Zach

And it was the question of, is it good because the gods will it as good?

Or, so that's one side.

Is this thing over here, is it good because God says that's good?

And so he makes it good?

Or does God call it good because it's already good?

And so the dilemma is, if you say that it's good because God calls it good, well, then he could call anything good.

He could call murder good.

He could call anything, the most horrible thing you can think about, good.

And we would be saying that's good, which is absurd.

But on the other side of it, if you say that God calls it as good because it's already good, then there's this goodness that exists outside of God.

There's something outside of Him that exists which would be greater than Him, and that would put God's character into question.

And the way that the Bible actually splits this horn...

is to say that it's actually good because He is good.

And that what God is saying is good is a reflection of His own nature because God is good.

This isn't a dualistic idea.

There's not some thing of powers out there floating in the universe that are absent or separate or

autonomous from God.

God is the ultimate reality.

And so to push the two against each other is actually to move into a faulty philosophy called dualism because it doesn't push the question of good and evil far back enough.

And so likewise, when you get to the conversation of heaven and hell, these aren't equal and opposite places, according to Lewis.