- Published: November 14, 2021
- Updated: November 14, 2021
- University / College: UCL
- Language: English
- Downloads: 35
Explain how the Judeo Christian tradition shows the goodness of God The ‘ goodness’ of God, as a concept, refers to the holiness and care that god himself initiates on his people, however the Judeo-Christian tradition hold that gods attributes cannot be a ‘ concept’ as god is personal, and treats all living beings as individuals.
The biblical god, a completely different god than that of Plato or any philosopher, who can be seen as a ‘ concept’ can be referred and described to as ‘ good’ throughout scriptures through acts of kindness and his characteristics of denying those who are evil for the better of mankind; ‘ You have rejected me, says the lord, your are going backward so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you’ (Jeremiah 15. 6). According to this Judeo-Christian tradition gods goodness cannot have attributes of evil and portray his acts of being hard done by as help to those who need it.
However this anger is not subjected to those who have done nothing wrong, but to those who are unjust and mistreat those ofequalityto them. The simple understanding of gods goodness is to look at what he does, he is beneficial to his creatures and doesn’t act for his own profit, but for those on earth to create a helpful father as he wishes to be conceived; ‘ I myself, said, how gladly I treat you like sons, and give you a desirable land, the most insurance of any nation.
I thought you would call me father and not turn away from me’ (Jeremiah 3. 19-20). God also promises Abraham that he would be the father to the Israelites, a great nation. The goodness which is a strong participant of gods role in the bible, along with the ten commandments ‘ do not commit adultery, do no steal’ and so forth, conduct a role in which those who follow the doings of god will also take on. This also helps the follower of god to feel innate and closer to god as they respond and follow his rules with obedience.
Gods acts on individual people whilst helping them, is simply for their faith to be held with him, and they believe whatever god puts forth for them to do, they shall do it as god is good, and wouldn’t want to cause intentional hurt without reason. (quote 1). God can further can be seen as having personal feelings, as he is seen to be hurt and becomes angry when people disobey his orders and when people fail to respond to his commands, for example committing adultery would be a sin against god; ‘ Instead, as a faithless wife leaves her husband, so you have been faithless to me, Oh house of Israel, says the lord’ (Jeremiah 3: 19 19-20).
God also shows love and compassion, another two attributes to gods goodness, as he bore a son to Hannah as she prayed to him to ‘ look on the misery of your servant and remember me….. give to your servant a male child’ (Jeremiah 3: 19-20) Although his anger and the justice he serves on those who disobey him are sometimes seen as mean, they are attributes to hispersonalityas a god and believers see this as him being fair and just.
He does these as comeuppance to supposed faithful ones to take advantage of his goodness, and is still seen as perfect; ‘ He is the rock, his works are perfect and all his ways are just. A faithful god who does no wrong, upright and just is he. They have acted corruptly towards him, to their shame they are no longer his children but a warped and crocked generation’. (Deuteronomy 32. 4-5) It is essential therefore, for people to respond to god’s demands with faith and obedience as god is the only one who understands and defines goodness, humans cannot understand this concept as we are tempted by evil.
Having faith in god when you are poor and with nothing may be hard, but as Abraham sets example and continues believing in god, others should follow and having faith may lead them to a better fortune and not give up on hope. The goodness of god in the bible is represented through situations and stories told for centuries, they show his many attributes that fold into the one personality of god, to be and always be infinitely good.