If so, what do you think Yahweh's conscience tells him to do? Do you believe that Yahweh, in fact, does what his conscience tells him? What would happen if he did something contrary to what his conscience tells him? Does his conscience tell him the same things about his conduct that our conscience tells us about ours? In other words, are our consciences the same?
If you don't think he has a conscience, then how does he decide what to do and what not to do?
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-- Strong, sharp-toothed sheep dog of the Great Shephard.
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I believe in one God, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not created, of one essence with the Father through Whom all things were made.
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried;
And He rose on the third day, according to the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father;
And He will come again with glory to judge the living and dead. His kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Creator of life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke through the prophets.
In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
I look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the age to come.
Amen.
If you don't think he has a conscience, then how does he decide what to do and what not to do?
No, He doesn't have a conscience as we do. A conscience acts in us as an advocate or instructor or a policeman, and probably a few other metaphors which just can't apply to the Being who is the basis of the instructions. And saying God has a conscience implies that He needs something to ensure He does the right thing; that He could choose the wrong action. That, by definition, cannot be descriptive of Yahweh.
I think maybe what we call "right" or "good" is simply called "reality" in the heavenly realm. There's nothing else there except the right and the good. We've screwed it up down here, so God decides what to do and what not to do based on the (good and right) goal of conforming us to His reality ultimately.
Conscience is also called the "light" in people, and God is called the "Light". You know how sound needs a medium to propagate itself, but light can propagate in a vacuum? Light itself does not need light or anything else to guide it.
Perhaps our conscience is an intuition that we are working against God and for sin/selfishness.
But is there a right and wrong that applies to God? What motivates God to choose what he chooses? Are his choices random, or are they informed by an idea of rightness that applies even to him? The medieval theologian who wrote "Theologia Germanica" (probably Meister Eckhart) believed that even Yahweh was bound to act virtuously and would forfeit his godhood if he stopped obeying the Law:
If you were to ask Love, "What lovest thou?" she would answer, "I love Goodness." "Wherefore?" "Because it is good, and for the sake of Goodness." So it is good and just and right to deem that if there were ought better than God, that must be loved better than God. And thus God loveth not Himself as Himself, but as Goodness. And if there were, and He knew, ought better than God, He would love that and not Himself.
Theologica Germanica, C H A P T E R ~ XXXII
__________________
-- Strong, sharp-toothed sheep dog of the Great Shephard.
Saying God has a conscience implies that He needs something to ensure He does the right thing; that He could choose the wrong action. That, by definition, cannot be descriptive of Yahweh. God decides what to do and what not to do based on the (good and right) goal of conforming us to His reality ultimately.
Does he know the law, or does he make the law? Does he conform his will to goodness, or is his will the source of goodness? Theologia Germanica says the first is correct.
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-- Strong, sharp-toothed sheep dog of the Great Shephard.
Both. Don't the OT and NT say God is the law? Think of a photon. Does a photon know light, carry light, make light, or is it light itself? It's all of the above.
Does he conform his will to goodness, or is his will the source of goodness? Theologia Germanica says the first is correct.
I say the second is correct, although the choice is a bit of a false dichotomy. Saying God conforms to something puts something morally in charge of God. He doesn't have to conform to what He already is, any more than a tree has to conform to being tree-ish. You might say a tree doesn't have a mind and will, so it has no choice, but God does have choice. But I picture the Taoist yin-yang conception in art in at least one aspect; His will and good are "rooted together". Not because they are rooted in something external, but because they are rooted in Himself, in each other. They have to be, because Yahweh is the root of everything. His will is good, and good is His will.
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Originally Posted by Ceridwen
Does he know the law, or does he make the law? Does he conform his will to goodness, or is his will the source of goodness? Theologia Germanica says the first is correct.
I would say His will is always consistent with His nature (which is what we know as ultimate goodness). Notions of right and wrong are for our benefit. God can do no wrong. His nature is the standard.
__________________ When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother" (John 19:26-27). I am not ashamed of my mother!
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
God is perfection. A Conscience indicates the inclination to do the wrong. Anything God does is right, based on the pretense that he is God. But moreover, God CANNOT do anything against His nature, which is always morally upright.
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