Is God Really Good?
why or why not? I encourage both sides of the coin to use their mind and the bible verses to state their opinion. To me there are a lot of things that I question about God's character in the bible. But this is just an option.
Yes
Side Score: 42
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No
Side Score: 61
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Yes God is good, I can give scriptural evidence that supports that He is good. You might be suprised but I have been studying my Bible and will continue to do so. Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Psalms 119:68 You are good and you do good. Teach me your statutes! Mat 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is GOOD; for His loving kindness is everlasting (Psalms 107:1).
Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the LORD and to His GOODness in the last days (Hosea 3:5). “I Myself will make all My GOODness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion” (Exodus 33:19)
Acts 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. Acts 14:17 but he never left them without evidence of himself and his goodness. For instance, he sends you rain and good crops and gives you food and joyful hearts." Psalm 25:8 The LORD is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray. Side: Yes
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Yes God is good, I can give scriptural evidence that supports that He is good. Simple minded fool. How do mere statements prove the fact that God is good? The assertion that "God is good" relies on the assumption that "God exists", which you haven't proven to be true. While you give scriptural "evidence", let me put forth a, in my opinion, strong argument against your position. Premise 1: There exist instances of intense suffering which an omnipotent, omniscient being could have prevented without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse. Premise 2: An omnipotent, wholly good being would prevent the occurrence of any intense suffering it could, unless it could not do so without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse. Premise 3: There does not exist an omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good being. The above argument proves that the existence of the Christian God is very improbable given the intense and excess amounts of gratuitous pain and suffering in the world. If God exists and is good, then what excuse does he have for permitting the occurrence of any gratuitous suffering at all? Theists might try to dodge the question by suggesting that God's definition of good is inconsistent with ours. Ironically, it is quite the same as ours. Just from the words that you have quoted, there are some underlying characteristics that God is said to possess which makes him good: Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is GOOD; for His loving kindness is everlasting (Psalms 107:1). “I Myself will make all My GOODness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion” (Exodus 33:19) Acts 14:17 but he never left them without evidence of himself and his goodness. For instance, he sends you rain and good crops and gives you food and joyful hearts." Loving kindness, graciousness, compassion and provision of food and water. These are some of the characteristics that God supposedly possess and actions that God has supposedly done that makes God good. And yet, we can find cases in the world and throughout history where there is an immense lack of kindness, graciousness and compassion towards others and where people are suffering from famines and droughts. Side: No
Premise 1: There exist instances of intense suffering which an omnipotent, omniscient being could have prevented without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse. Premise 2: An omnipotent, wholly good being would prevent the occurrence of any intense suffering it could, unless it could not do so without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse. Premise 3: There does not exist an omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good being. The above argument proves that the existence of the Christian God is very improbable given the intense and excess amounts of gratuitous pain and suffering in the world. If God exists and is good, then what excuse does he have for permitting the occurrence of any gratuitous suffering at all? Why did God of love create a world with some much suffering? I will tell you why. These are my own words because I have been studying this topic a lot and so I know how to answer this. The following considerations may vast some light on the problem. 1. God isn't responsible for evil. If the careless workman throws sand into a delicate machine should the manufacturer be held responsible? God made everything good but man abused His work. Subtract from the suffering of the world all that is due to man's willful sin and there wouldn't b so much left. 2. God being Almighty, evil exists by His permission. We cannot in every instance, understand why He permits evil for "His ways are past finding out." To the over speculative He would say "What is that to thee? Follow thou me. Yet we can understand a part of his ways. 3. God is so great that He can overrule evil for good. Remember how He overruled the wickedness of Joesph's brethren, Pharaoh, Herod and those who rejected and crucified Christ. 4. God has arranged the universe according to natural laws, and theses laws imply the possibility of accidents. For example if a person carelessly or deliberately steps off a precipice he suffers the consequences of violating the law of gravity. Yet we are glad for these laws, for otherwise the world would be in a state of confusion. 5. It should always be remembered that this is not the perfect order of things. God has another life and a future age in which to vindicate all His dealings. Because He works according to "Heavenly Standard Time," we may think that He delay; yet He avenges His elect "speedily." Luke 18:7,8. God mus not be judged until the curtains has fallen on the last scene of the Drama of Ages. Then we shall see that "He hath done all things well." Side: Yes
I am not going to dispute your argument because it doesn't make sense and its too hard and I don't have time because I am working. I thought you left? You were off for 5 days. That is good! Keep on being absent on this site it would be better I already did my part explaining the existence of God to many people on here and all you do is reject the evidence I have and you say that isn't "evidence" so I am done explaining things about God because you don't get and never will get it until you die and you will realize that being in atheist was a mistake. I did my part its time to do yours. Side: Yes
these scriptures just tell us that He's good. Give scriptures to show how He's good. Also, don't you think that God can be quiet picky on his love? Exodus 33:19 "I will be gracious to whom I want to be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion." Acts 14:17 He sends you rain and good crops and give you food and joyful hearts. In 2 Kings Elijah (or Elisha I forget which one I don't have my bible right now) pray for it not to rain so that there would be a drought for years. God let it happen He made many suffer just because of one man. Even though David was loyal to the Lord but did bad, he kill his child that he had with bathsheeba but their second child he let live and he became the third king. It was another man I forgot his name but he's in one of the Chronicles. He loved the lord and did so much to serve him. He fell sick and prayed for God to heal him but God said no at first. Side: No
Srom, when you are given proof that completely defaces your beliefs, you go on either ignoring it, or answering with the most baseless of answers. I will give to you a piece of evidence directly after I have your attention, and I want you to reply to it; PROPERLY. Okay? Side: No
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This really depends on your religion guys. In my religion, we believe that this life is a test. As long as we do our best with the best we have, we will make it to heaven. God wants us to go to heaven and be with him. He cries when we cry and has compassion. The reason we have trails is to make us better people and to be able to help others. God will help us when we ask. How could anybody call god bad? Side: Yes
what's your religion? If God wouldn't have allowed sin to come we wouldn't have to have trails in the first place, causing God not have to cry when we cried and instead we would be party party all day long. Don't you want to live in a world with only good things happening to everyone where everyone has no trouble and no one is the cause of another person's trouble or troubles caused by natural causes. I do. Hey i didn't ask to be in this world. Side: Yes
God.............. Is that one friend who's there for you when your all alone. He is that one guardian who protects you from danger and enemies. He is the one who will help you up when you are down. He listens to you and encourages you to do good. He Is not evil, he isn't the one who condemns your spirit to hell but yourself from your actions. He isn't evil, if he was, he would never do anything of the above...... Side: Yes
If He's God why give us the option to rebel? Couldn't He create us to love Him but in different ways. Why must there be an opposite for everything if He's just one path? Why'd create the blessing/curse of freewill if he knew that we'd rebel and his creation would go to hell if He doesn't want us to go to hell in the first place? Side: No
He gave us freewill because ( what i think ) he doesn't want us to think that he is our mighty tyrant and we have to obey everything he says, he wants US to choose our own destiny and let's US choose what's right. And he does lets you love him In your own way, he is always listening and watching you.and you got the hell thing wrong. It wasn't him who created hell, it was one of his archangels who created it because he rebelled against god and doesn't want to follow humans ( a.k.a the devil ). Side: Yes
I think it all depends on your view of God the Old Testament God was a vengeful God, which is were all the stuff concerning hating Gays, Stoning Women and Hell comes from but the Christian God from the New Testament is a forgiving God and according to the teachings of Christ all our sins will be forgiven. I know this is an oversimplification and i'm sure if i've got it wrong someone will point it out!! Side: Yes
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"Is God really good" is a very vague question. In what sense? What does that mean? In general, because I believe that is what the question is asking, yes, God is good. He created this Earth and he created you and I. Ungodly things to happen, but that does not mean that God isn't good. God has given us free agency, the ability to make choices for ourselves. That is why Ungodly things happen. Because we are imperfect. God is very good. This is a very idiotic question. He has created everything good, and the human race has figured out ways to turn them into something bad. Side: Yes
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Anyone who doesn't praise him is sent to hell to suffer for all of eternity, no matter if they were otherwise a good person. He tells his people to kill if someone disobeys there parents, or cusses, even if that's no longer a followed rule. I don't think this makes someone good. If there was someone walking on the street who said that you had to praise them or they will make you suffer, would you think that is a good person? Side: No
Anyone who doesn't praise him is sent to hell to suffer for all of eternity, no matter if they were otherwise a good person. Its your choice what you want to believe and what to do. God is not forcing you to believe in him. That is why there is a think called free will. God is not going to send you to hell its you because you choose not to believe in him. He tells his people to kill if someone disobeys there parents, or cusses, even if that's no longer a followed rule. God would never tell anyone to kill someone. And those rules don't apply to today. If there was someone walking on the street who said that you had to praise them or they will make you suffer, would you think that is a good person? I wouldn't praise them at all. Side: Yes
Its your choice what you want to believe and what to do. God is not forcing you to believe in him. That is why there is a think called free will. God is not going to send you to hell its you because you choose not to believe in him. Is it really a choice? Because if you choose "wrong" then you suffer in hell. It seems more like bullying to me, it's like saying "You can do this or that, but if you choose that I'm going to beat you up" God would never tell anyone to kill someone. And those rules don't apply to today. Leviticus 20:13 NAB<-- Kill homosexuals, though it's debatable if it means gays actually. Leviticus 20:9 NLT<---- Kill you kids if they cuss. 2 Chronicles 15:12-13 NAB<--- Kill any non-believers Deuteronomy 22:20-21 NAB<--- Stone a woman to death if she isn't a virgin on her wedding day. Need I add more? Because those are just a few. And I said that they didn't apply anymore, that doesn't change that YOUR god still commanded this at some point. It's like saying Hitler could be good if he had changed his mind and said to stop killing Jews. I wouldn't praise them at all Yet you praise someone who you can't even see who does the same thing? Side: No
Why give us that choice in the first place? That's just like having a child lighting up the fireplace and say it's your choice if you want to jump in that fire or come with me. (okay bad analogy I must admit) But why create hell in the first place. Are you saying that God has no control over His creation? If that's the case how powerful is He? How do we send ourselves to hell. First off no one ever chose to live they were bought into the world by force and were expected to live. Then when you die you either go to a peaceful place or a chaotic place. But that is determined if you believe in God or not. Of course God would never tell anyone to kill someone, He'd do it himself. I remember reading about Him killing one of His prophets, he'd gotten eaten up by a lion because he wasn't supposed to talk to a king. Side: No
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Leviticus 18:22 [God hates gays] Leviticus 26:45-55 [God says the Jews can own slaves] Exodus 21:20&21; [You can beat slaves as long as they don't die within two days] The story of exodus [God keeps "hardening the Pharaoh's heart", meaning he purposefully stopped the Pharaoh from releasing the Hebrew slaves, and then punishes the rest of Egypt for it.] Genesis 19:4-8 [ Lot sacrifices both his daughters to get raped instead of himself, and God is cool with this] Genesis 19:30-38 [Lot's daughters get him pissed and rape him in a cave, again, God is cool with this.] Just after Moses receives the ten commandments, he commands the Levities to kill thousands of Canaanites. Leviticus 20:9 [If you curse your parents, you must be executed (Jesus also supported this in Mark 17:9)] 1Corinthians 6:9&10; [gays don't go to heaven] Genesis 22 [God makes Abraham sacrifice his son, unnecessarily, since God is omniscient and already knew Abraham would do it]. The three Abrahamic religions are based on a guy who obeyed voices in his head telling him to kill his own son, how is that not looked upon with ridicule and disdain? Deuteronomy 21:18-21 [Unruly children are to be taken to the edge of town and stoned to death] I can do this all day. I have a bible filled with post-it notes and highlighter. Side: No
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Capital's and insulting people is not the best argument I have seen especially when the person was quoting the Old Testament, as I said in my argument the Old Testament is a vengeful God and in my view is hard to be seen as good whereas the New Testament God is portrayed as a forgiving God who at the end of the day will forgive us our sins and in my opinion is good. I dont see how someone quoting Scripture that supports their argument could be seen as insulting. Christians use the Old Testament to support their Homophobia all the time which is wrong because Christ himself told his followers to disregard the Old Testament and to follow his teachings, instead of insulting people post something to support your argument Side: Yes
For something to be "good" it must exist, regardless how vague the term can be and arguments as to what constitutes good and what does not. But I'll play. Pretending the Christian god (since that seems to be the popular subject) exists--from a Christian perspective, (if it's a smart Christian so you probably won't see the argument here... sorry but true as the other side is already revealing) the defense would be god is self-defined as good and if god exists he must by definition be good just as if good exists it must by definition describe god. A smart Christian instead of ignoring the Bible's support of spousal abuse, child abuse, slavery, and murder, would have long since adopted the Man-Written-God-Inspired theory of why the Old Testament is cruel and stupid. Basically man fucked it up, and that the New Testament and the Jesus Love-Thy-Neighbor Turn-The-Other-Cheek charitable Christianity had foverver been god's intent. So okay, god is good, man fucked up the religion and is still currently doing so they must accept, than they have an argument. I would still disagree with the smart Christian on this basis. Still pretending this god is real, he may be self-defined, but the premise that "good" is defined as him is incorrect. I would not give up the definition of good. I define good as vague but a vaguely human concept. It is ours, not a god's real or imagined. As a mere mortal then, I think it unfair and decidedly evil that an all-powerful being capable of ending suffering, or at least curbing the extremes of suffering, does not. As a mortal I am not nor should I be concerned with some grand cosmic scheme of an all-powerful being, when the smaller and visible concerns of humans with limited life are not met. Side: No
I can do that too: --- "The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven. What matter where, if I be still the same, And what I should be, all but less than he Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least We shall be free..." --John Milton --- I'll not bow to a god out of fear, nor spend my time hoping for eternal life whilst waisting away the one I already know I have. And a childish quote certainly won't sway me. If god does not like it he can, in his infinite power, tell me himself. Side: No
I don't know if he's good or not but he sure as hell seems to be arrogant! He wants us to go to church and bow down to him and his rules every Sunday even though he shares no real proof of his existence and if we don't or we were born in the wrong part of the world or to the wrong parents who didn't teach us to obey him.... we're sent to Hell to burn for all eternity... what a prick! Side: No
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God told Adam that the day he eats the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he will die. the serpent said No you won't die, you will learn the difference between good and evil Eve and Adam ate the fruit THEY DID NOT DIE! Adam lived 930 more years - they learned the difference between good and evil - just like the serpent said (and like the name of the tree would suggest) Moral of the story: God lied! the serpent told the truth! and just to cut it of at the pass for those who try to say that after eating the fruit they became destined to die, keep reading - there was also a tree of eternal life in the garden (the reason they were kicked out) which would not be necessary if they were going to live forever from the beginning. Side: No
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Did we learn the difference between good and evil? I seem to remember humanity gaining shame and modesty as traits after Adam and Eve ate that fruit, but it doesn't seem like humans can all unanimously decide whats good and whats evil, even today. Was the tree broken or did god gyp us out of the deal? Side: Yes
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If by "God" you mean the one referenced in the Bible, then the answer is a resounding "NO"!! What kind of good god sets up a system where in order to survive creatures must kill each other; thus instilling fear in just about every species I can think of, including our own. What kind of good god sets a couple up for failure; e.g., Adam and Eve. Since god is omnipotent, he knew his original couple were going to screw it up--and damned if they didn't. No surprise to the omnipotent one. So not only did it set the failure up, but then had plans at the ready to make the world pay for it in perpetuity. Who needs a devil with the "existence" of such a "good" god? What good god sets up another diabolical scheme relative to his own "flesh and blood." Yep, this "good" entity decides that the only way it can forgive the multitudinous sins of man is to bring forth a son who can be used as a sacrificial lamb. Yeah, bring it on. The devil, you say?!!!! What kind of a good god would expect more from his flock than from itself; e.g., apparently, jealousy, vindictivness, murder, et al are not Christian attributes, yet they seem to be de rigueur for the Biblical god. Thus, what is considered poor form--and worse--in humans is considered aok in the omnipotent one. Ridiculous at best. The good god can't even take responsibility for its own base meanness but must, instead, foist it onto mere mortals. Nothing is ever the good god's fault; it's always the sheep in its flock. God can't be held responsible for man killing man; man must take the hit. God can't be held responsible for children suffering; man must take the hit. Seems the good god's only purpose in existing is to bask in its own evil and be praised by the depraved (that be the Believers). If there is some kind of supreme entity we ain't found it yet. Side: No
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