Are God's deeds good because He does them, or are they good because they conform to some objective standard?

Question

If God decided to suck the brains out of people, would it "be good" because everything God does is good?

Answer 1

Yes.

Answer 2

Well...

We're gunna have to do a little tap dancing to make this one fit into the good column, aren't we? It can probably be done though.

Let's see.... how does the thinking go? If God allows a hurricane to strike a populated coastline and a few hundred homes are destroyed, the answer is usually something on the order of:

"It was all a part of God's plan, wasn't it? ...and only He knows what's best. There must be a good reason that he did this. Everyone knows it was a bad neighborhood anyhow, but that poor Christian family that died, all five of them gone at once. No doubt they're all in heaven with the Lord. The lord God knows best and he has a plan for all of us. That family had finished God's work here on Earth and He called them all to His side - How merciful the lord is to take them altogether. Praise the Lord."

Now for the brains:

"Oh gracious me. Did you see the news? Ten people had their heads torn open on a roller coaster ride. It happened at a theme park not thirty miles down from the beach where that nasty crooked preacher built his amusement park some years back... remember that? ...and he swindled his whole congregation, my word, He was the Devil alive sure as day. The poor dear faithful were left broke and without a church, too. God was making a statement here, today - I know it and you can bet I'm right. He was reminding folks about that nasty preacher. Those people who died were probably all part of the swindle or they knew about it and didn't tell... They were in trouble with the lord for some reason, and that's for certain. Did you read how they all had their brains sucked out - serves them right, I'm sure. You can trust the lord to punish the guilty and here's the proof of it. Praise the Lord."

Another good deed well done.. by God.

[][][] r u randy? [][][]
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Answer 3

Sounds like you're not getting far with this crowd. You point to a dilemma that seems intractable.

If there is some objective standard, then God is not necessary in order to arrive at morality.

If, on the other hand, it's simply that we must do whatever God says we must do, then we'd never have any idea of whether it's good or bad. To say that whatever God commands is "good" is to say nothing at all, especially about "goodness." Since we can only obey, and not judge, or evaluate, we really know nothing of the "goodness" of the act.

So indeed, when God ordered the massacre of whole tribes, including children, and even livestock, his followers obeyed - and it was "good?" Well, perhaps it is wise to obey a deity with that much bloodlust, but I dare say the equation of murder = good still looks a bit strained to this observer.

Answer 4

i think it would be good in the bible. there are worse things done by him that are considered good in the bible/Koran. people just choose to ignore that stuff because they know that it is completely evil. people apply the "good" of god which conforms with their notion of morality, the rest is ignored. So, people don't need the bible/Koran to tell them what is good or not, unfortunately most people think these books are the only sources of morality on the planet. Just look at some of the remote tribes of the amazon and Africa, many of them live perfectly peaceful lives, and have a set of rules that guide their societies. they have never been exposed to a prophet or holy book, yet they don't spend their lives killing, raping and robing each other.

Answer 5

The so called Gods deeds are prob just a man made doctrine to get people to confirm to a particular shared ideology so that control freaks can have their control over the people. God needs not to have any man write down anything about him if he exist. He can put it in our DNA or inscribe it on our hearts, Be not deceived into a man made doctrine called the the word of God.

Answer 6

I love these questions, keep 'em up!
History always belongs to the winners of any bloodbath. Those winners are very sneaky, because they like to change the facts. And many, (God forbid!) write down that something was "God's work" in the deal, when it was really the humanistic trend to have more than anyone else. More power, more territory, more everything. In fact, do you know that guns don't kill people without somebody pulling the trigger who's usually a God-believer? Interesting thought, isn't it?

Answer 7

God is the standard for good. Therefore anything must be held to that standard to be good. God doesn't suck brains out of people.

Answer 8

God does things because they conform to an objective standard.

What is this objective standard?

It is His immutable being which is infinitely good, true, and beautiful.

Anything good, true, or beautiful in creation is some reflection of Him.





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Answer 9

That question is irrelevant because God wouldn't suck the people's brains out of course unless it was good for them, lol.

Answer 10

Yes.
GOD is the creator and we are the created.
GOD's deeds are good because he does them.
The Holy Spirit is the subjective standard,

How you react to it is your business.
I choose to hang out with GOD. I find him to be really wonderful. The world doesn;t seem to like him very much.

Answer 11

If you read your bible you will soon see that God's deeds comply with no standard of goodness. I suggest Joshua as a good read.

This is accurate and tells the bible stories graphically.
http://www.thebricktestament.com/