God's Provision for All: A Defense of God's Goodness

When we call God "good" we mean that He is "recognizably good," which is based on standards revealed to us in the Scriptures. The news about God is called the "Gospel" (good news) because God's character is loving, kind, patient, impartial, just, right and clearly made known. In short the truth about God is good because He is good... recognizably good. Those who selflessly provide for others in need are called "good" for a reason and it is for this same reason that we call God "good." We are not saying this out of obligation or fear of punishment, but because we recognize His goodness by what He does. A biblically recognizable characteristic of goodness is one's willingness to provide for those in need and that is what God does though His Son, Jesus Christ. Though we believe God's ways can be mysterious at times, we maintain that questionable instances revealed to us in the Scripture can be reasonably explained as consistent with His good character. The Bible clearly demonstrates the loving character of a God who treats His creation in a recognizably good way; a God who does not arbitrarily play favorites or show biased partiality; a God who makes Himself known in a clear and believable way; a God who is not most glorified at the expense of His creation, but at the expense of Himself for the sake of His creation; a God who demonstrates His love by providing the means of salvation for every individual, not because He has to, but because of who He is!This book will answer such questions as: What about those who never hear the gospel? How can we say God is good when He seems so harsh in some of the stories within Scripture? What does it mean to call God good if we do not actually recognize Him as good?