The Problem of Good

Watch this lesson on YouTube.

Access the slide deck here. 

Introduction

1) What is the problem of good? It is an opposite question to the problem of evil.

2) The problem of evil: If there is an all-powerful/-knowing/-good God, then why does evil exists?

A)   Options:

1) There is no God

2) God is not all good

3) God is not all powerful

The problem of good

1) If there is no God, and the Universe is a cold random accident,

A)   Everything is purely material, naturalistic (i.e. There is no God, and no transcendent moral standard).

B) Everything is ultimately purposeless.

C) The Universe is ultimately indifferent (i.e. natural selection).

D)   All that exists are Matter + Energy + Chance.

2) Then, how is there objective goodness?

A)   Morality (i.e. right and wrong), and moral excellence

1) Note: The Moral Argument for God.

(a)   CS Lewis, Mere Christianity – “A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line.”

(b)   As an atheist, his primary argument against God was that the world is cruel and unjust. This turns out to be a self-defeating objection.

(c)   There is a problem of a standard. How is there such a thing as cruel and just in the first place?

2) If we use words like good/better, bad/worse, goodness/evil, then there must be an objective standard by which to measure these.

3) With moral excellence, we celebrate those things that are very good.

(a)   Honesty – Telling the truth when a lie would help.

(b)   Self-control – Restraint / resisting impulses and temptations in conflict with values.

(c)   Perseverance – Commitment in the face of resistance.

B) Justice (fairness and righteousness)

C) Love

D)   Altruism

1) Def. The unselfish concern for the well-being of others, characterized by actions that benefit others without expecting personal gain or reward. It involves prioritizing the welfare of others over one’s own self-interest, often driven by empathy and a desire to help.

2) Sacrificial love

3) Question: In a world of “survival of the fittest,” where did “kindness to the weakest” come from?

4) Heroism

5) Charity in extreme conditions

E) Forgiveness (especially of enemies)

F) Joy

1) Question: Why do we have the capacity for joy that exceeds biological necessity?

G)   Beauty

1) Why do beautiful things move us?

2) Why is there superfluous beauty?

3) Examples

4) Doy Moyer, Inlight: https://youtu.be/KaSnABOAPpk

5) Roger Scruton, Why Beauty Matters: https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2020/01/why-beauty-matters-roger-scruton-2020-timeless.html

H)   These things must be explained.

3) Options: Moral values are either:

A)   Non-existent as genuine categorical obligations.

1) If this is true about goodness, then it’s also true about evil.

2) While someone may say they believe this in theory, nobody genuinely lives their lives this way. When evil happens to you, or your family, or generally in the world, all humanity bemoans it.

B) Illusions. Subjective projections.

1) We don’t need to explain why goodness feels transcendent; the feeling itself is real, and that’s sufficient for ethics.

C) Emergent social utilities. Evolutionary by-products. Useful fictions for group survival.

1) Goodness is an adaptive trait. Kin selection, reciprocal cooperation, reputation management.

2) Moral emotions are biological adaptations.

4) Solution

A)   The existence of genuine goodness is easier to explain if a transcendent, personal, moral source (i.e. God) exists than if without.

B) “The problem of evil is a problem for the theist. The problem of good is a problem for the atheist.”

C) Ex. 34:6-7 – God is our standard for all that is good and right.

1) Mercy

2) Grace

3) Patience (slow to anger)

4) Abounding in steadfast love

5) Faithfulness

6) Forgiveness

7) Justice

8) Ps. 36:9 – “…in your light do we see light.”

5) Gratuitous good

A)   In the problem of evil, we talked about the logical problem (philosophy), and the evidential problem. It’s not so much that evil exists, but that SO MUCH evil exists and that it’s SO BAD.

B) The same is true for goodness. Why is there SO MUCH overflowing surplus of goodness, love, kindness, beauty, creativity, forgiveness, and redemption arcs in the world?

C) Gratuitous good: Pleasure that serves no evolutionary or survival purpose.

6) Bible

A)   Jas. 1:17 – “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

B) Blessings

1) We have talked about the curses (evil and suffering), and restoration (hope), but not the blessings. Where do they come from?

(a)   Promises of curses (Lev. 26:14ff. / Deut. 28:15ff.)

(b)   Promises of restoration (Lev. 26:40-45 / Deut. 30:1-10)

(c)   Promises of blessings (Lev. 26:3ff. / Deut. 28:1-2ff.)

(i)    Rain in their seasons (Acts 14:16-17 says these point us to God)

(ii)  Food: crops, trees

(iii)          Things beyond necessities: Grapes

(iv) Security, peace, safety

2) Jn. 3:27 – John the Baptist’s claim: “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.”

3) We spent an entire quarter trying to understand the problem of evil and why bad things happens; and then we just assume and take for granted things that are good as if we are entitled to them, and as if this is the way things are SUPPOSED to be.

7) The highest good: That God is in pursuit of a world in rebellion at his own costs.

A)   Rom. 5:6-8