Date: 23 Sep 1997
From: Carmen Chimento
Date: 23 Sep 1997
22. The omnicausality of God's nature extends to the creation and extension of His infinite goodness, which includes the liberty or freedom of His spirit. What I mean by that is simply this, and I will try to put it in as non-abstract an example as possible. Just as God extends His nature, so too, a mother passes on to her children her nature. Everything about the mother, essentially, is passed on to her children. If she can clap her hands, so can the child. If she can see, so can the child. If she can run, so can the child. The child is free to do the same things that the mother can do. The mother teaches her children to eat wholesome food that nourishes the body and is also good for the soul, she listens to music that is healthy for the mind, and is also good for the soul. And so she teaches all virtues to her children. But when the children were free, really free, to do things on their own, let us assume they decided to eat unwholesome food, listen to unwholesome music, and did everything contrary to what they knew their mother would want them to do. Although the mother was the "author" of her children, she was not the "author" of the evil things that her children did which hurt their bodies, minds and souls. Just because the mother created her children does not mean she created their "evil". Because God is the cause of all things, it does not follow that He is the cause of evil created by His creatures. He gives His creatures the freedom to choose good or evil, otherwise they are not free.
Without getting too deep into this subject which is covered in that section of Beyond the Universe describing God's omnicausal attribute, let me just summarize it by saying that everything that God created "ad extra" was perfect in every sense when He created it, but because a part of His perfection is the freedom of the soul (or "will" if you prefer), then the freedom that creatures have to do good or evil, is attributable to the creatures. Concerning earthquakes, hurricanes and other natural disasters, they are evil in our eyes because we see these things as unnecessary, but in eternal terms, they are just as necessary as sunshine and rain for producing crops. When nature does things that annoy us, we think God is evil, when nature blesses us with sunshine and rain, we think God is good. The fact is, however, God is good, infinitely good, whether we experience sunshine, hurricanes, or earthquakes and fire. Just as the sun does not change because there are clouds above us, neither does God change because we experience vicissitudes in life and nature. We can blame God for all the things we see around us that we think are evil, and some are evil such as murders, rapes and robberies, but God never changes, God is immutable, and God is infinite goodness, from the beginning of time, to this day, and until forever. God shows us His goodness, but if people want to murder, rape, and rob, He gave them the freedom of the soul to do that, but when they do those things, we should not blame God for it.
God is good, and God is great! Praise Him in the morning, Praise Him in the night, Praise Him forever, for He is worthy of our praise.
In the one true God,
Carmen