Does God define the good?

[Julie Art]

This is a question posed in one of me textbooks for my ethics class, and I thought this would be great to pose here:

Are good things good because God says they are, or does God say they are good because they ARE good?


If this has been proposed for discussion before, I apologize!

[missb08]

God would've had to make them that way (good).. So I would say a good thing would have to be good if God says that it is good.

[Cambist]

Depends on how you define "good". Something that appeals to our physiological selves can be considered "good" but may also be considered bad. For example, sex is GOOD but the conditions under which you have sex can be bad. Fried Chicken is good but eating too much of it can be bad.

I believe that life, all life, exists in a close balance. Things, behavior, ideas that are considered good are typically in line with maintaining that balance. Which is why I say drilling for oil is bad, over consumption of food is bad, smoking is bad, creating things like plastic that destroy the environment is bad, clear cutting forests and jungles is bad, etc...