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The goodness of God means that "God is the final standard of good, and all that God is and does is worthy of approval." [ 12 ] Many theologians consider the goodness of God as an overarching attribute - Louis Berkhof , for example, sees it as including kindness , love , grace , mercy and longsuffering . [ 13 ]
According to Thomas Aquinas, God is the "Highest Good". [1] The Summa Theologiae (question 6, article 3) affirms that "God alone is good essentially". [2]Because in Jesus there are two natures, the human and the divine one, Aquinas states that in him there are two distinct wills: the human will and the divine will.
The Immutability or Unchangeability of God is an attribute that "God is unchanging in his character, will, and covenant promises." [1] The Westminster Shorter Catechism says that "[God] is a spirit, whose being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth are infinite, eternal, and unchangeable." Those things do not change.
The being of God is identical to the "attributes" of God.Characteristics such as omnipresence, goodness, truth and eternity are identical to God's being, not qualities that make up that being as a collection or abstract entities inherent to God as in a substance; in God, essence and existence are the same.
A theodicy is an attempt "to reconcile the power and goodness attributed to God with the presence of evil in the human experience." [42] The Bible attributes both "power" and "goodness" to God. [43] The free-will theodicy, first developed by Augustine, defends God by placing all the blame for evil on "the misuse of free will by human beings."
In that view, God's power, knowledge, and presence have no external limitations, that is, outside of his divine nature and character. [44] Besides, Arminianism view on God's way of expressing his sovereignty, i.e. his providence, is based on postulates stemming from God's character, [44] especially as fully revealed in Jesus Christ. [45]
The relationship between these two classes is such that the incommunicable attributes qualify all the communicable attributes, thus, God is infinite, eternal and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth, following the classic definition of God in the Westminster Shorter Catechism. [75]
In the Psalms, examples of God's grace include teaching the Law (Psalm 119:29) [18] and answering prayers (Psalm 27:7). [19] [14] Another example of God's grace appears in Psalm 85, a prayer for restoration, forgiveness, and the grace and mercy of God to bring about new life following the Exile.