Monday, July 21, 2008
A question for christians
For any christians that may be reading this blog: What do you mean when you say your god is good? I am being quite serious here. Are you applying a standard of goodness that you think your god meets? Or are you just mouthing pretty words? In order for it to be meaningful to call a being good, it must also be meaningful to call the being wicked. If you have instant cop-outs like "it's not a sin when he does it," or "his ways are not our ways," you don't mean anything when you say he is good.
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2 comments:
is that to say, is "goodness" or "evil" due to god's fiat or independent of it, as Bertrand Russell asks? The distinction is crucial to Christians.
To be honest, in some circles it has become a cliche, but non the less it refers to (but not limited to)
1) The fact he is the author of good and his intentions are good...not bad or evil.
2)That he has demonstrated to us more than just good will by sacrificing his son (Jesus). This was required in order to give each individual a chance to be acquitted from being sentenced despite our inherent incompetency to not sin. Once free from being sentenced we are not only entitled a place in heaven but freedom in all areas of life (financial, social, emotional, etc).....as we co-operate by adopting his charictar and
making a lifestyle of applying his examples,teachings and principals.....but yet retaining a level of our unique personality.... all of which are ultimately for our benefit anyway.
3) A personal experience shared by thousands of Christians world wide of miracious provision, unexplained favor, consolation in hard times and answered prayer, all the way from a new pair of socks to the
revolution of entire cities and countries in decay. Besides this his profound patience, co-operation and love as a Christian individual seeks to grow.
4) The fact that his 'genuine' followers aka "Sons of God" , are given high status in keeping with a 'servant to all' attitude.
5) Alot of the pleasures that the secular/anti-Christian world makes claim to (fun,sxe,etc) are actually God's gift/reward to those that give him priority in life to enjoy. Of course in appropriate balance, context and timing.
Anything else is a substitute and doesn't have the same God intended long term effect.
Sorry, if this a bit long. I'm sure there may be a few technicalities i missed, but my intention is to share my 12 years of personal experience (which i think i more practical) and not get into theological debates.
When someone says "God is Good" this is what they are - perhaps indirectly - referring to.
BTW: There is alot Christians that don't reflect the above, but there is alot that do as well. But keep in mind that us Christians are (believe it or not) are still human (just like you btw) and there will never be an ideal church.
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