As above so below

Oh, you boys and your pets.

 

What I have said is that God is the only measure of goodness, there is no other goodness.

 

"Why do you call me good, only god is good.". I understand that you did not read the thread, but regardless this reaction is like I had insulted your favorite sports team by not giving them enough credit. It is not necessary that the son be greater than the father, only that the son be like the father.

 

Sin isn't really a valid term. If I murder and I consider it just and right, have I sinned? No I haven't. I have acted in a way that is justified by my morals. And so what is the nature of sin? Sin is an external morality forced upon an individuals proverbial sense of right and wrong and justice.

 

Because god is love. God and love are synonymous. Love is goodness. If god measures goodness than that would also make god the only measure of love. But as I said, god is love. Can god measure itself? I suppose we are all the only accurate measure of ourselves.

 

The way you put it is a little abstract. What does that mean in concrete terms? Are you saying that good is whatever God says it is and that we have no basis for judging outcomes as good or evil apart from what God says about them? If so, I disagree, for reasons given by Leibniz: "In saying..that things are not good according to any standard of goodness, but simply by the will of God, it seems to me that one destroys without realizing it, all the love of God and all His glory; for why praise Him for what He has done, if He would be equally praiseworthy in doing the contrary?" If, on the other hand, you're saying that part of the very essence of God is goodness, and that the two can't be logically separated, I agree with you completely. Maybe I just don't understand the point you're trying to make.

 

Actually the term sin is a valid one. It is the suggested offense that does not in fact occur. You cannot nor have you ever usurped the power of God.

Sin, by rooted definition means to "miss the sign", to incorrectly apprehend the nature of the world. That is why it is said that the truth sets us free.

 

This only. However we do have the capacity to discern what is so.

 

Exactly.

 

Your reply is a bit cryptic, but the way I translate it, it amounts to complete moral relativism. If so, I totally disagree. Judging outcomes (as opposed to people), i.e., being a moral actor with a sense of right and wrong, is what it's all about, although I'd also agree that morality is significantly relative to culture and situation.

 

If God is love, being in the likeness and image of God love is what you are. The measure you give is the measure you get.

 

The only separation I see is the conception of "God" as some thoughtful being not embodied in goodness.

 

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Hahaha