Christians: Why is god "good"?

Question

According to the bible, he drowns all of humanity but one family, orders a LOT of death, gives people rules about stoning others who don't worship him correctly.

IF any other being did these horrible things, we wouldn't call them"good." So why is god "good" when he does them?

I'm genuinely interested in what you think about this. I think when I was a christian I would have said "Because the bible says he's good" but that sounds kind of lame, so there must be something better than that.

Thank you for your answers.

Answer 1

I like your question because I think you are asking something important, especially for someone who is now distant from Christ (assuming that based on the information above).

For mankind to draw his own assumption on whether God is good or not is judging God, which is really unwise.

But that doesn't change the facts. Yes, God did drown nearly the entire planet, destroy cities and help his nation of Israel to destroy and slaughter all in path (when they were abiding His laws).

But God also clearly stated that He was a jealous God and I think if you looked closely at the OT you'd find that a lot of awful things happened when Israel was forsaking Him and worshipping other Gods.

That was the past. And then He sent Jesus. I'm sure you are very familiar with John 3:16 and God must love us so much to have let his only son upon the sinful earth to be sacrificed on behalf of mankind. As a parent that awes me because I would gladly throw myself in front of a bus to save my kid. But would I do throw my own child to death for the benefit of others, in particular, for those who reject him?

It is easy to get sick to the stomach over it once the realization of the significance hits. Most often, people want to know what God can do for them as if he's some miracle on demand. That isn't so, as we were created by Him to serve Him (another fact people don't like.) I can only dare to imaginee the frustration that He goes through when seeing the specides he created drift so far away from Him.

Answer 2

The Old Testament can be Hard to Understand (Especially Why GOD does Things).
The Enemy of All Human Beings has a lot to Work with in the Old Testament to Decieve People, especially Young Children of GOD who have not Grounded Themselves on the Rock (Jesus).
You should Learn Who you are "In Christ" and get Grounded befor you Try to Tackle the Old Testament.
Thats why I Tell GODs Youngens' to try to Stay out of it till they Do alot of Studying in the New Testament First.

All I can say, since I Don't know anything about how much you know, is that People can get So much Evil and Wickedness in them that they can get Past a Point of No Return, (A Point where they would not be Regular Old Human Beings (Mostly Good, mess up some times etc.) and the Only Thing Left to do is to Put them out of their Misery.
I know that sounds harsh and drastic, but if you can handle it, that is the Best way I can explain some of the Old Testament.
Hope this Helps.
GOD Bless.

GOD said that HE would "Weigh" the Spirits.
Balance Beam Scales:
BAD Spirits on the Left
GOOD Spirits on the Right

Answer 3

The God of traditional theism isn't good; he's at best morally ambivalent. If you knew a person who could prevent all senseless evil and didn't, wouldn't you call such a person a psychopath?

However, God as reconceived by various liberal and postmodern theologies -- process theology, liberation theology, etc. -- is good, since God in these theologies is not a despot in the sky dealing out pestilence and catastrophe.

Answer 4

You are not the first to ask this question, as it is a very difficult one to grasp a reasonable answer. However, I will try my best.

There are many attributes of God. God is Love. God is merciful. God is kind. God is Just. God is Grace. God is Longsuffering. God is Patient.

So, God cannot tolerate sin. Sin is what separates man from God. The penalty for Sin is Death. God, because he is Just, cannot just turn His head and pretend that sin didn't occur. That would go against His very nature of being Just. So, someone had to pay the penalty for sin, which is death. He chose His Son, who was the perfect sacrifice, without sin, to pay the price for you and me.

You and I can forgive someone for doing us wrong, because we are not purely Just. God, because of His Justice, demands payment. But, because of God's grace, He made the payment for you and I.

So, we either accept this gift or we reject it. A God of love, mercy, grace, and justice would let His only son take our place and pay the penalty for sin on our behalf.

Answer 5

The real question is, is this the real God. Or are these lies that have been made up about God.

Much of the old testament is little more than a lie about God.

The same bible tells us that God is unconditionally loving.

Unconditional means no conditions. No conditions mean no judgment. No judgment means no punishment. No punishment means no Hell.

As you can see the whole biblical lie about God is like a house of cards.

Apply logic to any part of it and the rest comes tumbling down.

It's ok to have faith in God but don't take the bible to seriously.

love and blessings Don

Answer 6

I totally do not agree with alter ego the dude above me about. HE said isnt the same thing you do when you punish your son out of love but God does it on a bigger level. Um you do not murder people out of love. I think God is all love and no judgement, how can he be a loving God if he or she is always judging us for being what we are HUMANS!

Answer 7

those human beings who're no longer worshippers of the god of the Abrahamic religions tend to apply a distinctive time era, or would desire to define what we recommend, because of the fact in any different case particular, it somewhat is believed that we are conversing approximately their god. it somewhat is genuine notwithstanding if the question is asked via (some) atheists. Welcome to the communicate board. i'm hoping you have thick pores and skin.

Answer 8

First of all, if you are not a Christian now, you never were one. Second, who says God flooding the world etc. was a " horrible" thing?
The goodness of God DEMANDS that He punish all evil. Perhaps the flaw lies in the inability of your un-regenerate, finite mind to comprehend the righteousness of God.

http://www.needGod.com

Answer 9

define: good. If god is the creator of everything, including good, what god says is good, is good. yes, god killed the people who were influencing his people away from him toward practices that would harm his people.

the god of the old testament is our protective father with the shotgun that shoots the robber in the yard to protect his family.

once, jesus was sacrificed for everyone's sins; however, everyone's value increased, so to speak, and now we strive to save all who are lost.

Answer 10

You refer to "God" as a HE, the acts above are acts of Mother Nature and Man. Actually both of which are all a part of "God".
But God is defined uniquely by each of us and accourding to perspective, is regarded as good or bad. keep in mind there is no such thing as Good unless there is Bad, one is nonexistent without the other, once again Nature's balance.Also what may be good on one hand may be bad in the other hand so that brings me back to "perspective".