God as Neither Good nor Evil

[xkatz]

I really don't understand why people view God as all good. I view God sort of as neutral in sense- not being good or evil. My reasonings are that the Tanakh/Bible doesn't support the notion that God is all benevolent (unless you read the NT, I guess); but, more importantly, good and evil are man-made concepts and b/c God is far greater than man can ever completely comprehend, he can be neither good or evil.

Thus, I believe God can do both "good" and "bad" things. However, we as humans must understand that "good" and "bad" are merely illusionary.

[/rant]

 

[Space Ghost]

"Without good there is no evil. without evil there is no good." Cliche yes, but you hit it right on the nail with "good and evil are man-made concepts". As far as God goes...I believe it's all interpretation whether good, bad or neutral. How his "messengers" spread his "word" are how we gather our interpretation. I would say with so many "messengers" it is really hard to say God is neutral.

 

[xkatz]

I would say with so many "messengers" it is really hard to say God is neutral.

Well don't mean neutral as in He's not involved or that he doesn't take action. I mean neutral in that he is not "good" or "evil" in his actions.

 

[idav]

When we see life and death we think bad or good but for god it's just another day at the office. I can't imagine how many births and deaths god would have seen he probably is rather desensitized. War is probably boring too.

 

[On_a_Quest]

I agree that good and bad as labels are human constructs that don't really make sense in the grand scheme of things. What is good for one person can be bad for another. What is good at one point in history is bad at a later date. It's very subjective and not at all helpful when it comes to God, in my opinion.

I think of God as neutral. I think he just exists; I'm not so sure how much he directly interacts with humans.

 

[singingsecularhumanist]

The only way god could be neutral is if he didn't get involved. When you describe someone as good, they probably do more good things than bad. When you describe someone as bad, they probably do more bad things than good. It is the actions that we put these descriptions too. Someone is not neutral if they do bad and good things. Neither is an equal amount of bad things and good things. Neutral is simply not taking action. Neutral would simply mean god doesn't get involved. However, if God is also omnipotent and omniscient than we have a problem. When God has all the power to end suffering and CHOOSES not to because he is not involved, I think that is being a bad god. However, if he isn't all powerful and all knowing, then I suppose you can stick with a deistic god if you want to believe in a god that is neutral.

 

[jtartar]

I really don't understand why people view God as all good. I view God sort of as neutral in sense- not being good or evil. My reasonings are that the Tanakh/Bible doesn't support the notion that God is all benevolent (unless you read the NT, I guess); but, more importantly, good and evil are man-made concepts and b/c God is far greater than man can ever completely comprehend, he can be neither good or evil.

Thus, I believe God can do both "good" and "bad" things. However, we as humans must understand that "good" and "bad" are merely illusionary.

[/rant]

xKatz,
Think about what you are saying!!! Since God is the creator of everything, He has the right to decide what is good and bad. You arre putting yourself in the very same position as Adam and Eve. They wanted to decide for themselves what is good and bad, and it lead to the death of all their descendants.
The Bible describes the only true God as the Ultimate GOOD, it is not possible for God to do anything bad, Deut 32:4. It is mankind that have deviated, Verse 32:5,6, jOB 34:10,12, Isa 26:10, Gen 8:21.
To all Christians the best witness of whether God is good or not, is Jesus, who lived and learned from God for countless billions of years, before he came to earth, Col 1:15, Rev 3:14. Interestingly, this very idea came up during Jesus sojourn on earth. A ruler of the people came up to Jesus and said GOOD TEACHER, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?? Jesus responded, Why do you call me GOOD, nobody is GOOD, except ONE, GOD. Jesus would certainly know!!!

 

[Onkara]

XKatz
I agree with Jtartar, although from a different theology. We cannot decide if God is good, bad or neutral because it is our limited mind which needs to draw that conclusion on limited data. The act of trying to decide is why atheist mock theists, they recognise the limitation of the human mind and that evidence is always limited by man.

As you point out, the scriptures speak of the need to recognise God's will alone. As others said too, we as people decide what is good and bad and really there is no good or bad unless you are the judge of it. It is because we classify our actions as good and bad that we risk not following God's will, but rather promote ourselves as mortals who know better than God.

Of course this will seem like a fairy tale whilst we think that God is a separate being from us. This is why accepting all of existence as God's will leads to Self-mastery. Because when we no longer judge what is right and wrong but walk through life with acceptence then we can face any problem or pleasure. We become neutral enough to abide by His will and the master of our minds. "Not my will but thine".

 

[swamplizard]

Abraxas?

best,
swampy

 

[bobhikes]

xKatz,
Think about what you are saying!!! Since God is the creator of everything, He has the right to decide what is good and bad. You arre putting yourself in the very same position as Adam and Eve. They wanted to decide for themselves what is good and bad, and it lead to the death of all their descendants.
The Bible describes the only true God as the Ultimate GOOD, it is not possible for God to do anything bad, Deut 32:4. It is mankind that have deviated, Verse 32:5,6, jOB 34:10,12, Isa 26:10, Gen 8:21.
To all Christians the best witness of whether God is good or not, is Jesus, who lived and learned from God for countless billions of years, before he came to earth, Col 1:15, Rev 3:14. Interestingly, this very idea came up during Jesus sojourn on earth. A ruler of the people came up to Jesus and said GOOD TEACHER, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?? Jesus responded, Why do you call me GOOD, nobody is GOOD, except ONE, GOD. Jesus would certainly know!!!

Actually according to the bible all was good. Adam and Eve had to avoid the tree of knowledge(not good and evil) after they had knowledge they were ashamed(evil). So technically all knowledge is evil you are supposed to have faith in God alone.

 

[Orias]

Thus, I believe God can do both "good" and "bad" things. However, we as humans must understand that "good" and "bad" are merely illusionary.

We were created in his image though, illusionary is an aspect of pursuit, making evil and good very real and prevalent.

God...in my view is more esoteric than anything, good and bad being more subject to a standard of protecting the self more than really trying prevent or apprehend what is opposing the individual.

God is neither, and God is both because he is the first and he is the last

 

[9Westy9]

I really don't understand why people view God as all good. I view God sort of as neutral in sense- not being good or evil. My reasonings are that the Tanakh/Bible doesn't support the notion that God is all benevolent (unless you read the NT, I guess); but, more importantly, good and evil are man-made concepts and b/c God is far greater than man can ever completely comprehend, he can be neither good or evil.

Thus, I believe God can do both "good" and "bad" things. However, we as humans must understand that "good" and "bad" are merely illusionary.

[/rant]

Clearly people who believe God as benevolent haven't read their bible enough .

Aren't all words man made though? makes describing God with words meaningless.

Good and bad are illusionary? I guess you mean subjective?

 

[IsmailaGodHasHeard]

I believe that God is 100% good. The reason why is because He has been good to me.

 

[Orias]

Aren't all words man made though? makes describing God with words meaningless.

Man didn't get his words from nowhere :no:

Good and bad are illusionary? I guess you mean subjective?

No, understood incorrectly. But I can agree that it is ultimately subjective.

 

[9Westy9]

Man didn't get his words from nowhere :no:

No, understood incorrectly. But I can agree that it is ultimately subjective.

Aren't words just how man describes things?

That's why I was questioning the use of illusionary

 

[idav]

Aren't words just how man describes things?

That's why I was questioning the use of illusionary

Words are what we agree to use to describe things. We use shortcut words to describe more complex thoughts but if we can't find a word that describes it then we just do it the long way to describe/define our meaning. How often does a word actually describe what you mean exactly.

 

[9Westy9]

Words are what we agree to use to describe things. We use shortcut words to describe more complex thoughts but if we can't find a word that describes it then we just do it the long way to describe/define our meaning. How often does a word actually describe what you mean exactly.

I find words tend to have slightly different meanings to people in different situations. It's why I try to define what I mean when I use words.

 

[Awoon]

I really don't understand why people view God as all good. I view God sort of as neutral in sense- not being good or evil. My reasonings are that the Tanakh/Bible doesn't support the notion that God is all benevolent (unless you read the NT, I guess); but, more importantly, good and evil are man-made concepts and b/c God is far greater than man can ever completely comprehend, he can be neither good or evil.

Thus, I believe God can do both "good" and "bad" things. However, we as humans must understand that "good" and "bad" are merely illusionary.

[/rant]

Electricity isnt good or bad however humans can manipulate electricity to do good and bad.



Book writers can make any character of their books good or bad.

 

[Gaura Priya]

In the Hindu tradition, especially in Vaishnavism, God is beyond our concepts of good and evil, because good and evil only exist in this material realm. Our ideas of morality exist to create some structure for society and lessen the so-called evils, but otherwise when it comes to God, He goes beyond such conceptualisations, just as He also goes beyond gender.

 

[Hawkins]

In Christianity, love is expressed to an object. Whenever love is expressed, mostly the Bible is talking about God's sheep. A Shepherd will not love the wolves and the sheep at the same time.

God's love is devoted to His sheep and His sheep only!