Is God Good?
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God is good, but we can't understand Him because we were all born with a sin nature and our hearts are wicked above all things. Some have accused God of being the author of evil, just because He created us with a measure of autonomy. He also created poison ivy, but we can't blame Him for our death if we drink it.
God did preordain the whole of mankind's history, from the beginning to the end. He even knew that we would sin, so He prepared the cross for Christ before He created the world.
We will never understand God's ways, because His ways are infinitely higher than ours and our puny little minds can't even begin to grasp His majesty and wisdom.
God did preordain the whole of mankind's history, from the beginning to the end. He even knew that we would sin, so He prepared the cross for Christ before He created the world.
We will never understand God's ways, because His ways are infinitely higher than ours and our puny little minds can't even begin to grasp His majesty and wisdom.
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Evil is not necessarily sin. For example, God was going to overthrow Nineveh. Scripture calls this evil. Evil is destruction in this context.
Jonah 3
9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
Jonah 3
9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
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The problem with the syllogism is that it posits two unbiblical premises and an unbiblical conclusion. They aren't anti-biblical, but they also aren't sourced in Scripture.
The Bible teaches that God is indeed both good and almighty. It teaches that He will crush evil eventually. We live in the in-between time, when God is in the process of destroying evil as He in His wisdom has determined to do. The so-called "problem of evil" exists only because humans are impatient and arrogant.
The Bible teaches that God is indeed both good and almighty. It teaches that He will crush evil eventually. We live in the in-between time, when God is in the process of destroying evil as He in His wisdom has determined to do. The so-called "problem of evil" exists only because humans are impatient and arrogant.
God is not the author of evil
(1 Corinthians 14:33)
Clark says He is.
Clark essentially says, God is above all law, so when God authors evil, it doesn't count as evil.
Clark's argument would in a sense be calling evil "good" if he held axiomatically that God is good and whatever He does is good -- but Clark does not keep the premise that God is good; rather, he calls God evil. he describes God as if He is a tyrant who is beyond reproach only by virtue of His throne: Clark says God authors evil, creates and decrees sin, but that all the evil Clark accuses God of is 'not prosecutable'
this is a terrible argument, and naturally so, because from the outset Clark denies the goodness of God. Clark replaces the goodness of God with as it were, 'diplomatic immunity' or 'royal purview' -- Clark ((at least in the way @Dave-L has presented the argument)) speaks of God as though He is evil, guilty of sin, responsible for all wrong, and only escaping judgement because there doesn't happen to be a court of appeals. he leaves himself as God's judge in the court of opinion, as though God is OJ Simpson or something -- everyone knows he did it but alas the justice system is unable to bring God to account.
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there are logical and epistemological problems here.
the notion that evil would not exist if God is good is a presupposition with basis in a very human idea of what is good. this statement is man supposing to think God's thoughts for Him -- imagining that man knows a better way to run the universe than God does.
here the error is failing to acknowledge the goodness of God again. the statement is questioning the goodness of God under the assumption that the existence of evil is not good. yet God has 'constrained all under sin in order that He might have mercy on all' -- this doesn't make sin 'good' but it shows a reason for the existence of it; in order that God's mercy may be manifested. mercy is good. mercy doesn't exist when there is no need for mercy. is then the existence of evil, itself evil?
a second error is framing these things within temporal experience. God's existence is not contained in time, but the existence of evil is within the framework of experiential timelike observation. God speaks of what is not as though it is, and calls into existence things which aren't - the vocabulary of prophecy is the fullness of completion of things not yet begun: it is an observational standpoint outside of the timelike eventspace sequence, knowing the end from before the beginning, and seeing them simultaneously -- and this is how God is able to observe, though man in finitude of knowledge ((hence understanding)) presently cannot.
but in the fullness of time all evil will be judged, and every enemy of God, who is good, will be brought under His feet. in the final analysis, evil is temporary. at the end of things, it will not persist - so its existence is only an interim vapor. in that sense, for man to judge God over what is essentially the fruit of the freedom of man to reject the goodness of God is like calling a cake a bad cake before it has baked. of course it isn't edible now, it needs time in the oven.
but the foremost problem is foregoing this:
axiom 1: God is good
corollary 1: everything God does is good
corollary 2: God does no evil
approach the supposed 'problem' with this algebra. you will find the singular and inevitable conclusion that man is vain, foolish, dim, and speaks without knowledge.
the notion that evil would not exist if God is good is a presupposition with basis in a very human idea of what is good. this statement is man supposing to think God's thoughts for Him -- imagining that man knows a better way to run the universe than God does.
here the error is failing to acknowledge the goodness of God again. the statement is questioning the goodness of God under the assumption that the existence of evil is not good. yet God has 'constrained all under sin in order that He might have mercy on all' -- this doesn't make sin 'good' but it shows a reason for the existence of it; in order that God's mercy may be manifested. mercy is good. mercy doesn't exist when there is no need for mercy. is then the existence of evil, itself evil?
a second error is framing these things within temporal experience. God's existence is not contained in time, but the existence of evil is within the framework of experiential timelike observation. God speaks of what is not as though it is, and calls into existence things which aren't - the vocabulary of prophecy is the fullness of completion of things not yet begun: it is an observational standpoint outside of the timelike eventspace sequence, knowing the end from before the beginning, and seeing them simultaneously -- and this is how God is able to observe, though man in finitude of knowledge ((hence understanding)) presently cannot.
but in the fullness of time all evil will be judged, and every enemy of God, who is good, will be brought under His feet. in the final analysis, evil is temporary. at the end of things, it will not persist - so its existence is only an interim vapor. in that sense, for man to judge God over what is essentially the fruit of the freedom of man to reject the goodness of God is like calling a cake a bad cake before it has baked. of course it isn't edible now, it needs time in the oven.
but the foremost problem is foregoing this:
axiom 1: God is good
corollary 1: everything God does is good
corollary 2: God does no evil
approach the supposed 'problem' with this algebra. you will find the singular and inevitable conclusion that man is vain, foolish, dim, and speaks without knowledge.
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