Is God arbitrary, why does God exist as He does?

[TomD123]

We often describe God as just, loving, merciful, infinite, omnipotent, etc.
Why is God these things? Why does God act a certain way? Where does God’s essence originate, where does it come from and why is it the way it is? Why is God not another being?

 

[bzkoss236]

We often describe God as just, loving, merciful, infinite, omnipotent, etc.
Why is God these things? Why does God act a certain way? Where does God’s essence originate, where does it come from and why is it the way it is? Why is God not another being?

We don’t know, He’s God. If we could completely understand God, then how can He really be God?

 

[FaithInTheSon]

We often describe God as just, loving, merciful, infinite, omnipotent, etc.
Why is God these things? Why does God act a certain way? Where does God’s essence originate, where does it come from and why is it the way it is? Why is God not another being?

You can ask why he is these things but you can not ask why He acts a certain way. He acts according to His Word this will have to be sufficient. God’s essense does not originate He is the alpha and omega He is timeless. He always existed because He defines existence His existence does not define him. Do you see the difference? None are like God.

We describe God as all those things because He is all those things (in fact he defines them).

 

[JerryZ]

We often describe God as just, loving, merciful, infinite, omnipotent, etc.
Why is God these things? Why does God act a certain way? Where does God’s essence originate, where does it come from and why is it the way it is? Why is God not another being?

We have a human mind that exists in the material universe, bound by it’s laws and perspectives, our human mind cannot fully comprehend God.
He is outside of time, He created time how can we fathom Him?
The “other being” is Jesus He is human and was with us to show us that God is Love.

Some love Him some Fear Him some hate Him and then some don’t believe He exists, despite His fingerprints being all over creation.

Just decide what chategory you belong to Hope you choose the first

 

[R_C]

We often describe God as just, loving, merciful, infinite, omnipotent, etc.
Why is God these things? Why does God act a certain way? Where does God’s essence originate, where does it come from and why is it the way it is? Why is God not another being?

Well, we know one thing as an absolute truth: only God is.

What is He?

He is perfect and perfection. The fullness of everything that is.

That includes justice, love, goodness, justice, wisdom, mercy. It allows no limitations of space and time. God is eternal, and eternity is an instant with neither past nor future. God is before anything else was, and He is the reason and origin of all things. God does not originate, He is, and all things, including space and time, originate from Him. He is the unmoved mover.

Other things, such as hatred, envy, unfairness, errors, are not things per se: rather, they are the lack or absence of something.

This is one of many reasons why God has revealed itself as light: because, while light is, darkness is nothing but the absence of light.

We should be very careful, for we do tend to sketch our own image of God, adding unto Him imperfections or thinking He could somehow change or be better

Indeed, it is a timeless truth that “no man has seen God at any time” and that in order for us all to know Him indirectly, “the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him” so that “anyone who sees the Son has seen the Father”.

 

[mangy_dog]

We often describe God as just, loving, merciful, infinite, omnipotent, etc.
Why is God these things? Why does God act a certain way? Where does God’s essence originate, where does it come from and why is it the way it is? Why is God not another being?

God is all these things because in God all perfections have their perfection. God’s essence is equal to His existence and vise versa.

God is the only being that cannot not be. His existence is necessary- where our’s is contingent on His existence.

 

[fred_conty]

We often describe God as just, loving, merciful, infinite, omnipotent, etc.
Why is God these things? Why does God act a certain way? Where does God’s essence originate, where does it come from and why is it the way it is? Why is God not another being?

When mom bakes a cake. What do we say? Boy that was good.
When dad fixes our bike. what do we say? thanks dad, that was great.
When someone gives you something nice? Thank you, that was just what I wanted.

When we gaze at the sunset with all the colors merging together in brillance. It’s beautiful.
When we see skaters performing their art on the ice. It’s enjoyable.
When we go we see the snow softly falling in the winter. It’s peaceful.

The cause of all goodness of people, beauty, fulfillment, must be someone very wonderful in themselves to do all of that and so much more. Because noone can give what they don’t have.

Just a thought.

 

[BrotherA]

We often describe God as just, loving, merciful, infinite, omnipotent, etc.
Why is God these things? Why does God act a certain way? Where does God’s essence originate, where does it come from and why is it the way it is? Why is God not another being?

Fr. Robert Barron has excellent explanations which may interest you.

 

[JDaniel]

We often describe God as just, loving, merciful, infinite, omnipotent, etc.
Why is God these things? Why does God act a certain way? Where does God’s essence originate, where does it come from and why is it the way it is? Why is God not another being?

Tom:

The first thing one has to consider is, “What mode of being is God?” We understand God to be infinite because no one has ever seen a finite being per se “create.” I assume you understand that creation and causation are different, and “how” they’re different.

The next thing that we lean, from our knowledge of that which surrounds us, is that no lesser thing creates, or causes, a greater thing - but, rather it is a greater thing that creates, or causes, a lesser thing. (Why?) Thus, that which we call “God” cannot be less than us or our equal, nor can He/She/It be less than, or equal to, the Universe. The Universe is unequaled in immensity and yet finite. So, its Creator must be more immense and Infinite.

The third thing that we learn is that this Entity cannot be a “being,” although He “sits atop” the category of “Being.” Why can He not be a “being,” as we know “being?” Precisely because every being that we know and are familiar with possesses “properties.” But, that which “creates” all else cannot merely possess properties, He/She/It must originate any and all of the properties of lesser beings. Thus He IS the property, i.e., the epitome of each and every property that might be possessed by any and all lesser things, such as us.

The next thing we can surmise is that God cannot be per se “seen” by any (or all) of our senses. We can only make Him intelligible to us by a via negativa. Therefore, knowing Him via our senses is not possible (although He has seen fit to make Himself appear to many of us and to incarnate Himself in human form.)

We could go on, but this is as good a time to finish this as any. Your next to last question asks, “Where does God’s essence originate, where does it come from and why is it the way it is? Why is God not another being?” The answers to the inquiries within your question are also things that we, humans, must think out for ourselves. What do you think?

God bless,
jd

 

[majoor]

We need to think about God the other way around. Whilst we can try to describe God, we can’t define Him as He defines everything. My 5 year old daughter got close when she declared at a dinner table discussion on proving God, “Because there is something, God exists!”
Whilst we exist there was a time that we did not exist, therefore existence is not part of our nature but was given to us. (Incidentally, that means that all we have was given to us)
As God gave existence to everything and nothing gave God existence, then existence must be part of God’s nature. We can say then that God is existence. God told us that Himself when He gave us His name, “I AM”.
Hence goodness is good because God is good. God’s very existence defines good.

Yours in Christ

Matthew

 

[rscanl01]

Adding to the other posts:

God is Being. God is what it is to exist. He acts the way he does out of pure freedom. No one can stop or even hinder God in accomplishing his will.

We say that God is good because goodness is equated with the ability to accomplish something–and God accomplishes all things, even the things that we do. All the perfections: mercy, justice, compassion, goodness, reflect an ability to do/relate etc. which finds its ultimate source in God… and thus also a level of being, which subsists in God (Being Himself).

This is a philosophical answer, but we find it most fully, and even over-abundantly embodied in the Lord of the Bible, who tells Moses, say to the people “I Am.”

 

[rscanl01]

A second answer)

we also have to remember what has been revealed of the inner life of the trinity. In the trinity God’s own life is as free as it is necessary: God the Father freely begot the Son, “before” all time. So all of God’s actions and his very Being are also a reflection of his Freedom. God is that way because he has willed it.

And we believe God in his revelation when he says that he is Love. So, out of love…

 

[Hamlet123]

We often describe God as just, loving, merciful, infinite, omnipotent, etc.
Why is God these things? Why does God act a certain way? Where does God’s essence originate, where does it come from and why is it the way it is? Why is God not another being?

I am excited about this topic. I hope there is a lot of worthwile participation from you solid philosophers.

 

[DavidWJackson]

We often describe God as just, loving, merciful, infinite, omnipotent, etc.
Why is God these things? Why does God act a certain way? Where does God’s essence originate, where does it come from and why is it the way it is? Why is God not another being?

God being Alpha and Omega, Infinite and Omnipotent, if He were anything but Just and Loving, He would eventually lead Himself to His own destruction. That is way sin is simply anything that is outside of the image of God. Sin leads to destruction.

 

[irishOntarian]

Since God is the ultimate and primary reality, goodness is simply whatever He is. Of course, we know that certain things are good, such as being, for instance, simply because faith in reason and experience tells us so. And therefore we know that those things must be attributes of God.