Having carried out a brief investigation into both the Holy Scriptures and patristic literature, I found without too much difficulty that the discourse on goodness is closely linked to the remark made by the Saviour to the rich young man, who called Him ‘good’: ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to have eternal life?’ (Matthew 19:16). Although it is unrelated to the subject under discussion, the Saviour initially gives him a firm and clear reply, leaving no room for interpretation, telling him that he should not have called Him ‘good’, for only God is good: ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone / οὐδεὶς ἀγαθὸς εἰμὴ εἷς, ὁ Θεός” (Matthew 19:17). Note the absolute tone of the phrasing, emphasised by the use of the pronoun ‘no one’, the adverb ‘only’, and the numeral ‘One’. He could simply have said: ‘Only God is good.’ Or: ‘No one is good, except God alone!’ Or: ‘One is good, God!’ However, he brought them all together, evidently to reinforce the statement and leave no room for doubt. What, in the specific context in which it was spoken, appears to be a secondary statement is, in fact, a fundamental theological truth; it becomes the essential foundation for a theological theme developed by the great Church Fathers, particularly during the early centuries, the period of Christological disputes concerning the divinity and consubstantiality of the Son with the Father, but not only that.
The immediate intention of Christ the Saviour is to prompt His young questioner to consider the possibility that it might be God Himself standing before him. The Church Fathers take this interpretation into account, stating that Christ the Saviour does not, in fact, contradict the rich young man, who calls Him ‘good’, but uses the question to draw his attention to His divinity. “If you call me ‘good’, and yet the reality is that only God is good, your statement would be correct if I were God!”
Exegetes also discern here a rebuke from Christ the Saviour directed at the teachers of the law, who attributed to themselves the qualities of being good and righteous—either directly or indirectly—by suggesting to people that they were good because they taught what was right and – one might infer – they do good. It is an attitude we encounter at every turn in the divine Gospels. The Lord Christ is addressing a society that had divided people into the righteous and the sinners, into good people and bad people. Those who had made this distinction were, of course, those who considered themselves righteous and good, in order to highlight their own goodness and righteousness, whilst pointing out that wickedness and sin lay with others. The rich young man, too, placed himself in the category of the good and the righteous, seeking confirmation from the Saviour. The Saviour, however, draws his attention to the fact that he is a victim of a mistaken and highly damaging mindset, namely the belief that a person can attain goodness through their own efforts and deeds. The religious society of ancient Israel in the time of Christ the Saviour had established moral criteria on the basis of which to divide the world into the good and the evil, the righteous and the sinners, according to each person’s deeds. This attitude led to self-importance and vain glory, to a hardening of the heart, profoundly affecting man’s calling to love both his fellow human beings and God.
The Lord’s judgement is relentless: He overturns this hierarchy, showing through countless examples, teachings and parables that, in fact, those considered sinners are closer to God, whilst those who considered themselves good and righteous are further from Him. The prevailing view at that time was, therefore, mistaken; it reflected a generalised self-perception among those who believed themselves to be good and righteous, without actually being so. Self-sufficiency is a common temptation amongst people. There is a general tendency in human nature to claim credit for what one is and for the good one does, overlooking the fact that everything one is and everything one does is first and foremost a gift from the whole of creation, from everything that surrounds one. The whole of creation, which is the work of God, just like humankind itself—each individual and all together—are God’s creations. The whole of creation, led by the miracle that is man himself, is the essential premise for all that man is and all that he does. Yet this premise comes from outside him; he has no merit and makes no contribution to it. It is simply given to him as a gift. Man’s very existence is a gift.
What percentage does man’s contribution account for in what he is and what he does?! Obviously, a tiny one! He is called, in fact, to embrace the gift of his own existence—which also entails the gift of the entire surrounding creation—and to work with this gift, to take his place within the divine plan that lies within him, to follow the path laid out by God within this plan.
The Saviour Christ’s answer is the answer that, naturally, every person ought to have given. If they had the clarity and lucidity to realise the truth that everything that is and everything they do comes from the good God, no one among mankind could any longer describe themselves as good; and when someone were to tell them that they are good, they would spontaneously repeat the words of Christ the Saviour: ‘No one is good except God alone!’ For everything comes from Him. Everything has been given to us! In all the prayers and services of the Church, this truth is always affirmed in the most diverse and compelling ways. Let us recall just the passage from the Ambo Prayer, in which the priest, concluding the Divine Liturgy, declares that: ‘… every good gift and every perfect gift comes from above, descending from You, Father of lights, and to You we offer glory, thanksgiving and worship, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages”.
The words of Christ the Saviour, ‘No one is good except God alone!’, reveal a theological truth which the Church Fathers would develop, with implications for our understanding of all things, namely that God alone possesses everything within Himself, has life within Himself, is good within Himself, is righteous within Himself, is love within Himself, and all the rest. Creation possesses everything through participation in God. Therefore, God is the sole source of life, love, holiness, goodness, etc. God is good by nature; man is not good by nature, but is good through sharing in God’s goodness. Man’s temptation is to be good in and of himself, but this is not possible, for man was made by God to function through participation either from a physical source external to him, or from a spiritual, divine source, which is also external to him. Deprived of this external source, he dies either physically or spiritually. Man is a perfect psycho-somatic mechanism, designed to function by drawing on external resources, all of which – both physical and spiritual – come from the good God.
Anyone can observe and understand this elementary truth, not from books, but through the simple observation of their own life and the world around them. The simplest glance will lead a person to realise that the whole world around them, the entire creation, was made for them. If they were to take just one step further in their inquiry, they would find the answer: that this gift comes from God’s goodness and love for humanity. Our holy Father Dumitru Stăniloae entitles the chapter on the world in his Dogmatic Theology as follows: ‘The world as a gift of God’s love for humankind’. The next step would be for a person to humble themselves, acknowledging that all that is good comes from God, and to show gratitude and thanks for this, as well as for the boundless love and goodness that are unconditionally poured out upon them.
Another essential truth, easy to grasp, is expressed by Christ the Saviour, namely that God’s goodness and love for people are not conditional upon human behaviour, but spring from God’s very nature. God shows His goodness towards people because He is good, not because people do good things and must be rewarded. Let us recall the words of the Lord Christ, in which He describes divine perfection: ‘That you may be sons of your Father in heaven, for He causes the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous’ (Matthew 5:45). Perfection is shown in not being conditioned by anything external and in acting according to yourself, according to who you are. The proof of rising above external conditioning is when, behold, ‘you love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you’ (Matthew 5:44). The fact that your goodness depends on others is a sign that you remain in sin and far from God. If you love those who love you, you are no better than sinners, for they too do this. Likewise, if you embrace only your brothers, you are no better than the pagans, for they do the same (Matthew 5:46–47). Perfection consists in being good and in loving both the good and the bad, the righteous and the sinners. This is the measure of divinity. This is what God does: ‘Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect!’ (Matthew 5:48).
Faced with the challenge of attaining the divine standard, some exegetes consider this to be a rather utopian ideal, one which man cannot attain, as it lies beyond his powers. And they are right! Indeed, man cannot love his enemies by his own strength, nor bless those who curse him, nor do good to those who harm and persecute him. But man is not limited to his natural powers; rather, he has access to divine powers. The Venerable Silouan, that great saint of the twentieth century, dwells at length on the love of one’s enemies and tells us that when a person comes to love their enemies, this is a sign that the Spirit of God is present and at work within him.
Perfection consists in being good and loving both the good and the bad, the righteous and the sinners. This is the measure of divinity. This is what God does. (…) But man is not limited to his natural powers; rather, he has access to divine powers.
The Lord Jesus also speaks to us of perfection in His dialogue with the rich young man: ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, give the proceeds to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow Me’ (Matthew 19:21). To ask a rich man to renounce his wealth is the hardest thing of all. The Saviour confirms this by uttering words that have remained as an echo of a dramatic judgement: ‘Truly I tell you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:23–24). This does not mean that man remains condemned in the face of his own powerlessness. Limited to his natural powers, he cannot attain this standard, but he is called to remember the fundamental truth that man has access to divine powers. On this occasion, the Lord Christ Himself reveals to us that what is impossible for human beings is possible for God. Indeed, ‘With God all things are possible’ (Matthew 19:26).
We can cite many passages from the divine Scriptures which speak to us of God’s goodness, which is manifested freely and unconditionally, regardless of human performance. We shall cite only the parable of the labourers in the vineyard. When the master of the vineyard, at the end of the day, pays those hired at the eleventh hour the same as those hired at the first hour, the latter become angry, thinking they are being treated unjustly, even though the Master had paid them what had been agreed: ‘they grumbled against the master of the house, saying: “These last ones worked for only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the burden of the day and the heat”’ (Matthew 20:11–12). The master reveals an important truth to them, namely that for those hired later in the day and for those hired at the eleventh hour, the pay does not represent the equivalent of the work done, but is an expression of his kindness: ‘Friend, I am not treating you unfairly. Did you not agree with me [for] one denarius? Take what is yours and go. I choose to give this last one the same as I gave you. Am I not free to do what I wish with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ (Matthew 20:13–15). These final words were to prove true in many situations both during the Saviour’s time and afterwards. The manifestation of God’s goodness towards sinners, the helpless, the infirm, towards those of other nations or even of other faiths aroused the anger of the righteous, the faithful and those of His own people. Having become a friend to tax collectors and prostitutes, a healer and deliverer of those of other nationalities and other faiths, on the basis of His divine goodness and not because of their deeds or their condition, the Lord reveals to people this fundamental truth for their lives, namely that goodness and kindness have but one source: the good and loving God. And those who delude themselves into thinking that they can attain some measure of goodness and righteousness through their own efforts fall into the temptation of self-sufficiency, which hardens the heart both towards one’s neighbour and towards God. Let us consider just the parable of the prodigal son, in which the Father’s joy at the return of his prodigal and dissolute son stands in stark contrast to the angry sorrow of the elder brother, trapped in the logic of merit, which runs counter to the logic of goodness. Goodness means giving something to someone precisely because you are good, not rewarding someone because they deserve it!
Having become a friend to tax collectors and prostitutes, a healer and deliverer of those of other nations and faiths, on the basis of His divine goodness and not because of their deeds or status, the Lord reveals to people this fundamental truth for their lives, namely that goodness and kindness have but one source: the good and loving God.
God’s goodness is glorified in the divine Scriptures in immortal words, which are taken up in the hymns of the Church. Let us quote just the beginning of the famous Psalm 117:
1. “Praise the Lord, for He is good; His mercy endures for ever.
2. Let the house of Israel say: ‘He is good; His mercy endures for ever.’
3. Let the house of Aaron say: ‘He is good; His mercy endures for ever.’
4. Let all who fear the Lord say: ‘He is good, for His mercy endures for ever.’”
God’s goodness is associated, as we see, with mercy and forgiveness. Mercy takes into account human weaknesses and infirmities, whilst forgiveness takes into account people’s failings and sins.
The Divine Liturgy, from beginning to end, invokes God’s goodness. At the beginning of the Proskomedia, the priest says: “Your goodness, O Christ, covers the heavens, and the earth is full of Your praise.” Addressing God during the Divine Liturgy, the minister frequently calls Him ‘good and lover of mankind’ or ‘good and benevolent!’ and refers to God’s goodness at every turn. In the prayer at the Small Entrance, the priest commemorates the holy angels, “who minister together with us and together glorify Your goodness”. In the prayer during the ‘Thrice-Holy’ hymn, the celebrant prays: ‘O Lord, receive from our mouths, we sinners, this thrice-holy hymn, and look upon us in Your goodness.’ The first prayer of the faithful ends with the petition: “Be merciful to us, in the abundance of Your goodness!” In the prayers preceding Holy Communion, particular reference is made to God’s goodness, on the basis of which we ask that our repentance be accepted: ‘You who, in Your great goodness, in the last days, took on the human form and were crucified, and offered Yourself up for us, the ungrateful and unappreciative, and with Your Blood renewed our nature, which had been corrupted by sin, Thou Thyself, O King, Who art without death, accept also my repentance, O sinner…” Or: ‘My transgressions have overwhelmed me, but the multitude of Your mercies is beyond compare, and the mercy of Your goodness, which knows no malice, is beyond words; and there is no sin that can overcome Your love for mankind…’.
God’s goodness is glorified by the great Fathers of the Church. One of the most beautiful homilies dedicated to God’s goodness, which emphasises aspects also found in the divine Gospels, is the homily of Saint John Chrysostom on Easter night. We shall quote a substantial part of it, for it is overwhelming in its power of expression and in the clarity with which it illustrates the truth. This sermon might be entitled ‘On the Richness of God’s Goodness’:
‘If anyone is faithful and loves God, let them rejoice in this beautiful and radiant feast. If anyone is a wise servant, let them enter, rejoicing, into their Lord’s joy. If anyone has laboured whilst fasting, let them now receive their reward. If anyone has worked from the first hour, let them receive their just wages today. If anyone has come after the third hour, let them celebrate with thanksgiving. If anyone has arrived after the sixth hour, let them not doubt in the least, for they shall lose nothing. If anyone has delayed until the ninth hour, let them come forward, without any doubt whatsoever. If anyone has arrived only at the eleventh hour, let them not fear because of their delay, for the Master is generous; He welcomes the last just as He does the first, and gives rest to the one who came at the eleventh hour just as He does to the one who worked from the first hour.
He shows mercy to the last, and comforts the first. He pays the one, and bestows upon the other; He accepts their deeds, takes their intentions into account, values their work, and praises their will.
Therefore, enter all into the joy of our Lord! Both the first and the second, receive your reward! The rich and the poor, rejoice together! You who have practised self-restraint and you who have been idle, honour this day! You who have fasted and you who have not, rejoice today! The table is full; feast, all of you!
There is plenty of veal; let no one go hungry! Let everyone taste the feast of faith! Let everyone share in the abundance of goodness!”
God is good by nature and the source of all goodness
Beyond ecclesiastical, liturgical and confessional discourse, we find in the great Church Fathers a very rich and profound theological discourse on the goodness of God. By analysing goodness—as, indeed, any of God’s attributes, the Church Fathers uncover fundamental theological truths, such as, for example, the fact that God alone is good by nature and that all creation, including humankind, is good insofar as it shares in God’s goodness. This illustrates the relationship between the Creator and the creature, which holds true for whatever subject we may be discussing. God is the sole source of life, who brings the world to life and sustains it through continuous sharing.
God reveals His wisdom—which is beyond the grasp of the human mind—in the divine Scriptures, as well as through the direct experience of the Church Fathers. We also learn that within the Holy Trinity there is but one source, and that is the Father. The Son and the Holy Spirit receive everything from the Father, including life itself and all divine attributes. The Father is the source of goodness. The Father is the sole source, say the Fathers. I shall quote only Saint Gregory Palamas, who states clearly that: ‘… the sole beginning – both source and root – for the Son and the Spirit is the Father’1
In the context of Christological debates, Saint Gregory of Nyssa comments on the statement made by Christ the Saviour to the rich young man, emphasising the humility of the Son, Who, in this context, speaks only of the Father as being good, but subtly implies the truth that He, as the Son of the Father, shares in the Father’s goodness, as is evident from His other words: for example, when He says that He is one with the Father, or that the Father is in Him and He is in the Father… ‘The Son is perfect from the perfect Father’2 It is also implied here that the Father is the sole source.
Another important theological truth concerning goodness is that God is good by nature; He is goodness, just as He is love. God does not possess goodness, but is goodness. In a beautiful homily on Ecclesiastes, Saint Gregory of Nyssa elaborates on this subject, saying that God the Creator, being good, is also the cause or maker of all goodness: ‘For he who is good by nature also becomes the cause of all goodness, since every good tree bears good fruit; grapes do not grow from thorns, nor do thorns grow from a vine’3 ‘If a man who is good from the abundance of his heart does not bring forth anything evil, but speaks what is in keeping with his nature, how much more so can the source of all goodness not bring forth anything evil from His nature’4
He is goodness, just as He is love. God does not possess goodness, but is goodness.
One of the consequences of God being good by nature is that God is unchanging. There is no possibility that He might be good at one time and not at another. Didymus the Blind says on this point: ‘For it does not happen that at one time He shows mercy and at another time He does not. For, being good by nature, He always shows mercy’5
Michael Psellos offers a succinct yet all-encompassing expression of the truth that God is goodness, and that is why He makes the whole of creation a partaker in His goodness: “God, being good and above all evil, has made all creatures partakers of His goodness. There is no creature that does not participate in / share in God. And God and goodness are one and the same thing”6.
Against Eunomius, Saint Gregory of Nyssa says: ‘If, indeed, only the Father is good, possessing goodness not acquired but by nature, and the Son does not share in the Father’s nature, as the heresy maintains, then He is not a partaker of the good nature either and is alien to all goodness’7.
Saint Athanasius the Great, in his work On the Holy Trinity, emphasises that between the Persons of the Holy Trinity we do not speak of a sharing of goodness, but of identity of being. And that is why he says: “No one is good except God alone, for since the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all good, we do not speak of a sharing of goodness, but of an identity of being”8.
In the same context of Christological controversies, Saint Basil the Great cites goodness itself as an argument for the identity of being / consubstantiality of the Son with the Father: “Since the Father is good, and the One born of the Good One is also good, goodness is their very essence”!9 The same applies, this time, to the Holy Spirit: ‘(The Spirit) is good by nature, just as the Father is good [and] the Son is good too!’10 And Origen says the same thing, calling the Son the image of the Father: ‘For the Father is good, and the Saviour is the image of His goodness’11
St Athanasius the Great also states that God is the source of goodness: “God is good and, moreover, He is the source of goodness”12. Saint Basil the Great tells us the same thing: “God is good and the cause of all goodness”13.
Goodness has within it the dynamic of reaching outwards, towards others, whilst evil moves in a self-centred manner. St John Chrysostom captures this aspect beautifully: ‘Know that the wicked person is wicked for their own sake, whilst the good person is good for the sake of others’14 And since we are on the subject of Saint John Chrysostom, let us quote another passage from his work, referring to God’s goodness shown to all people, but especially to those who repent.
“If you see someone who once used to get drunk but is now fasting, if you see someone who once uttered blasphemies but is now a theologian, if you see someone who once defiled their mouth with shameful songs, and now purifies his soul with divine hymns, marvel at God’s generosity and give praise to repentance… For God is good to all, but He shows His generosity especially to those who sin’15
Commenting on St Paul’s words to the Ephesians: “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only what is good, for the necessary edification”, Saint John Chrysostom concludes, with relevance to our theme, “that he is good who edifies his neighbour”16.
Let us remember that many of our ordinary Christians use the expression ‘our good God’ when speaking of Him. I have also observed this among many of the Church Fathers whom I have studied. Among them, I recall Saint Theodore the Studite, who very frequently uses the expression ‘our good God’: ‘our good God was pleased’ (εὐδόκησεν ὁ ἀγαθὸς θεὸς), just as Saint John Chrysostom very frequently uses the expression ‘our good Lord’ (ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἡμῶν Δεσπὸτης), thereby affirming a multitude of things.
The testimonies of the Fathers concerning God’s goodness are innumerable. I have chosen to quote as many as possible, and as briefly as possible, precisely to make room for more. Saint Maximus the Confessor tells us that the aim of the good is to gather the wicked and make them good: ‘Only God is good by nature, and good in conduct is only he who is like Him / who imitates God. For the aim of the One who is good by nature is to gather the wicked and make them good’17 We quote yet another argument in favour of God’s goodness, also from Saint Maximus: “…He who is good by nature and beyond measure in goodness does not say that we should forgive seven times, but seventy times seven”18
Saint John of Damascus, in his Dogmatics, states that God created human beings to make them partakers of His goodness: ‘God, being good, and in order that we might share in His goodness, brought us into being from non-existence’19. Consequently, God’s goodness is not a secondary matter, but an essential one, since it lies at the very foundation of the divine counsel to create the world and humankind.
God’s goodness is not a secondary matter, but an essential one, since it lies at the very foundation of God’s plan to create the world and humankind.
St John of Damascus emphasises this point, adding the observation that God was not content merely ‘to be seen by Himself’, but, out of His boundless goodness, created the world of the visible and the invisible, as well as humankind, who is himself composed of the visible and invisible universe: ‘For God, being good and beyond good, was not content merely to behold Himself, but deigned, out of His boundless goodness, to create beings who might benefit from and share in His goodness; He brings all things into being from nothing and creates them all, both the visible and the invisible, and man, who is composed of the visible and the invisible’20
St John of Damascus also takes up this idea, expanding upon it: The Good, the All-Good and the Super-Good God, being entirely goodness, because of the abundance of His overwhelming goodness, was not content merely to be good Himself, that is, for His nature not to be shared with anyone. For this reason, He first created the rational and heavenly powers, then the visible and sensible world, and then man, from both the rational and the sensible worlds. Thus, all that He has created share in His goodness by their very nature. He is the being of all things, for in Him are all that exist, not only because He brought them into being from non-being, but also because His work / energy / grace sustains and preserves all that He has created. Moreover, animals too, for by their very nature and by their participation in life, share in this goodness. And man, being created rational and self-governing, has received the power, through his freedom, to attain union with God, if he remains in goodness, that is, in obedience to the Creator’21”.
Divine providence is also a manifestation of God’s goodness: “And that God cares for us, and cares for us well, anyone will be able to see most clearly from the following argument. God alone is by nature good and wise. Therefore, because He is good, He cares; for he who does not care is not good. For both human beings and irrational beings naturally care for their offspring; and whoever does not care for them is reviled. Furthermore, because God is wise, He cares for existence in the best possible way’22
The most fitting name for God is ‘The Good One’
God’s goodness is among His principal attributes, emphasised by the Church Fathers. It is therefore not surprising to find in Saint Dionysius the Areopagite, quoted by Saint John of Damascus in his Dogmatics, that the most fitting name for God is ‘The Good’, even on a par with the name which God Himself reveals to us: ‘I Am’. The argument put forward by Saint John of Damascus is that God’s goodness coincides with His very existence:
‘Of all the names given to God, it seems that the most fitting is “I Am”, just as He Himself named Himself to Moses on the mountain, when He said: “Tell the children of Israel: I Am has sent me”. For He has gathered within Himself all existence, like an infinite and boundless ocean of being. But, as Saint Dionysius says, the most fitting name for God is ‘The Good’, for it is not possible to say of God that He first exists and then is good23
God’s goodness lies at the foundation of the creation of the world and of humankind
Our holy Father Dumitru Stăniloae states in Orthodox Dogmatic Theology that God created the world out of goodness. First, in the chapter on the divine attributes, he speaks of God’s goodness; then, in the chapter on the creation of the world, he writes that the reason why God created the world and humankind is His goodness 24: ‘God created the world out of goodness, so that other beings might share in His intra-Trinitarian love’25 He quotes testimonies from the Church Fathers. Firstly, he quotes Saint Gregory of Nyssa, who says: “Thus, God the Word, Wisdom, Power, was the creator of human nature, not driven by necessity to create man, but by virtue of His love for this being, whose existence He brought about. It was necessary that the light should not remain unseen, that glory should not remain without a witness, that goodness should not be without another person to enjoy it, and the other gifts, as seen all around the divine nature, were not to remain without effect, there being no one to share in and rejoice in them’26 He then quotes Saint Dionysius the Areopagite, who says: “Goodness, by the very fact that it exists as an essential good, extends its goodness to all that exists”27.
Indeed, Saint Dumitru Stăniloae presents all the divine attributes from the perspective of their sharing with humankind and the whole of creation 28. He titles the chapter on God’s goodness: ‘God’s goodness and love, and our participation in them’. Similarly, the chapter on holiness is entitled: ‘God’s Holiness and Our Participation in It’. Likewise: ‘God’s Infinity and the Participation of Finite Creatures in It’. Or: ‘God’s Simplicity and the participation of the composite creature in it’; ‘God’s Omnipotence and the various powers of creatures owing to their participation in it’; ‘God’s Omniscience and Wisdom and the participation of rational creatures in them’.
‘We know God’s attributes only in their dynamism and to the extent that we share in them’29 writes Saint Dumitru Stăniloae. This participation is understood not in terms of consumption, but of the enrichment of the human person with divine attributes to the extent possible for a human being, and the passing them on to others. When someone partakes of God’s goodness, they themselves become good, and their goodness is manifested towards those around them.
Saint Dumitru Stăniloae presents all the divine attributes from the perspective of their sharing with humankind and the whole of creation. This participation is understood not in terms of consumption, but of the human person being enriched with the divine attributes to the extent possible for a human being, and passing them on to others. When someone partakes of God’s goodness, they themselves become good, and their goodness is manifested towards those around them.
I would be delighted if the reader were to take away this conclusion from reading this humble piece on God’s goodness, namely that all that is good in man and his goodness come from God; therefore, they do not have their source or origin in man. Man was thus conceived by divine wisdom to live and function by feeding on God’s gifts—both created and uncreated, visible and invisible. Man cannot create anything out of nothing. God alone, the Creator, brings things into being from nothing; He is the source of life and the source of all goodness, and man is called to partake of these divine and deifying gifts.
- 1
St Gregory Palamas, On Those Who Find Peace in Holiness, Complete Works, Vol. IV, Gândul aprins Publishing House, Bucharest, 2016, pp. 291–292 (…for the Father alone is the beginning, the source and the root of both the Son and the Spirit.)
- 2
Gregory of Nyssa, Theologian, Against Arius and Sabellius on the Father and the Son, Vol. 3,1, p. 82, line 15. Unless otherwise stated, the texts of the Church Fathers have been taken from Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, the Packard Humanities Institute, Diogenes (version 3.2.0), 1999–2007.
- 3
Gregorius Nyssenus, Theologian, In Ecclesiastes (Homilies 8), Vol. 5, p. 301, line 11.
- 4
Gregorius Nyssenus Theol., On Ecclesiastes (Homilies 8), Vol. 5, p. 301, line 14.
- 5
Didymus Caecus, Ecclesiastical Writings, Fragments on the Psalms (from another commentary), Fragment 986, line 4.
- 6
Michael Psellus Polyhist., Theologica Opusculum 11, para. 32.
- 7
Gregory of Nyssa, Theologian, Contra Eunomium, Book 3, Chapter 9, Section 6, Paragraph 8.
- 8
Athanasius Theol., De sancta trinitate (Dialogues 1, 3, 5) [Sp.], Vol. 28, p. 1141, line 1.
- 9
Basilius the Theologian, On the Holy Spirit, chapter 19, section 48, paragraph 17.
- 10
Basilius the Theologian, On the Holy Spirit, chapter 24, section 56, paragraph 2.
- 11
Origen, Theol., Commentaries on the Gospel of John (Books 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 13), Book 6, Chapter 57, Section 295, Paragraph 3.
- 12
Athanasius, Theol., On the Incarnation of the Word, chap. 3, sect. 3, para. 1. For God is good; indeed, He is the very source of goodness;
- 13
Basilius Theol., Constitutiones asceticae [Sp.], Vol. 31, p. 1428, para. 15.
- 14
John Chrysostom, Ecclesiastical Writings, On the Devil the Tempter (Sermons 1–3), Vol. 49, p. 265, line 16.
- 15
John Chrysostom, Ecclesiastical Writings, On Penance (Sermons 1–9), Vol. 49, p. 325, line 17.
- 16
Joannes Chrysostomus, Ecclesiastical Writings, On the passage: ‘But because of fornication, let each man have his own wife’, Vol. 51, p. 209, line 16.
- 17
Maximus the Confessor, Theological Treatise, Chapters on Charity, Book 4, section 90, paragraph 1.
- 18
Maximus the Confessor, Theol., Liber asceticus, section 40, paragraph 59.
- 19
Joannes Damascenus, Ecclesiastical and Theological Writings, Expositio fidei, section 12b, paragraph 4.
- 20
St John of Damascus, Dogmatics, 3rd edition, Scripta Publishers, 1993, Bucharest, p. 37. See also the original in Joannes Damascenus, Scr. Eccl., Theol., Expositio fidei, section 16, paragraph 2.
- 21
Joannes Damascenus, Ecclesiastical and Theological Writings, Expositio fidei, section 86, paragraph 2.
- 22
St John of Damascus, Dogmatics, p. 76.
- 23
St John of Damascus, Dogmatics, p. 26.
- 24
However, the latest treatise on Orthodox dogmatic theology inexplicably omits the chapter on the attributes of God, and in the chapter on the creation of the world, it merely mentions in passing that God created the world out of love. Consequently, there is no longer any mention of God’s goodness, nor of the name ‘The Good One’, given to God by the Holy Fathers.
- 25
Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Vol. I, Bucharest, 1978, p. 337.
- 26
The Great Catechetical Sermon, P.G. 45, col. 21, in St Dumitru Stăniloae, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, vol. I, p. 337.
- 27
De divinis nominibus, Chapter IV, I–II, P.G. 3, col. 693–696, in St Dumitru Stăniloae, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, vol. I, pp. 337–338.
- 28
See Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Vol. I, p. 146 ff.
- 29
Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Vol. I, p. 163.