10. The Final Moral Fact in God's Being

The Final Moral Fact in God’s Being

It would therefore seem that life can be assumed to be that something in the Being of God which is so fundamental to all else in His nature, that it is both the primary, the final, and the all-inclusive fact in His Being. That type of life, we mean, which is of such a quality that both holiness and love form the co-equal sources of every moral attitude and act of His life. In other words, a life that is spiritual. With such a life as the ultimate fact in the Being of God, He would eternally express Himself as the infinite embodiment of the perfect moral all of the universe. That is, He would be the eternal incarnation of that which ought to be, which would thus be both the eternal negation and condemnation of that which ought not to be.

If we may proceed, then, on the thesis that spiritual life is the moral fundamental in the nature of God, we are ready to go on to the inquiry: In a moral universe such as the one we inhabit, what is that moral condition of things which must be universally recognized by all moral intelligences as that which ought to be, the opposite of which would therefore be that which ought not to be? That which ought to be is obviously that moral condition which, in any degree of its expression, infallibly insures the eternal moral well-being, and therefore the perfect happiness forever, of every moral intelligence who comes within the realm of its operation.

Conversely, therefore, that which ought not to be is that moral condition which, to any degree of its expression, inescapably results in the perfect and eternal moral ill-being and unhappiness of every moral intelligence who comes within the realm of its operation. The nature of God, we must then conclude, in which spiritual life is the ultimate fact, must possess that kind of character which will express itself through such attributes as will insure the perfect moral welfare and happiness of all in His universe who are in the realm where that welfare is possible. Such a character would therefore be inevitably and wholly set against every condition which would destroy that welfare. In other words, the kind of God reason demands must have such a nature that the one thing to which He is dedicated, with the undeviating purpose of His infinite Being, must be the securing of the happiness which results from their perfect moral welfare, for all in His universe who are within the reach of such a purpose. The life of such a God will therefore be both the source and the expression of such a character that the object of every attitude and action toward His moral creatures will be the securing of their perfect happiness.