According to Abrahamic religious belief, there is this magnificent force that began the entire universe with a plan in mind. That plan has, as a major player in this evolving drama, the human species. Humans are such an important part of this plan that this divine force made humans in his image. He, She or It looks like us and we look like It. We are such crucial parts of this grand plan, this entire universe was given to us by this Divine Master, to use as we see fit. We can eat, develop, mine, corrupt, destroy or manipulate any part of it that pleases us, because it was given to us. We are such important players in this grand scheme that we can, if we are sincere enough, reach our Divine Creator, and request favors. Our Creator will interfere in the events of the universe enough to grant us victories over other humans, or inanimate objects, if our request fits with His grand scheme. A certain few of us, who are the most faithful believers in our Grand Creator, will live in eternal pleasure, even after our death. Our God is omnipotent, omniscient, permanent, eternal – and here is the coup de grace – totally good. According to Abrahamic tradition, the great force that created, is creating, and will create, is completely good, down to the very last fiber, nuance, vibrating energy it possesses. Goodness extends out from our Great God like an aura, which inhabits the entire universe. All we have to do is to tap into it.
When this concept of a totally good God began to form in the human conscience is not very clear – but the Greeks certainly helped. The Bible gives multitudinous descriptions of the Jewish God as a Tribal Deity, a savage, vengeful, provincial God. This tribal God brought horrible suffering down upon those humans who were not faithful to Him. It was not until the vision of Isaiah in the Temple that Judaism developed the concept of a God of all people. Greek thought was not so provincial. Socrates, speaking through the words of Plato, believed that there was a God of the Universe. He believed that the soul of humans partook of that Divinity, and that the soul was, for that reason, immortal. Juxtaposed with these concepts was another belief: He thought that there was an Absolute Goodness in the Universe. Once humans were able to achieve knowledge of this Absolute Goodness, he believed, it could never be put to ill use. Possession of this knowledge guaranteed that it would be used wisely. Knowledge of this Absolute Goodness was a prerequisite for all statesmanship, national well being, and personal well being. Socrates never expressed the concept that this Universal God was also the Absolute Goodness in the Universe – but all it needed was for someone else to connect the dots.
If Socrates had any writings, they have not survived through time. The only knowledge we have of his concepts is through the dialogues of Plato and the memoirs of Xenophon. Whether these concepts of Socrates, the divinity and immutability of the soul, a Universal God, and an Absolute Goodness in the Universe, were concepts entirely of his, or in part expressions from the mind of Plato, we do not know. Plato does express that God is the intelligent and efficient cause of all order in the world. He also states that the Ultimate Good is the source of all reality. It would not take much to join these two concepts together, creating an all powerful, totally good God. Aristotle did not chime in with this thought process. Coming 50 years after Plato, Aristotle believed in an Unmoved Mover, who began the Universe, was responsible for all being and motion, and totally unreachable by humans. The God of Aristotle is responsible for everything that exists, but does not in any way interfere with the body and soul of humans.
Confucianism does not believe in any God, much less one that is totally good. Human society and morality are all that are important to this religion. Buddhism also does not concern itself with God concepts. It is only concerned with means of perfecting the human mind and soul. For the Hindu, God is everywhere and in all things, certainly not confined to an entity off to itself somewhere. Judaism believes that God is good, but also believes that this God can be vengeful and punishing, if his people do not follow his laws. That leaves us with Christianity and Islam. These two religions fervently take the Greek concept of an omnipotent creator, the concept of Absolute Goodness in the universe, mix them together in a bowl, bake them in the oven of thought, and come out with the absurd entity of a Divine Creator who is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, and totally good at all times, in every way.
The irrationality of this theology, claiming that there is a Divine Creator who began the universe, interferes in all things, and is totally good, has occupied the thoughts and speech of rabbis, ministers, mullahs and theologians for several millennia. Entire forests have disappeared discussing this concept. It cannot be explained in any way through the knowledge we have of the Universe. There is immediately a problem. The great amount of evil in the world, as seen through human eyes, cannot be explained if God Is omnipotent, and also totally good. That requires the creation of another almost all powerful God, the Devil, who is responsible for all the evil in the world, and who is constantly fighting the good God. That also means that if God is totally good, aiming the universe and the human species for a good end in His grand scheme, there will have to be a monumental apocalyptic battle between good and evil, laying waste the entire world, before the good end of the good God can be achieved. Christianity and Islam then add even further to this contorted mythology by claiming that this apocalyptic day will also be a day of judgment, when all the dead come back to life. At that time all humans will be judged as to whether or not they have been true believers. Only true believers (whichever religion that may be) will be granted an eternal life of paradise. All others, representing more than 95% of all humans who have ever lived, will be tortured in Hell for an eternity, according to these errant doctrines.
The capacity for human insanity appears boundless. We have no evidence for any kind of super power that has a plan for humans and is interfering in human events. We certainly do not own or possess any of the world or universe. We are here for only a short time, are completely mortal, and will not go to any Heaven or Hell after we die. The Universe will eliminate our insignificant life form completely, in due time, without remorse. There is only one God, which we should hold in deep reverence at all times, the laws of chance. If we challenge the laws of chance, because we think that we are partly divine, powerful, and immortal, we will lose badly. And there is certainly no evidence for an Absolute Goodness in the Universe. Good and evil, right and wrong, ethics and morals are value judgments which are made only by humans. The Universe does not care. It cares only in that it rewards those who learn to live in harmony with their environment, and in harmony with the others of its species. All those who believe that they are divinely good, while others are not, simply destroy human society. God is not even the slightest bit good. God doesn’t care. God does not possess good or evil.