"Most High God" Part I: Omnibenevolence

 

Omnibenevolence

“Love is inherently relational. Love takes at least two. Entirely isolated individuals – if such actually existed – could not love.” Thomas Jay Oord's “The Natural of Love: a Theology”, Chalice Press 201, pg. 21

The nature of God is Love: Goodness. Goodness in its simplest form gives itself and cannot exist in an isolated vacuum. Since goodness by its nature gives itself, it must have a recipient to give itself to.

Creation is a byproduct of God's goodness. It is something that naturally pours out of God. It addresses some of the most difficult questions. Why did God create the universe? What was his motive? How could an omnipotent and good God created a flawed world? They are however all based on one simple assumption: Creation was a deliberate act.

If an act is not deliberate, we should not assume then that is was an accident. Creation was a byproduct of the nature of God. It was inevitable.

Creation is the recipient of God's goodness. The only two arguments I've heard against this idea are the following:

 An Eternally Existent yet Created Universe

The first argument states that since the Created Universe is a temporal thing (it has a beginning and it will also have an end) and God's nature is eternal, there would exist vast amounts of time before Creation and after our universe's end. During these times God would not have this byproduct of his goodness. Time only exists within this Created Universe. Our Created Universe is 4-dimensional (if not more) and God is outside of it (nontemporal). There is no time before or after our universe. Our universe is Time. (The Created Universe is pantemporal). If this weren't true – if time did exist before or after Creation – then God himself would be subjected to time and a chronological chain of events. From God's point of view, the Created Universe – as a self-contained 4-dimensional universe – would always exist.

Imagine a glass marble. Within its centre is a bright light with various rays or beams of light streaking out to its outer edge. This glass ball represents the whole of Creation; our entire created universe. The smooth outer surface of this ball is the end of our universe. The very centre of the bright light in its centre is the birth or creation of our universe – the Big Bang. The rays of light streaking out are galaxies, stars, and planets travelling through space and forward through time. Time would be represented as the distance from the centre, similar to counting rings on a tree stump. The further away from the centre, the further into this universe's finite history you would find yourself – the outer edge being the end of the universe and the end of time. Although the universe is finite (having both a beginning and an end), viewed like a glass ball, this whole could exist eternally. God could carry this glass ball around in his pocket like a young boy carries a marble. It would always exist and would always accompany him. In this state it would be completely static. Time would not flow. History would be laid out in plain view from the beginning to the end; from Alpha to Omega.

The Trinity

The second argument agrees that God's nature is goodness and goodness must give and communicate itself to another. However, this argument does not agree that Creation must be that other. Before Creation God existed in a Triune state – three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God's goodness gives himself and communicates himself to himself. There is no need or place for Creation. (So why make it?)

If we apply Ockham's razor to this argument we find a redundancy. Why have more than one, when only one is necessary? God's goodness needs only one receiver, not two. That one receiver is Creation.

This idea of the Trinity is flawed and even polytheistic. It does not recognize the Triune God as a whole but only as three persona. Trinitarian Christians here must exercise great care. The Doctrine of the Trinity was constructed around the Incarnation. Ultimately, it was early Christianity and the Church's way to deify Jesus. The Trinity followed.



Continued on "Most High God" Part II: Highest State