Thursday, February 07, 2008

Good (or... I is a preposition 2.0).

What is good? Is man essentially good or evil?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

evil. only as a new creation in Christ (a restored creation) are we enabled to then CREATE something that can be called good.

Anonymous said...

i'll get back to you on the first question

:::: Travis Keller :::: said...

so... joe,
a person who is not a confessor of jesus as savior and lord has no ability to be or do anything good?

peterkevinson said...

Neither. All humans bear the image of God, so could not be essentially evil, yet for some most of what they do could be called essentially evil. No human, at least that I have met, has been completely restored to the image of God, so I'm not sure anybody is essentially good, but I have met many people who I see very little evil in them and the radiance of their maker coming through a whole bunch.

Clark W. Griswald said...

so we are not good or evil? are some sort of quasi neutral?

Anonymous said...

Is evil the absence of good, or the opposite of it?

:::: Travis Keller :::: said...

joe,
you are the one who said "evil." so... why are you asking what evil is? back to the question i proposed for you... can a person be or do anything good without the presence of jesus in his/her life?

Daniel Coutz said...

A person, if nothing else, has the potential for good. Each human being is created in the image of God, but that image is distorted in all of us unless we are redeemed by Christ.

Whether someone who is without Christ can do something good I think they can. I can think of several famous non-Christian people whose lives have positively impacted the world. I think tendency would be to do thing that are wrong or do things that are good with selfish motives.

Anonymous said...

False dichotomy. Disrupt polarization, deconstruct logocentrism, affirm the thus-ness of being(s).

Humans are what humans are. Good and bad (which seems less metaphysical and abstract than "evil") are value judgments with contextual conditions.

Matthew 5:38-48, NASB

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone want to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only you brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."