Thanda
Well-Known Member
There is a problem faced by every theory of God as someone who created the entire universe out of nothing and who is the source of all laws and principles of nature and existence.
The problem this kind of formulation brings up is that if God is the source of everything then there is no rational justification for calling Him good or righteous.
Generally if you're going to call someone good or righteous it is because there is a particular standard of behavior (which transcends them) to which they adhere. A citizen who obeys the laws of His country is often called a "good citizen". A soldier who obeys instructions from commanding officers and discharges His duty in a manner expected of a dedicated soldier is called a "good soldier".
On the other hand a dictator who makes up his own laws according to his own pattern of behaviour cannot be called good when he is found to live by those laws. As it happens, many people's conception of God leads to precisely that conclusion about him. If God created everything and what is good and bad originates entirely from what He says is good and bad then clearly He cannot be called good. Clearly He just is. Others who obey His laws can be called good - but He himself cannot be called good.
If on the other hand God did not create everything, and there are principles that exist independent from Him and which transcend Him; therefore if He lives by these principles then He can lay claim to being good and righteous. The commandments of God then make more sense as it is not God just telling us what to do, but it is Him teaching us how to be righteous.
For the Christian this also goes a long way to solving the riddle of the atonement. The question often asked is why did God have to send someone to suffer and die for the sins of others? Why didn't He just forgive them? After all it is just His own laws that have been broken so He has every right to simply forgive whoever He feels like forgiving without having to go through a heart breaking ceremony (sacrificing His own Son).
But if the laws that man breaks and which qualify him as sinful are not God's arbitrary rules but rather beyond Him then there remains that possibility that those principles required God to sacrifice someone perfect to suffer for the sins of the imperfect in order to allow Him to grant them mercy.
The problem this kind of formulation brings up is that if God is the source of everything then there is no rational justification for calling Him good or righteous.
Generally if you're going to call someone good or righteous it is because there is a particular standard of behavior (which transcends them) to which they adhere. A citizen who obeys the laws of His country is often called a "good citizen". A soldier who obeys instructions from commanding officers and discharges His duty in a manner expected of a dedicated soldier is called a "good soldier".
On the other hand a dictator who makes up his own laws according to his own pattern of behaviour cannot be called good when he is found to live by those laws. As it happens, many people's conception of God leads to precisely that conclusion about him. If God created everything and what is good and bad originates entirely from what He says is good and bad then clearly He cannot be called good. Clearly He just is. Others who obey His laws can be called good - but He himself cannot be called good.
If on the other hand God did not create everything, and there are principles that exist independent from Him and which transcend Him; therefore if He lives by these principles then He can lay claim to being good and righteous. The commandments of God then make more sense as it is not God just telling us what to do, but it is Him teaching us how to be righteous.
For the Christian this also goes a long way to solving the riddle of the atonement. The question often asked is why did God have to send someone to suffer and die for the sins of others? Why didn't He just forgive them? After all it is just His own laws that have been broken so He has every right to simply forgive whoever He feels like forgiving without having to go through a heart breaking ceremony (sacrificing His own Son).
But if the laws that man breaks and which qualify him as sinful are not God's arbitrary rules but rather beyond Him then there remains that possibility that those principles required God to sacrifice someone perfect to suffer for the sins of the imperfect in order to allow Him to grant them mercy.