Augustin56
Well-Known Member
With regard to your question, "Alright, I follow your point and don't disagree except that I'm not certain that it's correct to say that heaven is our goal - per se. I, of course, agree with we have a heavenly calling as members of the Body of Christ but the heavenly destiny is secondary and comes as a result of the primary goal of righteousness.
This is surprisingly close to the correct answer! I don't mean for that to sound condescending but I'm just not accustomed to people getting within a mile of understanding the actual nature of right vs. wrong and so when someone gets this close it sort of surprises me!
What does it mean, in your view, for God to be the source of all goodness and in what way does it keep the meaning of the word "goodness" meaningful when applied to God Himself?
Redundant. One cannot be good and not be moral. If an action is moral in nature then it is either good or bad. If an action is amoral it is neither good nor bad.
So, to put a finer point on the question, is the concept of righteousness defined by whatever it is that God does or is God good because He acts righteously?
What if God were to issue a decree that it was permissible to rape your neighbor's wife on any fifth Thursday of a month (like this coming May 31st for example)? Would that make rape on those days righteous or would such a decree make God evil?
(Some people in the past have freaked out when I've asked such clearly hypothetical questions as though I'm suggesting that God would ever do such thing. The whole point of picking such an obviously evil act is to make it unmistakable that its a purely hypothetical question.)
So, to put a finer point on the question, is the concept of righteousness defined by whatever it is that God does or is God good because He acts righteously?" we must keep in mind that the means are never greater than the end. Righteousness is the quality which adheres to the soul when one does righteous acts. Unrighteousness is the quality which adheres to the soul when one does unrighteous acts (sins). Guilt and innocence as objectively real properties which cling to our souls just like colors cling to the surface of objects. When we sin, we become guilty and our souls grow dark and dirty before God. But when we are justified, God purifies us and our souls become brilliant and clean before him. Guilt and innocence, righteousness and unrighteousness, are therefore rightly conceived of as properties of our souls.
Everything God does is perfect and righteous, because He, Himself, is the source of all love, goodness, truth, beauty, etc. That's why hell is so horrible. Hell is the absence of God, and, therefore, the absense of all love, goodness, truth, beauty, etc.
If morals come from God, which they do, then they are always correct and unchangeable. If morals come from man, as some people wrongly claim, then there are no morals because every individual can claim to have his/her own morals, which can change like one changes clothes.