Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Omni-benevolence Summarily Refuted
I enjoyed the short work Ray Comfort made in this article (link) of the idea of divine omni-benevolence.
5 comments:
Comment Guidelines:
1. Thanks for posting a comment. Without you, this blog would not be interactive.
2. Please be polite. That doesn't mean you have to use kid gloves, but please try not to flame others, even if they are heretics, infidels, or worse.
3. If you insult me, I'm more likely to delete your comment than if you butter me up. After all, I'm human. I prefer praise to insults. If you prefer insults, there's something wrong with you.
4. Please be concise. The comment box is not your blog. Your blog is your blog. If you have a really long comment, post it on your blog and post a short summary of it here.
5. Please don't just spam. It's one thing to be concise, it's another thing to simply use the comment box to advertise.
6. Please note, by commenting here, you are relinquishing your (C) in your comments to me.
7. Remember that you will give an account on judgment day for your words, including those typed in comment boxes. Try to write so you will not be ashamed if it is read back before the entire world.
8. Stay on topic. If your comment has nothing to do with the post, email it to me (my email can be obtained through my blogger profile), or simply don't post it.
9. Don't post as "Anonymous." If you are going to post anonymously, at least use some kind of recognizable "handle," so we can tell you apart from all the other anonymous folks. (This is moot at the moment, since recent abuse has forced me to turn off "anonymous" commenting.)
10. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you; and abstain from doing to others what you would not wish upon yourself.
I read the content you linked to.
ReplyDeleteSince there are already so many comments, I post my comment here:
If God is not all-benevolent, how do you know whether he is benevolent towards you?
Anonymous asked: "If God is not all-benevolent, how do you know whether he is benevolent towards you?"
ReplyDeleteBecause it is written, "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is." (Jer. 17:7)
And again it is written, "We love him, because he first loved us." (I John 4:19)
-TurretinFan
Thank you for the answer.
ReplyDeleteSo you say that God is not all-benevolent, an attribute orthodox christendom has affirmed ever since the rise of christianity?
You deny God's goodness? Scripture abundantly shows God's all-comprising goodness. God's all-benevolence has never been objected to, not even in reformed circles, has it? Did Luther deny all-benevolence? I don't think so. I wonder where you get the idea from that God is not all-benevolent? Don't you think this is a grave deviance from orthodoxy? Are you not forced to dismiss a lot of God's word in order to come to that creed?
A wrote: "So you say that God is not all-benevolent, an attribute orthodox christendom has affirmed ever since the rise of christianity?"
ReplyDeleteUmm ... your history is in need of some improvement. Omni-benevolence is not "an attribute orthodox christendom has affirmed," much less since the beginning.
A wrote: "You deny God's goodness?"
That's certainly not what I do! God is good. Goodness and omni-benevolence are not interchangeable.
A wrote: "Scripture abundantly shows God's all-comprising goodness."
God's perfect goodness is Scripture's teaching.
A wrote: "God's all-benevolence has never been objected to, not even in reformed circles, has it?"
Of course it has.
A wrote: "Did Luther deny all-benevolence? I don't think so."
I don't know or care. Luther carries very little weight with me.
A wrote: "I wonder where you get the idea from that God is not all-benevolent?"
Scripture - the only place where we can get a clear idea of God.
A wrote: "Don't you think this is a grave deviance from orthodoxy?"
It would be a grave deviation to deny God's goodness. It would be a deviation to affirm omni-benevolence.
A wrote: "Are you not forced to dismiss a lot of God's word in order to come to that creed?"
On the contrary, as noted above, a denial of omni-benevolence is the only reasonable inference from Scripture.
-TurretinFan
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete