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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Good and Evil logycally ANTERIOR to God! | Gen 6:6 | Beja | 221215 | ||
Dear Bruno, Indulge me a long response in three steps. First let me state your question in easier terms. I'm not sure everybody understands words like "caprice" and "anterior." The sum of the question is this. Is morality something that God authoritative even over God Himself such that He is obligated to follow it, or is morality rather something that God has chosen and set out of His own good pleasure? The real "catch" that this question seems to give us is two troubling thoughts. On one side is the notion that there is something above God that governs his actions. On the other side we wonder if it would have been just as possible for God to perhaps have decided that murder, stealing, and survival of the fittest was "good." Could God have chosen a completely backwards set of morality, right? Alright, so there is the question. Let me continue by offering some pastoral advice on questions like this. This is a question that I suspect many Christians ponder as they mature and think more deeply about God. I myself have wondered over this before, so I would never be harsh with one who did. However, just because it is a common question does not mean that it is a good one. Contrary to popular sentiments, there are such things as bad questions. Let me give you my deffinition of a bad question. A bad question is any question that is continual pursued despite scripture not addressing it. What I am saying is that when you've managed to frame a question that no passage in scripture seeks to answer, then you've framed a poor question. Somewhere in your mind, prior to the question, you have some sort of unbiblical thinking. The best thing you can do at this point is go back to studying what scripture does say, and about what lest you wander off into speculations and eventually heresy. I repeat: when you ask a question that scripture doesn't, you know you've gone wrong somewhere. Ofcourse we typically have to study quite sometime before we realize it doesn't. Ok, now to an answer. As I ponder this I think where the question has gone wrong, is in understanding morality as something so seperated from who God is, rather than flowing from who He is. We are asking is it something prior to God that God must bow to, or is it God's invention? Neither is true. Let's find a starting point for exploring this...I suspect I'm going to reach my limit in length here so I will post this and finish in a reply to my own response. In Christ, Beja |
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2 | Good and Evil logycally ANTERIOR to God! | Gen 6:6 | Beja | 221216 | ||
Dear Bruno, ...to continue my post... Let me give the starting point for our thinking. The number one foundational truth of reality is this: There is nothing so wonderful, powerful, worthy, glorious, desirable, spectacular, unique or worthy of praise as God. Let that be the beginning of all our thinking. Now, if this is true the greatest good in all existence is for God to be made much of, and the greatest evil in all of existence would be for God to be belittled. Can you see how that follows? God's "holiness" is the starting point. Things are right in as much as they come into line with that reality. Things are wrong in as much as they diverge from that. Lets see if scripture indicates this? What is the worst of crimes? Or rather what is the most important thing that you should do or not do? If we thought of morality as divorced from flowing from God's holiness then we might say murder, rape, child molestation or some other horrid sin. Yet what did Christ say the greatest of all commandments was? To love God with all our being! Doing this is the greatest good, and failure is the greatest wrong! All other morality flows in a similiar way. Why was it wrong to take advantage of the poor? Proverbs 14:31 "He who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker, but he who is gracious to the needy honors Him." Do you see how morality here is flowing from whether one honors or despises God rather than abstract right and wrong? Why is it wrong to take a life? Gen 9:6 "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man." When God gives permission to us to take the life of all other living things for food, He excludes Man why? Because man is in the image of God. Do you see how it doesn't flow from abstract morality but the honoring or belitteling of God? Why is it wrong to disobey governments? Romans 13:1 "Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God." Why are we to obey them? Because they are established by God, and to resist them is to resist God Paul goes on to say. Do you see how its not an abstract morality but rather making much or belittling God? I can not cover all possible examples. But I hope this post can turn your train of thoughts onto a biblical course. God is not under some authority, but He is ALWAYS behaving consistent with His holiness, which means He is always working to glorify Himself. Nor could God have chosen for things to be differently, because this morality unavoidably flows from who He is. How great is our God and our savior through whom He is revealed! In Christ, Beja |
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3 | Good and Evil logycally ANTERIOR to God! | Gen 6:6 | DocTrinsograce | 221249 | ||
Amen, Brother Beja! Well answered! | ||||||