THE PROBLEM OF THE GOOD

  1. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:
    What is the good?
    The English word "good" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word "god".
    The Latin word for the good is bonum and the Greek word is agathon.
    This problem is the central problem of Ethics. Ethics is that branch of philosophy that studies what human acts are good and right. The word "Ethics" comes from the Greek word ethikos which comes from ethos, meaning "custom" or "usage". This term was introduced by Aristotle. Cicero introduced the term Moralis into the vocabulary of philosophy; it is equivalent to Aristotle's ethikos. Both terms refer to practical activity.

  2. ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM:

    The following are the proposed historical solutions:

    Plato

    Aristotle

    Epicureanism

    Stoicism

    Tertullian

    Neoplatonism

    Augustine

    Martin Luther

    Anders Nygren

    Evaluation of Nygren's View of Agape

  3. SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM.

    The Biblical solution to the problem "What is the good?" was given in Jesus' answer when he was asked, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" (Mark. 10:17). He answered, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God." (Mark. 10:18).
    That is, God is The Good, the Absolute Good, and all others are relative good, that is, they possess their good in relation to the Absolute Good, God. When God created the earth and its inhabitants, He saw that they are good.
    "And God saw that it was good." (Gen. 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25).
    "And God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good." (Gen. 1:31).
    All that God has created is good, not evil, but it is relative good, not absolute good.
    And God has specified man's relation to the Absolute Good in His commandment,

    "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
    and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
    This is the great and first commandment.
    And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
    On these commands depend all the law and the prophets."
    (Matt. 22:37-40; cf. Mark 12:30-33).
    The second commandment specifies the relative good; man shall do good to his neighbor, even as he does good to himself. The Apostle Paul made this clear in his comment on love:
    "Owe no one anything, except to love one another;
    for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
    The commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery,
    You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet',
    and any other commandment, are summed up in this word,
    'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'.
    Love does no evil to one's neighbor;
    therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."
    (Rom. 13:8-10 ERS).
    Paul's summary statement that "love does no evil to one's neighbor" may be stated positively, "love does good to one's neighbor". Love is a relation between persons, the person that loves and the person that is loved, and in this relation the person who loves does good to the person loved. This love is not a feeling but a choice, the choice to do good to the person loved. It may be accompanied by feelings of compassion and caring, but Agape-love is the choice of the will to do good to the person that may be unloveable and evil. Thus God loves the sinner, not because the sinner is inherently loveable, but God chooses to do good to him and save him. Because love is a choice it can be commanded and it can be obeyed. There are other kinds of love, but the kind of love that God commands is Agape-love. This love is not acquisitive love, that wants to acquire its object; neither is it caused by its object because of the value or good of the object. Agape-love creates value where there is no value; it does good to the person loved. Agape-love gives what the person loved needs, what is good for him or her.