Omnibenevolence

It is a common argument against the existence of God -- perhaps the most common. The argument goes something like this:

1. If an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent god exists, then evil does not.
2. There is evil in the world.
3. Therefore, an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent God does not exist.

There you have it. Except, is it true? You see, the way a logical syllogism (that thing right there) is constructed is you give one or more premises and from which you draw the conclusion. If you haven't made a logical fallacy, the argument is "valid". For the argument to be true, the premise(s) must be true. This syllogism is valid. And, in fact, I believe it is true. You see, I don't believe that Scripture teaches that ours is an "omnibenevolent" God ... in the sense that most of us understand it.

"Omnibenevolent" means "possessing absolute kindness." "What? You don't believe that God is omnibenevolent??!" I understand that most believers think of Him that way. I do not believe that the Bible teaches that. Let me give some examples.

The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had spoken to Moses. (Exo 9:12) (See also Exo 10:1; 10:20, 27; 11:10; 14:8; Deut 2:30)

"Now therefore behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the LORD has declared disaster for you." (1 Kings 22:23)

"I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things." (Isa 45:7)

"Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." (Rom 9:13)

"He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them." (John 12:40)

Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thess 2:11-12)

Just some examples.

Here's our confusion. We know that God is good (Psa 34:8; 52:1; 119:68; 145:9). We know that "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights" (James 1:17). Further, we know that God is love (1 John 4:8, 16). He loves the world (John 3:16). We all know this and we all agree with this. The problem arises when we try to understand this. You see, we understand "good" and "love" to mean "nice to me." In our more lucid moments, we know that's not true. If "love" means "nice to me," what loving parent takes their child to a doctor to get poked with needles? That's just mean! Of course, we know better. We allow them to suffer some momentary pain for a better good ... throughout their lives. We know "No pain, no gain." We get it. And yet we have this childish thought that if God is good and loves us, He only does nice and pleasant things to and for us. That's our mistake.

If by "omnibenevolence" we mean "always good," God is omnibenevolent. However, God's "good" doesn't always align with our notions of good, as indicated time and again in the passages (and more) that I offered. God hardened Pharaoh's heart (that doesn't sound good) "that I might show My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth" (Rom 9:17) (Well, that is good). God loved Jacob and hated Esau (that doesn't sound good) "in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of Him who calls" (Rom 9:11) (That is good). In every instance, God does what is best. He doesn't need for us to see that it is best for it to be best. In that sense God is omnibenevolent. A god who only and always does things that his creation thinks are nice does not exist. Don't be fooled by that god. The Scriptures that speak of God's love and goodness are true. The implication we draw from them that God is "all pleasant" is not. Scripture is explicit that God doesn't always do things that we find to be comfortable (e.g., Lev 10:1-3; 2 Sam 6:6-7; etc.). That doesn't make Him not good; it means we need the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2).