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The tree is the soul, that is, the man himself; the fruit is the man’s works. An evil man therefore cannot work good works, nor a good man evil works. Therefore if an evil man would work good things, let him first become good. But as long as he continues evil, he cannot bring forth good fruits.
The nature of being good has been given many treatments; one is that the good is based on the natural love, bonding, and affection that begins at the earliest stages of personal development; another is that goodness is a product of knowing truth. Differing views also exist as to why evil might arise.
Omnibenevolence is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "unlimited or infinite benevolence".Some philosophers, such as Epicurus, have argued that it is impossible, or at least improbable, for a deity to exhibit such a property alongside omniscience and omnipotence, as a result of the problem of evil.
Good is the cause of evil, but only owing to fault on the part of the agent. In his theodicy, to say something is evil is to say that it lacks goodness which means that it could not be part of God's creation, because God's creation lacked nothing. Aquinas noted that, although goodness makes evil possible, it does not necessitate evil.
Plotinus does not think that there is any "other principle in the universe independent of, and antithetical to, the Good, or the One. Evil is merely the incidental consequence of there being a universe at all." [17] The following quotation from that tractate, in which evil is described as non-being, illustrates this:
Prior to Ambrose, these four qualities were identified by the Greek philosopher Plato as the necessary character traits of a good man, and were discussed by other ancient authors such as Cicero. They can also be found in the Old Testament Book of Wisdom , which states that wisdom "teaches moderation and prudence, righteousness and fortitude ...
For example, God's omnipotence is his quality of having unlimited power. This attribute is not contingent upon something else other than God himself, and is therefore one of his eternal attributes. [8] God's sovereignty, as the right to exercise his ruling power over his creation, is contingent upon his creation. God's sovereignty only takes ...
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]