Love the message that moral evil can be used by God to bring about good. So hope filled in this time when we see so much institutional evil. Thank you Fathers!🙏♥️
Fr. Gregory is prototype Dominican. Father,you are making me thankful to be part of the Dominican family. God bless you, all those in and with Ascension and all the viewers!
Please remind all that we live in satan's domain & that each of us need to carry our own individual crosses. Stay faithful & please explain the evil & why it exists. Prayer & the most Precious blood of Jesus IS most powerful against all evil. Thanks guys!
Love how Fr Gregory managed to slip in Material Girl. LOL Amazing how God works. I've been in a discussion with aBuddhist/atheist friend about evil and suffering and why God permits it, and along comes this video! Praise the Lord.
Only yesterday, after prayers, I questioned this exact topic because I was so frustrated and feeling so down about a lot of things that I was reading and seeing happening in the world and less than 24 hours later, here it is being explained it to me. Thank you.
Fr Gregory, your wisdom & insight is beautiful & powerful 💗🙏✝️ Fr Mark Mary & Fr Gregory are special blessings from God & super team 🦸♂️👼💗 Thank you so much 🥰 God always brings GOOD out of evil even when we don't know or see it ✝️
@@Roman-Labrador Gotcha, wanted to make sure I was responding to the right thing. Nuanced meaning "having nuances : having or characterized by subtle and often appealingly complex qualities, aspects, or distinctions (as in character or tone)" - Werrian-Websters Rhetorical meaning "expressed in terms intended to persuade or impress." - Oxford Languages Pleasing meaning "satisfying or appealing" - Oxford Languages So I basically mean that his explanations hits on individual points of this massive issues in a well put, satisfying way. Does this help?
@@Roman-Labrador I would invite you to rewatch it then. Obviously not everything can be explained in a 10 minute video. The grass was used as an analogy
Thank you..very good explaination for why God created us. I get thag question all the time especially from my kids if God is so good why does he allow evil. I can brtter explain now
@@CedanyTheAlaskan so glad because now I have sent them this to watch. They dont like emotional responses to those kinds of questions so this is good and practical appeals to the thinkers🤩
We know a particular thing as evil because we know the good thing which can be done about it, and the judgment of whether something is evil or not is usually on the matter of destruction of the object / person or / and suffering of the object / person which we identify as something / someone which can potentially please us or make us happy; but that is the subjective standard of evil on a person's mind. It is evil for most people when an innocent person is killed for example, but it is not so evil if an evil person is killed, certainly it is not evil in the mind of a deer or a fish because they can't comprehend evil in the first place. So, in a universe, where there is only a single planet with life, and that planet is only populated by microbes, for example, which can't comprehend evil at all, evil does not exist at all. So evil is a concept, it exists in our minds as subjective ideas or judgments, because we can understand things and be conscious about them; and we know something as evil or not based on our mental abilities and capabilities. In a sense, our ability to judge something as evil is because we want to be happy or want happiness. So, if we blame God for allowing evil, we blame God for allowing the imperfect and faulty interactions between creatures and humans where the situations can be understood as unjust or evil to certain people with intellect, so how should it be then? Should God have created humans or creatures with impaired minds so that they cannot understand evil as evil? in fact that is a quick solution to the problem, because human evil is a subjective thought as explained above; such situation would make people do "evil" with impunity and without remorse and without knowing it as evil, and when evil is no longer evil there is also no right action, there cannot be any social structures because when people kill each other for necessity there are no adverse effects or justice done; just as a world of microbes has no evil and no notion of God, is God then not "more" evil if he created humans who cannot understand and actually do good, cannot feel guilt, who would be essentially monsters, because they cannot recognize evil? Or should God have created humans or creatures with godly miraculous abilities to heal or reverse every identified evil as they perceive it? That would be an even more violent world, where people have the means to destroy and to restore things as they see fit, and especially if they think they can get away from evil; more evil is then open to be done just because evil can be reversed or healed without consequence, in this case evil rules creation, in this case the creator will be actually in essence imperfect and less-loving. Or should God have created humans or creatures with "perfect" minds where they can only think of things which will never cause any kind of conflict or clash of interests? That would imply a world where every human being or rational creature is oblivious when he or she gets hurt or undermined, which is not possible without constant miraculous manipulations by the creator in almost every interaction, which implies inherent flaws in the creation, and in the creator. Should God also have created immortal humans and creatures with manipulated minds? By being immortal alone, humans and creatures can't eliminate thoughts of evil or prevent acts of evil themselves, evil can still be done although the consequence will not be death or destruction, but utter chaos of eternal conflicts which would require constant interventions by the creator; but with added manipulated minds which either can't recognize evil or can't create causes for evil, either way, it shows a creator who is essentially imperfect because the creator can't, in the end, confront evil. And so, we are left with a world where we have both causes and consequences of evil, or sins, and freedom of choice and conscience to identify, acknowledge, prevent, and heal evil by choosing good; and a God, the Creator, who can redeem His human beings and creatures from the evils and sins done through salvation, or renewal, once and for all. If the question is why not from the start, did God not make a heavenly world as the new creation has envisioned, where every creature is redeemed and forever in a state of eternal happiness in him? if that is the case, we would not be human beings at all, but only angelic creatures and there are angels already, and as it is the order of creation which God has determined that there shall be a material world and rational-material beings with body and soul, humans, and such because He is all loving and capable, God created a universe where evil can be perceived naturally and be responsibly managed, fully under His control, without the need of incessant interventions which reveal weakness and actually breed more evil (if God is willing to forgive any kind of sin and every sin, and heal sin, in an instant without the need for any kind of confession and reparation, then there is no problem at all in doing sin no matter how many or how heavy, and hence such a circumstance will not reduce, but rather will increase, evil). In the end, the objective reality and judge of evil is in the mind of God, since we only share in His intellect and ability to recognize evil from good. And since we have faith that God is an all-loving God, He is God who gives forgiveness and chances for sinners to repent; and so not every evil or evil person is immediately put to justice or liquidation, and He is God who sustains both the material and the immaterial, and no lost innocent people are lost to God, every soul belongs to God and is sustained by God in the body or away from the body. And also, it is good and imperative to believe and have faith in the perfectly just, all-loving, omnipotent, and also mysterious God, because to not have faith in God is to never have any chance to see through the justification of the "evil" universe the unbelievers think of.
Father Gregory, I like your bit in moral evil better than the part on "natural" evils. I prefer to say that the physical world reflects original sin. Sin and death were not aspects of Eden. When Adam and Eve sin, they are expelled from Eden and condemned to die (until saved by Christ's resurrection). Heaven, the new Eden, is without sin and without death. In other words, we don't see Earth and creation as God made it. We see creation as corrupted by original sin and with allowance for Satan until the day of judgment. As it says in scripture, "the lion will lay down with the lamb" in Heaven. As for human evils, why did the Lord make a creature that can fail? Because a creature who chooses to be is superior to a creature that simply is. By not forcing us to love Him, God enabled our love of Him to be an expression of self; a choice which defines us.
There is the perspective that luxury, pain, health, sickness are all equally irrelevant. The only thing that matters is the Will of God. The only evil is sin, so love God, which entails seeking the wellbeing of others (because it is God's Will), and enjoy being able to serve God. The only question which might be relevant is why do people sin. But then, That's between them and God, isn't it?
@5:58 "God could have made it such that we always freely chose him". I struggle with reconciling a God who is Love, with a God who mandates a creature who always chooses Him. Really, this assertion is weak at best and false at worst.
Yeah, I think Fr. Pine is wrong here. By freedom of the will, God let's us choose and so he doesn't dictate us to do one thing or the other. So I find it hard to believe that there is a possible world where we both have free will and we all choose God. Good discussion to be had there
The problem of evil to me relies on far too many presuppositions. The atheist has to prove that the world would be better if there was no evil and suffering before their argument can hold water.
God handles evil Mathew 13:24-46. He sorts the righteous from the unrighteous during the particular judgement. And on the last day after the last judgement our Lord will cast the unrighteous into Hell where they will remain with the Devil and his demons forever. As such the world will be changed in an instant as Heaven becomes one with the universe/world in which there will be no more sin or death.
Evil is simply the lack of love, knowledge, righteousness etc. Just as darkness is the absence of light. God will not remove evil by destroying it or torturing it for all eternity. He will in his great wisdom transform evil by loving it and transform it into love. All thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ who preached, demonstrated and lived out perfect love, even to the death on a cross so that he could win us over to himself and make us want to win others over to him too. Jesus will triumph, he will not be satisfied with the 99 but will go after the 1 lost sheep. That means all creation. "As in Adam all dies, so in Christ all will be made alive" 1 Corinthians 15:22 Hallelujah, Hosanna, Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of Yahweh. Happy easter everyone :)
I respectfully disagree with your definition of “evil.” Have you never felt the force or power of a person bent on spreading evil? Evil is a Force, or can be expressed as a force. It is a poison to the soul, as well. It is also an addiction, I believe. And so very many things more. Yes, I know the admonition to overcome evil with “good.” Now define “good”!
@@mousiebrown1747 Good is the proper nature of a substance, as it were. Evil is only the privation of good. So it's not a substantial thing in of itself, but only exists to oppose or pervert a thing that is substantial or good. You could say that the attitude of a person bent on spreading evil is a perversion of the proper attitudes of mankind, which are good- AKA the beatitudes. A bad addiction is something that forms which opposes the proper attitude of human nature, which is to choose good instead of the bad thing that one becomes addicted to. But hey! You are right that evil is a poison to the soul. Where you go wrong is giving it more credit than it deserves.
@@isaacduplantis1114 Sir, I think you have studied very deeply the teachings of others. That deserves respect. I still do not agree. But I appreciate your thoughtful reply. My belief is based on personal experiences as well as some religious and other studies-but no formal study of philosophy.
No. I have a sexual desire for women. This is due to the evolutionary process that has brought forth this sensation. (Evolution is guided by God). Lust is when I focus on that feeling and make it center stage of my life. It becoming God. I hope this helped
@@isaacduplantis1114 So the story of Creation does not have to be taken absolutely literal. I think if we take a YEC reading, of everything in the Bible is 100% literal, we fall into some craziness. Classical examples is to say, by this standard Jesus was a door and vine. I believe in a historical Adam and Eve. I also believe in Evolution. How is this possible? The works of Dr. Joshua Swamidass has helped with this. If we set back Adam and Eve far enough, we can have a real historical Adam and Eve that is all of our ancestors. Now the question is how far back do we put them.
@@CedanyTheAlaskan Oh of course the creation story is not to be taken literally. I meant more in terms of how you take humans to have evolved from something else, and the creation of this specific thing. To your thought on Adam and Eve, would they not have existed until humans had fully evolved? If not, how would they have had the intellect and will to make a decision and choose sin?
People assume that it should be possible to live a happy, safe, and prosperous life. Where do they get that idea? Why do they assume it to be true? Why do they think life SHOULD be that way? It just isn't; let the philosophers come up with their clever arguments. I just look at the cross, and think, "Well, if God the Father did that to his own Son, why would he spare us?"
They didn't eat each other before Sin, all ate plants whose happiness is to feed. First God created food, only then those who are fed, as it is written in the account of Creation. It is after the Fall that they grew thorns and poison, refusing to feed. And after the Deluge that animals were given to Man for eating, because he has taken good care of them. And to appease our Sinful Nature. Eventually even God Will become Food, to Save us. Just food for thought, well, I'm hungry...
1:30 You know I heard that argument a few times. I heard it debated a few times. And you know I don't mind evil existing and while I still somehow cling onto believing God exists I don't really think he's good anymore. He created humans as innately selfish and evil by nature then he gave us a world in which good deeds make you suffer, but from bad deeds you gain. He gave certain people luck so that they do the bare minimum or less and get rewarded while other's slog away and get shit. He made a world in which suffering not only exists, but many times is completely pointless. Pointless to the point of hopelessness. In all that he demands we thank him for anything good that happens in our lives, but do not blame him for anything bad that does. He demands we love him with all our heart while he stays silent when for months he refuses to answer a prayer as simple as "do you exist?" or "is there any purpose to my suffering?" How can I believe a god like that is good, let alone perfectly good?
Humans were not created selfish or evil, but were perverted by the first and original sin which man acted on out of free will, as you know. This free will is necessary for the greater good which stems for the ability to choose the good, which is love. Love is the choice to do good. Luck does not exist, but only reality. Of course suffering exists, but as Fr. Gregory Pine was saying, if you think a world with no suffering is the objective of life and our creation, you're giving yourself too much credit, thinking you can just decide what you think we were created for. What we do know is that we were created for the glory of God. If the glory of God requires suffering, it must only be unimaginably glorious and worth while since the one who created us is completely just. We don't blame God for bad things in life because He is not the cause of bad things or anything evil. Rather, the consequences of our decision to choose the bad with our free will brought all evil, torment, hardship, and suffering into the world. I know this obviously won't be wholly satisfying, but I want you to know that you're not the only one that feels alone. God permits us to go through these hard, dry seasons, where we don't feel like we can hear or feel His presence in our lives, but He only permits this for us to grow closer to Him and for the greater good. Remember, this is a form of suffering, so something greater must come out of it. And that's not to say it's easy, it's just to say that there is a reason for all of this, and that reason is so glorious that it's greater than all the suffering we could encounter. Don't forget that God suffered in all the ways we do, as a result of the choice that we made to turn against Him. He didn't have to suffer for and with us.
It depends if the one that is divorced has conceived a valid marriage. If not, than the prior marriage may be annulled by the Church. Typically, once you are married, you must be faithful and must not divorce. As other man said, marriage to one who has once been marriage is adultery and a mortal sin, unless the previous marriage is proven by the Church to not have been valid. These are only under very rare circumstances. If you want, I can give you some of these circumstances.
Evil, in principle, doesn't exist substantially. Evil is only the privation of the substance of goodness. God created all things that are good. This means that all things that exist substantially are good. Evil cannot exist as a substance since it only exists as a way to pervert or oppose something that is good. This is why you can't have satanism without the idea that a God exists to rebel against, for example.
@@isaacduplantis1114 What about things which exist, being purely evil? If evil is the lack of God and he created everything why did he create explicitly evil things such as cancer, prion disease and viruses? Did Satan create those things?
@@viorp5267 What makes you think that evil cannot be a tool for good? Do you think the world would be better if there was absolutely zero evil and suffering? There is no triumph without struggle. Perhaps we would not be able to love as deeply without knowing hatred. Maybe we could never know bliss without suffering. I don't think that evil is the opposite of good. I think it serves a higher good. It's just hard to see when we're in the thick of it.
Evil was not introduced by us but by God himself since by allowing it as a part of his creation he is the one introducing it as one of its components. The purpose of evil is not love, evil is not something that testifies to someone’s generosity. If I were to be lived that I then failed to understand how the victims of evil can see the wrong inflicted on them as a generous act of love. Take for instance the victims of sexual abuse at the hands of so many members of the church, is is reasonable to expect them to see the evil inflicted on them as something that testifies to God’s love and generosity? If I am aware that a sin is being committed and it is within my power to put a stop to it, is not unreasonable to expect me to do so. Why then it becomes an unreasonable expectation to believe that an all powerful and all capable God should do the same as well, specifically when evil is a component allowed by him as part of the creation. 🧸
Good question. Here are my thoughts: So, you are correct in saying the purpose of evil is not love, but the polar opposite of love. Evil acts, such as sexual abuse, will never be justified for any end. In fact, no evil acts can bring about justifiable ends. So how does this make sense pertaining to the evil and suffering that God permits? Since God did not create evil, He does not directly will it. God only wills what is truly good because this is what is proper to His nature. Evil was not allowed in creation because it was not a part of it. God created all that is good. So, evil was not something that was created, but is what's opposed to that which was created, which is goodness. Goodness is the proper nature of a created thing. Since a proper nature exists there must be a perversion of that nature, which is called evil. Evil has to be there for free will and love to exist. Love does not exist through evil or through the means of evil, but exists as a better choice opposed to a worse choice. Love is not possible if it is not possible to choose the better option. So it is not as if God permitted man to introduce evil. Instead, the option to choose freely was necessary for love to exist, and despite the evil and suffering necessary, God saw that man was good and worth creating. God loved man enough to go unimaginable lengths to save man from his inevitable wrong choice, even to the point of sending His Son to become incarnate and suffer for man's salvation. Also, I'd suggest you do more research on sexual abuse before concluding that it's exclusive to the Church, which is subject to fallen human nature. Sexual abuse is something that is never permitted for any reason, and could never be possible of bringing about any glory or love, but only shame. It's also not as if sexual abuse isn't more present in any institution outside the Church, but no one will hear about those cases because no one will care, which is sad.
@@isaacduplantis1114 Hi Isaac, thank you for your reply and sorry for my late one. I did not said or suggested that sexual abuse is an evil exclusive to the church, but I mentioned the abuse that has taken place within the church as an example of suffering and evil. In respect of the points that you made, I like most of them but I can not say that I agree with you regarding the origins of evil. I don’t see why there should be a perversion of nature , as you put it when referring to evil, since avoiding this perversion is within the capability of an almighty God. If evil is a condition for the existence of free will by eliminating free will you then eliminate the need for evil to exist. In an oversimplified way, if a father leaves his children to play in a room and among all the toys he places his gun, telling the children that they can choose whether to play with it or only with the rest of the toys. If one of the children then chooses to play with the gun hurting one of his siblings would it be reasonable to assume that the damage caused was because of the child’s free will or because the father’s decision of introducing the gun in the room.? I am of the opinion that by not allowing this free will to happen, hurt would not have occurred in the room. A loving father would do not have introduced the gun in the room, eliminating the chance of hurt. 🧸
Ok; that’s fine for part 1. Our Lord Jesus also came to teach, not just to fulfill the role of the pure sacrificial Lamb. He obeys the Commandments, but taught us to interpret the laws of the human temple leaders in light of sensible and caring judgment- I.e.; picking grain on the Sabbath in order to have food to eat. How do we confront or oppose today’s rampant national sinfulness? I’m talking about national policy to starve, to deny medical care, to kill those persons in countries whose military &/or political policies are anathema to the American capitalist attempts at world domination. We Murikans kill humans to gain money, or it’s equivalent. We call that “defending Democracy” & “liberating nations.” Is the entire family of Christian denominations in Murika afraid to confront government with the Biblical truth that (pph) “ the LOVE OF MONEY is the ROOT OF ALL EVIL” ???? Where are the voices of the Christian churches in this terrible time of obvious and unchallenged sin? I talk bravely, but I am of senior years, disabled in movements, and my spirit is wounded by what I see and hear and also by what I know that I believe to be truth. Besides prayer, how are the peoples of Christ called to act at this time? [Technically, I am an Evangelical Lutheran; I call myself a Franciscan; I am called to the Chaplet of Divine Mercy; I have studies to some extent the most marvelous life and writings (most were destroyed of course, but letters are still found) of St Pio ( Padre Pio ). I find myself to be a convenient “bridge” person between many “National Council of Churches” denominations and Catholicism, and even providing a better dialog with “born again” Baptist or other similar church groups. Just as I was stopped at the last minute from attending a Baptist seminary, I was similarly stopped from Catholic studies for membership over (of all things) a discussion of the book of Noah compared with Jesus’ quoting from it in the NT. I don’t want to fight over doctrine - it’s hard enough to be “evangelical Lutheran” in that regard!] With great respect, thank you for hearing my plight.
I appreciate your words. I don’t have an inspiring response, but I will pray for you (and all of us) during my next praying of the Divine Mercy Chaplet with the Friars. Thanks for sharing your heart!
@@tmm4446 Thank you. Sometimes it is enough to be taken seriously by an honorable person. If I were in grave error, pray for my enlightenment, please. Peace be unto you.
@@tmm4446 PS: I’m sure you understand the way in which I take the identifier of being “Franciscan” to myself - just as one who tries to learn from what St Francis taught, and what I see & know of the Franciscan orders. They are all worthy of appreciation and of incorporation into one’s life, as one is able. (It helped explain to a Baptist friend why I am emotionally involved with both domestic pets and have a different sort of appreciation for local creatures, trees, plants, etc.)
But our initial tendency WASN’T to sin, was it? It wasn’t a part of His original plan for us, until we decided to sin (Adam and Eve KNEW not to eat of the fruit). He gives us complete and total freedom to choose, no one is ever forced to commit sin and if you struggle with sin, there is the sacrament of reconciliation, there is praying and asking for the grace to be better.
And I’ll even add- Jesus is limitless, bottomless MERCY. You can be the worst of people, mass murderer, the evilest person on earth and still go to heaven if you repent of your sins. So He doesn’t “punish” us- we punish ourselves.
Atheist here: so you infer god's puropse as love. I hope you understand, that this is a definition, that you put forth, not an explanation. If you phrase this as an explanation to the problem of evil, you are just begging the question or exibiting circular reasoning. There is an explanation for the problem of evil even given a "good god", which is sadly never picked up by religious people and it doesn't require this mind-gymnastics of circular reasoning. This is why, being an atheist, I think the "problem of evil" is a very weak arguement made by atheists. (I will not go into this however unless someone is really interested) But there is a much more serious and sinister thing going on here: to talk about evil without addressing the elephant in the room, which is eternal punishment, the maximally evil thing that you could imagine, just won't cut it. It's like worrying about a mole on your skin, that might be skin cancer, while being skinned alive. I sincerely hope, if you truely believe in a good god, you reject this notion of eternal punishment, or your whole "explanation" just disintegrates right there. Anyone, who accepts eternal punishment as not contradicting a good god, immediately disqualifies him/herself from any debates about good, evil and morality.
This was not a good explanation of evil and why it exists. The gazelle being sacrificed to the lion is the "cycle of life". It is not evil, it is survival. You wasted too much time using that analogy. There are very evil people in this world. Why? Because our God has given us "free will" to choose between good and evil. Why do some people choose good and others choose evil? Who is the devil? What is moral sin? Why do people choose to commit sin?
@@rjskeptic5273 Okay. But for that to be true, naturalism would need to be true and Christianity false. So if you want to talk about those two things, we can. Edit: Although I am worried about continuing with this conversation, seeing who you are subscribed too
What about the problem of good? There's obviously just a maximally evil God who permits small goods for greater evil. The starvation of others in less fortunate countries is only made more evil by the overabundance of food in my own. You can't have the most horrible breakups without allowing love. Killing wouldn't be as evil if most people didn't do it with or without a God.
Easy doesn't always mean right. We weren't created for the soul purpose of pleasure, but rather goodness, which does happen to entail the perfection of good pleasure.
Love the message that moral evil can be used by God to bring about good. So hope filled in this time when we see so much institutional evil. Thank you Fathers!🙏♥️
Fr. Gregory is prototype Dominican. Father,you are making me thankful to be part of the Dominican family. God bless you, all those in and with Ascension and all the viewers!
I first encountered Fr. Gregory on Pints With Aquinas- I didn't realize he was such the jokester- must be the influence of the Franciscans. ; )
Thanks Fr. Gregory, always nice to have you.
Please remind all that we live in satan's domain & that each of us need to carry our own individual crosses. Stay faithful & please explain the evil & why it exists. Prayer & the most Precious blood of Jesus IS most powerful against all evil. Thanks guys!
Amen amen amen PRAISE God and PRAISE our lord and Savior Jesus God bless my sibling in Christ
Love how Fr Gregory managed to slip in Material Girl. LOL
Amazing how God works. I've been in a discussion with aBuddhist/atheist friend about evil and suffering and why God permits it, and along comes this video! Praise the Lord.
Glory be to God
I was just struggling with this yesterday!
Dominican friars are so beautiful. Their spirituality is very optimistic.
Only yesterday, after prayers, I questioned this exact topic because I was so frustrated and feeling so down about a lot of things that I was reading and seeing happening in the world and less than 24 hours later, here it is being explained it to me. Thank you.
We know good through discernin actions and dealing with evil, Freewill and choice our pathway. The Felix culpa definition
Amen🙏🏻 Thank you Jesus for loving me so unconditionally
Doing the lords work and explaining it along the way! I’ll pray for you fathers 🙏
Exactly what I needed.
God bless you, Fathers.
My simple mind is struggling to wrap its self around such a complex yet straight forward argument.
I love these videos, and listen several times in a row for nuance and to commit to memory. Thank you, God bless you all.
Fr Gregory, your wisdom & insight is beautiful & powerful 💗🙏✝️ Fr Mark Mary & Fr Gregory are special blessings from God & super team 🦸♂️👼💗 Thank you so much 🥰 God always brings GOOD out of evil even when we don't know or see it ✝️
Amen ✝️ 🙏❤🙏 beautiful thank you father may God bless you
Well said.
Beautifully put!
Fr Gregory needs a Mic to drop! :-)
Book is great, Fr. MM
2:46. Brilliant!
Very Excellent
I love this channel so much amen!
Beautiful explanation!
@@Roman-Labrador
Nuanced and rhetorically pleasing.
@@Roman-Labrador
What does what mean?
@@Roman-Labrador
Gotcha, wanted to make sure I was responding to the right thing.
Nuanced meaning "having nuances : having or characterized by subtle and often appealingly complex qualities, aspects, or distinctions (as in character or tone)" - Werrian-Websters
Rhetorical meaning "expressed in terms intended to persuade or impress." - Oxford Languages
Pleasing meaning "satisfying or appealing" - Oxford Languages
So I basically mean that his explanations hits on individual points of this massive issues in a well put, satisfying way.
Does this help?
@@Roman-Labrador
Okay, I will try again.
The explanation hit on big issues on this difficult topic. It was also presented very well
@@Roman-Labrador
I would invite you to rewatch it then. Obviously not everything can be explained in a 10 minute video.
The grass was used as an analogy
Thank you..very good explaination for why God created us. I get thag question all the time especially from my kids if God is so good why does he allow evil. I can brtter explain now
I'm impressed that your kids are asking those questions
God bless you
@@CedanyTheAlaskan so glad because now I have sent them this to watch. They dont like emotional responses to those kinds of questions so this is good and practical appeals to the thinkers🤩
I love how Fr. Gregory does all the talking and Fr. Mark just watches. Like😳🥹☺️👍🏽👍🏽🙏🏽
You guys are Fantastic!!
We know a particular thing as evil because we know the good thing which can be done about it, and the judgment of whether something is evil or not is usually on the matter of destruction of the object / person or / and suffering of the object / person which we identify as something / someone which can potentially please us or make us happy; but that is the subjective standard of evil on a person's mind.
It is evil for most people when an innocent person is killed for example, but it is not so evil if an evil person is killed, certainly it is not evil in the mind of a deer or a fish because they can't comprehend evil in the first place. So, in a universe, where there is only a single planet with life, and that planet is only populated by microbes, for example, which can't comprehend evil at all, evil does not exist at all. So evil is a concept, it exists in our minds as subjective ideas or judgments, because we can understand things and be conscious about them; and we know something as evil or not based on our mental abilities and capabilities. In a sense, our ability to judge something as evil is because we want to be happy or want happiness.
So, if we blame God for allowing evil, we blame God for allowing the imperfect and faulty interactions between creatures and humans where the situations can be understood as unjust or evil to certain people with intellect, so how should it be then? Should God have created humans or creatures with impaired minds so that they cannot understand evil as evil? in fact that is a quick solution to the problem, because human evil is a subjective thought as explained above; such situation would make people do "evil" with impunity and without remorse and without knowing it as evil, and when evil is no longer evil there is also no right action, there cannot be any social structures because when people kill each other for necessity there are no adverse effects or justice done; just as a world of microbes has no evil and no notion of God, is God then not "more" evil if he created humans who cannot understand and actually do good, cannot feel guilt, who would be essentially monsters, because they cannot recognize evil?
Or should God have created humans or creatures with godly miraculous abilities to heal or reverse every identified evil as they perceive it? That would be an even more violent world, where people have the means to destroy and to restore things as they see fit, and especially if they think they can get away from evil; more evil is then open to be done just because evil can be reversed or healed without consequence, in this case evil rules creation, in this case the creator will be actually in essence imperfect and less-loving. Or should God have created humans or creatures with "perfect" minds where they can only think of things which will never cause any kind of conflict or clash of interests? That would imply a world where every human being or rational creature is oblivious when he or she gets hurt or undermined, which is not possible without constant miraculous manipulations by the creator in almost every interaction, which implies inherent flaws in the creation, and in the creator. Should God also have created immortal humans and creatures with manipulated minds? By being immortal alone, humans and creatures can't eliminate thoughts of evil or prevent acts of evil themselves, evil can still be done although the consequence will not be death or destruction, but utter chaos of eternal conflicts which would require constant interventions by the creator; but with added manipulated minds which either can't recognize evil or can't create causes for evil, either way, it shows a creator who is essentially imperfect because the creator can't, in the end, confront evil.
And so, we are left with a world where we have both causes and consequences of evil, or sins, and freedom of choice and conscience to identify, acknowledge, prevent, and heal evil by choosing good; and a God, the Creator, who can redeem His human beings and creatures from the evils and sins done through salvation, or renewal, once and for all. If the question is why not from the start, did God not make a heavenly world as the new creation has envisioned, where every creature is redeemed and forever in a state of eternal happiness in him? if that is the case, we would not be human beings at all, but only angelic creatures and there are angels already, and as it is the order of creation which God has determined that there shall be a material world and rational-material beings with body and soul, humans, and such because He is all loving and capable, God created a universe where evil can be perceived naturally and be responsibly managed, fully under His control, without the need of incessant interventions which reveal weakness and actually breed more evil (if God is willing to forgive any kind of sin and every sin, and heal sin, in an instant without the need for any kind of confession and reparation, then there is no problem at all in doing sin no matter how many or how heavy, and hence such a circumstance will not reduce, but rather will increase, evil).
In the end, the objective reality and judge of evil is in the mind of God, since we only share in His intellect and ability to recognize evil from good. And since we have faith that God is an all-loving God, He is God who gives forgiveness and chances for sinners to repent; and so not every evil or evil person is immediately put to justice or liquidation, and He is God who sustains both the material and the immaterial, and no lost innocent people are lost to God, every soul belongs to God and is sustained by God in the body or away from the body. And also, it is good and imperative to believe and have faith in the perfectly just, all-loving, omnipotent, and also mysterious God, because to not have faith in God is to never have any chance to see through the justification of the "evil" universe the unbelievers think of.
@@Roman-Labrador
There can be several good things that can offer.
First we need to know what we mean by torment. What exactly do you mean?
I would like to point out that people love watching limelapses of grass growing, and that grass, while less glorious than lions, is still glorious.
Great video, thank you!
Father Gregory, I like your bit in moral evil better than the part on "natural" evils.
I prefer to say that the physical world reflects original sin. Sin and death were not aspects of Eden. When Adam and Eve sin, they are expelled from Eden and condemned to die (until saved by Christ's resurrection). Heaven, the new Eden, is without sin and without death.
In other words, we don't see Earth and creation as God made it. We see creation as corrupted by original sin and with allowance for Satan until the day of judgment. As it says in scripture, "the lion will lay down with the lamb" in Heaven.
As for human evils, why did the Lord make a creature that can fail? Because a creature who chooses to be is superior to a creature that simply is. By not forcing us to love Him, God enabled our love of Him to be an expression of self; a choice which defines us.
There is the perspective that luxury, pain, health, sickness are all equally irrelevant. The only thing that matters is the Will of God. The only evil is sin, so love God, which entails seeking the wellbeing of others (because it is God's Will), and enjoy being able to serve God. The only question which might be relevant is why do people sin. But then, That's between them and God, isn't it?
❤
@5:58 "God could have made it such that we always freely chose him". I struggle with reconciling a God who is Love, with a God who mandates a creature who always chooses Him. Really, this assertion is weak at best and false at worst.
Yeah, I think Fr. Pine is wrong here.
By freedom of the will, God let's us choose and so he doesn't dictate us to do one thing or the other. So I find it hard to believe that there is a possible world where we both have free will and we all choose God. Good discussion to be had there
The problem of evil to me relies on far too many presuppositions. The atheist has to prove that the world would be better if there was no evil and suffering before their argument can hold water.
God handles evil Mathew 13:24-46. He sorts the righteous from the unrighteous during the particular judgement. And on the last day after the last judgement our Lord will cast the unrighteous into Hell where they will remain with the Devil and his demons forever. As such the world will be changed in an instant as Heaven becomes one with the universe/world in which there will be no more sin or death.
getting closer to God in testing circumstaes helps safegaurd from evil's plot.
Wow, Order of Preachers is not just a name.
Just found your Podcast from Fr Mike Schmitz 🙏🙏🙏
Evil is simply the lack of love, knowledge, righteousness etc. Just as darkness is the absence of light. God will not remove evil by destroying it or torturing it for all eternity. He will in his great wisdom transform evil by loving it and transform it into love.
All thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ who preached, demonstrated and lived out perfect love, even to the death on a cross so that he could win us over to himself and make us want to win others over to him too. Jesus will triumph, he will not be satisfied with the 99 but will go after the 1 lost sheep. That means all creation.
"As in Adam all dies, so in Christ all will be made alive"
1 Corinthians 15:22
Hallelujah, Hosanna, Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of Yahweh. Happy easter everyone :)
I respectfully disagree with your definition of “evil.” Have you never felt the force or power of a person bent on spreading evil? Evil is a Force, or can be expressed as a force. It is a poison to the soul, as well. It is also an addiction, I believe. And so very many things more.
Yes, I know the admonition to overcome evil with “good.” Now define “good”!
@@mousiebrown1747 Good is the proper nature of a substance, as it were. Evil is only the privation of good. So it's not a substantial thing in of itself, but only exists to oppose or pervert a thing that is substantial or good. You could say that the attitude of a person bent on spreading evil is a perversion of the proper attitudes of mankind, which are good- AKA the beatitudes. A bad addiction is something that forms which opposes the proper attitude of human nature, which is to choose good instead of the bad thing that one becomes addicted to. But hey! You are right that evil is a poison to the soul. Where you go wrong is giving it more credit than it deserves.
@@isaacduplantis1114 Sir, I think you have studied very deeply the teachings of others. That deserves respect. I still do not agree. But I appreciate your thoughtful reply. My belief is based on personal experiences as well as some religious and other studies-but no formal study of philosophy.
At the origin animals didn't eat each other if I'm not mistaken it came in the world because of evil (that makes us weak)
Is sexual desire and lust the same thing ? What's the difference between them both ? # ask Jackie and Bobby angel , # ask fr.mike schmitz
No.
I have a sexual desire for women. This is due to the evolutionary process that has brought forth this sensation. (Evolution is guided by God).
Lust is when I focus on that feeling and make it center stage of my life. It becoming God.
I hope this helped
@@CedanyTheAlaskan I actually haven't looked too much into the evolution theory. If you feel like it, I'd like to hear your thoughts on it.
I mean as it relates to creation
@@isaacduplantis1114
So the story of Creation does not have to be taken absolutely literal. I think if we take a YEC reading, of everything in the Bible is 100% literal, we fall into some craziness. Classical examples is to say, by this standard Jesus was a door and vine.
I believe in a historical Adam and Eve. I also believe in Evolution. How is this possible?
The works of Dr. Joshua Swamidass has helped with this. If we set back Adam and Eve far enough, we can have a real historical Adam and Eve that is all of our ancestors. Now the question is how far back do we put them.
@@CedanyTheAlaskan Oh of course the creation story is not to be taken literally. I meant more in terms of how you take humans to have evolved from something else, and the creation of this specific thing. To your thought on Adam and Eve, would they not have existed until humans had fully evolved? If not, how would they have had the intellect and will to make a decision and choose sin?
First
People assume that it should be possible to live a happy, safe, and prosperous life. Where do they get that idea? Why do they assume it to be true? Why do they think life SHOULD be that way?
It just isn't; let the philosophers come up with their clever arguments. I just look at the cross, and think, "Well, if God the Father did that to his own Son, why would he spare us?"
The good thing is, we have all the good philosophers on our side anyway ;)
@@isaacduplantis1114
Well I mean Graham Oppy is pretty boss and he is an atheist
@@CedanyTheAlaskan Haven't heard of him. I'm sure he is
Right. The problem of evil argument does not hold water unless the atheist can prove that the world would be better without evil/suffering.
They didn't eat each other before Sin, all ate plants whose happiness is to feed. First God created food, only then those who are fed, as it is written in the account of Creation. It is after the Fall that they grew thorns and poison, refusing to feed. And after the Deluge that animals were given to Man for eating, because he has taken good care of them. And to appease our Sinful Nature. Eventually even God Will become Food, to Save us. Just food for thought, well, I'm hungry...
Good thoughts! I'm full after reading that
Material girl... Madonna!
Lyrics:
Cause we are living in a material world n I am a material girl...etc
The material girl joke sent me 😹
1:30 You know I heard that argument a few times. I heard it debated a few times. And you know I don't mind evil existing and while I still somehow cling onto believing God exists I don't really think he's good anymore.
He created humans as innately selfish and evil by nature then he gave us a world in which good deeds make you suffer, but from bad deeds you gain. He gave certain people luck so that they do the bare minimum or less and get rewarded while other's slog away and get shit. He made a world in which suffering not only exists, but many times is completely pointless. Pointless to the point of hopelessness.
In all that he demands we thank him for anything good that happens in our lives, but do not blame him for anything bad that does. He demands we love him with all our heart while he stays silent when for months he refuses to answer a prayer as simple as "do you exist?" or "is there any purpose to my suffering?"
How can I believe a god like that is good, let alone perfectly good?
Humans were not created selfish or evil, but were perverted by the first and original sin which man acted on out of free will, as you know. This free will is necessary for the greater good which stems for the ability to choose the good, which is love. Love is the choice to do good. Luck does not exist, but only reality. Of course suffering exists, but as Fr. Gregory Pine was saying, if you think a world with no suffering is the objective of life and our creation, you're giving yourself too much credit, thinking you can just decide what you think we were created for. What we do know is that we were created for the glory of God. If the glory of God requires suffering, it must only be unimaginably glorious and worth while since the one who created us is completely just. We don't blame God for bad things in life because He is not the cause of bad things or anything evil. Rather, the consequences of our decision to choose the bad with our free will brought all evil, torment, hardship, and suffering into the world. I know this obviously won't be wholly satisfying, but I want you to know that you're not the only one that feels alone. God permits us to go through these hard, dry seasons, where we don't feel like we can hear or feel His presence in our lives, but He only permits this for us to grow closer to Him and for the greater good. Remember, this is a form of suffering, so something greater must come out of it. And that's not to say it's easy, it's just to say that there is a reason for all of this, and that reason is so glorious that it's greater than all the suffering we could encounter. Don't forget that God suffered in all the ways we do, as a result of the choice that we made to turn against Him. He didn't have to suffer for and with us.
I'll pray for you tonight buddy
@@isaacduplantis1114 Thanks.
How does the catholic church view a catholic marrying a divorcee , # ask Jackie and Bobby angel , # ask fr. Mike Schmitz
It depends if the one that is divorced has conceived a valid marriage. If not, than the prior marriage may be annulled by the Church. Typically, once you are married, you must be faithful and must not divorce. As other man said, marriage to one who has once been marriage is adultery and a mortal sin, unless the previous marriage is proven by the Church to not have been valid. These are only under very rare circumstances. If you want, I can give you some of these circumstances.
4:34 If God expresses his nature by creating reality then if there is evil in reality then there should be evil in God.
Evil, in principle, doesn't exist substantially. Evil is only the privation of the substance of goodness. God created all things that are good. This means that all things that exist substantially are good. Evil cannot exist as a substance since it only exists as a way to pervert or oppose something that is good. This is why you can't have satanism without the idea that a God exists to rebel against, for example.
Try to think of something that is bad that exists substantially, or in of itself, without something else for it to oppose.
@@isaacduplantis1114 What about things which exist, being purely evil? If evil is the lack of God and he created everything why did he create explicitly evil things such as cancer, prion disease and viruses?
Did Satan create those things?
@@isaacduplantis1114
1. Cancer
2. Viruses
3. Prion disease
4. The ocean being filled with salt
5. Genetic disease
@@viorp5267 What makes you think that evil cannot be a tool for good? Do you think the world would be better if there was absolutely zero evil and suffering?
There is no triumph without struggle. Perhaps we would not be able to love as deeply without knowing hatred. Maybe we could never know bliss without suffering. I don't think that evil is the opposite of good. I think it serves a higher good. It's just hard to see when we're in the thick of it.
Evil was not introduced by us but by God himself since by allowing it as a part of his creation he is the one introducing it as one of its components.
The purpose of evil is not love, evil is not something that testifies to someone’s generosity. If I were to be lived that I then failed to understand how the victims of evil can see the wrong inflicted on them as a generous act of love. Take for instance the victims of sexual abuse at the hands of so many members of the church, is is reasonable to expect them to see the evil inflicted on them as something that testifies to God’s love and generosity?
If I am aware that a sin is being committed and it is within my power to put a stop to it, is not unreasonable to expect me to do so. Why then it becomes an unreasonable expectation to believe that an all powerful and all capable God should do the same as well, specifically when evil is a component allowed by him as part of the creation. 🧸
Good question. Here are my thoughts: So, you are correct in saying the purpose of evil is not love, but the polar opposite of love. Evil acts, such as sexual abuse, will never be justified for any end. In fact, no evil acts can bring about justifiable ends. So how does this make sense pertaining to the evil and suffering that God permits? Since God did not create evil, He does not directly will it. God only wills what is truly good because this is what is proper to His nature. Evil was not allowed in creation because it was not a part of it. God created all that is good. So, evil was not something that was created, but is what's opposed to that which was created, which is goodness. Goodness is the proper nature of a created thing. Since a proper nature exists there must be a perversion of that nature, which is called evil. Evil has to be there for free will and love to exist. Love does not exist through evil or through the means of evil, but exists as a better choice opposed to a worse choice. Love is not possible if it is not possible to choose the better option. So it is not as if God permitted man to introduce evil. Instead, the option to choose freely was necessary for love to exist, and despite the evil and suffering necessary, God saw that man was good and worth creating. God loved man enough to go unimaginable lengths to save man from his inevitable wrong choice, even to the point of sending His Son to become incarnate and suffer for man's salvation.
Also, I'd suggest you do more research on sexual abuse before concluding that it's exclusive to the Church, which is subject to fallen human nature. Sexual abuse is something that is never permitted for any reason, and could never be possible of bringing about any glory or love, but only shame. It's also not as if sexual abuse isn't more present in any institution outside the Church, but no one will hear about those cases because no one will care, which is sad.
You totally nailed it and beat me to it. God is the ultimate bad samaritan, and if we are expected to intervene in evil when we can, so is he. Period.
@@Unclenate1000 Care to read my thoughts? Let me know where you disagree
@@isaacduplantis1114 Hi Isaac, thank you for your reply and sorry for my late one. I did not said or suggested that sexual abuse is an evil exclusive to the church, but I mentioned the abuse that has taken place within the church as an example of suffering and evil.
In respect of the points that you made, I like most of them but I can not say that I agree with you regarding the origins of evil. I don’t see why there should be a perversion of nature , as you put it when referring to evil, since avoiding this perversion is within the capability of an almighty God.
If evil is a condition for the existence of free will by eliminating free will you then eliminate the need for evil to exist. In an oversimplified way, if a father leaves his children to play in a room and among all the toys he places his gun, telling the children that they can choose whether to play with it or only with the rest of the toys. If one of the children then chooses to play with the gun hurting one of his siblings would it be reasonable to assume that the damage caused was because of the child’s free will or because the father’s decision of introducing the gun in the room.?
I am of the opinion that by not allowing this free will to happen, hurt would not have occurred in the room. A loving father would do not have introduced the gun in the room, eliminating the chance of hurt. 🧸
What is the name of the podcast?
Fr. Gregory Pine's? He has one called Godsplaining and contributes a lot to another called Pints with Aquinas
@@isaacduplantis1114 you are so kind. Thank you.
I’m starting to really like this Dominican propaganda
2nd ;D
Ok; that’s fine for part 1. Our Lord Jesus also came to teach, not just to fulfill the role of the pure sacrificial Lamb. He obeys the Commandments, but taught us to interpret the laws of the human temple leaders in light of sensible and caring judgment- I.e.; picking grain on the Sabbath in order to have food to eat.
How do we confront or oppose today’s rampant national sinfulness? I’m talking about national policy to starve, to deny medical care, to kill those persons in countries whose military &/or political policies are anathema to the American capitalist attempts at world domination. We Murikans kill humans to gain money, or it’s equivalent. We call that “defending Democracy” & “liberating nations.”
Is the entire family of Christian denominations in Murika afraid to confront government with the Biblical truth that (pph) “ the LOVE OF MONEY is the ROOT OF ALL EVIL” ????
Where are the voices of the Christian churches in this terrible time of obvious and unchallenged sin?
I talk bravely, but I am of senior years, disabled in movements, and my spirit is wounded by what I see and hear and also by what I know that I believe to be truth.
Besides prayer, how are the peoples of Christ called to act at this time?
[Technically, I am an Evangelical Lutheran; I call myself a Franciscan; I am called to the Chaplet of Divine Mercy; I have studies to some extent the most marvelous life and writings (most were destroyed of course, but letters are still found) of St Pio ( Padre Pio ). I find myself to be a convenient “bridge” person between many “National Council of Churches” denominations and Catholicism, and even providing a better dialog with “born again” Baptist or other similar church groups. Just as I was stopped at the last minute from attending a Baptist seminary, I was similarly stopped from Catholic studies for membership over (of all things) a discussion of the book of Noah compared with Jesus’ quoting from it in the NT. I don’t want to fight over doctrine - it’s hard enough to be “evangelical Lutheran” in that regard!]
With great respect, thank you for hearing my plight.
I appreciate your words. I don’t have an inspiring response, but I will pray for you (and all of us) during my next praying of the Divine Mercy Chaplet with the Friars. Thanks for sharing your heart!
@@tmm4446 Thank you. Sometimes it is enough to be taken seriously by an honorable person. If I were in grave error, pray for my enlightenment, please. Peace be unto you.
@@tmm4446 PS: I’m sure you understand the way in which I take the identifier of being “Franciscan” to myself - just as one who tries to learn from what St Francis taught, and what I see & know of the Franciscan orders. They are all worthy of appreciation and of incorporation into one’s life, as one is able. (It helped explain to a Baptist friend why I am emotionally involved with both domestic pets and have a different sort of appreciation for local creatures, trees, plants, etc.)
Hurry up and convert.
@@St.Augustine4006 I already did! I’m a Progressive and member of the Peoples Party!
It is weird that God punishes us for sinning even though it is our innate tendency to choose sin. Religion is complicated.
Very complicated 😭
Indeed. Definitely a design flaw on his part. One out of many
But our initial tendency WASN’T to sin, was it? It wasn’t a part of His original plan for us, until we decided to sin (Adam and Eve KNEW not to eat of the fruit). He gives us complete and total freedom to choose, no one is ever forced to commit sin and if you struggle with sin, there is the sacrament of reconciliation, there is praying and asking for the grace to be better.
And I’ll even add- Jesus is limitless, bottomless MERCY. You can be the worst of people, mass murderer, the evilest person on earth and still go to heaven if you repent of your sins. So He doesn’t “punish” us- we punish ourselves.
@@ashleighe.4501 I think most people struggle with sin or some kind of vice
Atheist here: so you infer god's puropse as love. I hope you understand, that this is a definition, that you put forth, not an explanation. If you phrase this as an explanation to the problem of evil, you are just begging the question or exibiting circular reasoning. There is an explanation for the problem of evil even given a "good god", which is sadly never picked up by religious people and it doesn't require this mind-gymnastics of circular reasoning. This is why, being an atheist, I think the "problem of evil" is a very weak arguement made by atheists. (I will not go into this however unless someone is really interested)
But there is a much more serious and sinister thing going on here: to talk about evil without addressing the elephant in the room, which is eternal punishment, the maximally evil thing that you could imagine, just won't cut it. It's like worrying about a mole on your skin, that might be skin cancer, while being skinned alive. I sincerely hope, if you truely believe in a good god, you reject this notion of eternal punishment, or your whole "explanation" just disintegrates right there. Anyone, who accepts eternal punishment as not contradicting a good god, immediately disqualifies him/herself from any debates about good, evil and morality.
I'm interested in your explanation for the problem of evil even given a "good god"
This was not a good explanation of evil and why it exists. The gazelle being sacrificed to the lion is the "cycle of life". It is not evil, it is survival. You wasted too much time using that analogy. There are very evil people in this world. Why? Because our God has given us "free will" to choose between good and evil. Why do some people choose good and others choose evil? Who is the devil? What is moral sin? Why do people choose to commit sin?
Salvation? Why is salvation necessary? And saved from what?
Temptation would be a better word than hardship
"Why is salvation necessary?"
-- Because we fell.
"And saved from what?"
Salvation from our own damnation.
I hope this helped. God bless you
@@isaacduplantis1114
I think you responded to the wrong person
@@CedanyTheAlaskan Within naturalism, there is no need for salvation.
@@rjskeptic5273
Okay. But for that to be true, naturalism would need to be true and Christianity false.
So if you want to talk about those two things, we can.
Edit: Although I am worried about continuing with this conversation, seeing who you are subscribed too
U crazy Christians😂😂
What about the problem of good? There's obviously just a maximally evil God who permits small goods for greater evil. The starvation of others in less fortunate countries is only made more evil by the overabundance of food in my own. You can't have the most horrible breakups without allowing love. Killing wouldn't be as evil if most people didn't do it with or without a God.
The short answer is yes, and the most logical, easiest way to solve it is that god isn’t actually real.
Easy doesn't always mean right. We weren't created for the soul purpose of pleasure, but rather goodness, which does happen to entail the perfection of good pleasure.