Benevolent: well meaning and kindly.
benevolent means - Google Search
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God is omnibenevolent as some atheists claim.
It is important to note that God is not benevolent towards everyone, He picks and chooses.
“No God is there but Him. All creation and its empire are His. He bestoweth His gifts on whom He will, and from whom He will He withholdeth them. He is the Great Giver, the Most Generous, the Benevolent.” Gleanings, p. 278
Loving: feeling or showing love or great care.
loving means - Google Search
God could be well-meaning and kindly and NOT be loving, since love is more than a feeling, it is an action.
We cannot know how God feels but we have to ask
how God would show love or great care. I just stumbled upon an article when doing a Google search.
Why does God love us? | GotQuestions.org
I am going to quote a few excerpts from the article.
“This short question is among the most profound questions ever asked. And no human would ever be able to answer it sufficiently.”
- The angle this article is coming from is that why would God love us because we are so undeserving of His love. Of course, this is based upon the Christian belief that we are all sinners. I do not buy that because that is not a Baha’i belief. At least Bahais don’t believe we are sinners in the same way that Christians believe it.
- The question that can never be answered sufficiently is why God is love.
“
First John 4:8 and
16 tell us that “God is love.” Never was a more important declaration made than this—God is love”
- I am sorry but I cannot believe that just because the Bible says it. If God is love, need to know WHY God is love. How can people be so gullible?
Since it is God’s essential nature to love, He demonstrates His love by lavishing it on undeserving people who are in rebellion against Him.
- Okay, now we are getting down to the nitty-gritty. HOW does God lavish His love on undeserving people?
Oh wait! We have an answer.
“God’s love is not a sappy, sentimental, romantic feeling. Rather, it is agape love, the love of self-sacrifice. He demonstrates this sacrificial love by sending His Son to the cross to pay the penalty for our sin (
1 John 4:10),”
- Sorry but no. God did not sacrifice anything, Jesus did. For one thing, God does not have a Son since God is not a human being, so God cannot sacrifice His Son as Christians claim. For another thing, God cannot sacrifice anything because nothing can diminish the things that God possesses.
“Your Lord, the God of mercy, can well dispense with all creatures. Nothing whatever can either increase or diminish the things He doth possess.” Gleanings, p. 148
Back to the article:
“God’s love is personal. He knows each of us individually and loves us personally. His is a mighty love that has no beginning and no end. It is this experiencing of God’s love that distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. Why does God love us? It is because of who He is: "God is love."
- I love it. How does God’s love distinguish Christianity from all the other religions? Does God only love Christians?
- God loves us because God is love, but nobody can answer the question: Why is God love? The only answer Christians have is “because the Bible says so” and the only answer Baha'is have is "because Baha'u'llah said so."
I rest my case. Now I'm headed for the atheist-agnostic kiosk to sign up before I lose my mind!