God is omnibenevolent, can hell exist?

WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOD AND GOODNESS? The Euthyphro dilemma poses the question of the link between God and goodness. Does God set the standards in determining what is good and bad or do these standards exist regardless of the views of God? For example, would murder have been good if God has said so, or was it already wrong before God gave the commandments?

SHOULD A GOOD GOD REWARD AND PUNISH? This reward/punish concept is well established in theistic faiths. Some are concerned that this leads to religious morality being selfish, people only being good to ‘get into heaven’, not for ‘good’ motives! If God knows what our actions will be and that they cannot be otherwise, it does not seem just for God to judge those actions.

IF GOD IS OMNIBENEVOLENT, CAN HELL EXIST? For some hell is incompatible with the notion of a good God. Universalists (those who believe that all people will ultimately achieve salvation) such as John Hick argue that all will be saved. Swinburne however rejects this arguing that human freedom must include the freedom to damn ourselves. Other philosophers give a symbolic interpretation to the rewards and punishments of heaven and hell. i.e. not real places but symbols to inspire people to Jesus’ teachings.

Philosophers views: John Stuart Mill openly criticised the idea of an omnibenevolent God, attacking the design argument in particular. Mill stated that God cannot be loving if he created a world where animals had to kill each other in order to survive.   Wiles – why turn water into wine, yet let the holocaust happen Aquinas, however, states that we cannot judge the seemingly unjust world around us, because we do not know God's 'master plan'. Events may seem to cause suffering, but there may be a greater outcome. This is similar to the belief of Peter Vardy.  Immanuel Kant also argues that God's omnibenevolence is redeemed in heaven, and links this to his moral argument for the existence of God. Aquinas also said that God understands our suffering and can empathise with us; this links to the idea of God being everlasting.

HOW CAN A GOOD GOD ALLOW EVIL IN THE WORLD? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it7mhQ8fEq0 Ravi Zacharias, Christian Apologist.