Benevolent God Research Articles

Parental Sanctification, God Images, and Parental Happiness and Satisfaction in the United States

AbstractThe goal of this study was to assess the relationship between non‐theistic parental sanctification and well‐being among parents, and whether parents’ primary images of God (authoritative, benevolent, critical, and distant) modified this relationship among American parents. Drawing on nationally representative data from the 2014 Baylor Religion Survey (N = 1078), our cross‐sectional results suggest that non‐theistic sanctification was linked to greater overall happiness and satisfaction in the parental role. We also found consistent evidence that the relationship between non‐theistic parental sanctification and greater happiness and parental satisfaction was stronger for individuals with either an authoritative or benevolent God image, and weaker among those with parents with a distant God image. The study of sanctification in conjunction with images of the divine offers one fruitful approach to understanding both the benefits and risks of integrating religion/spirituality into daily life.

The Apotheosis of Mountains: Sacred Space, Symbolic Landscape, and National Consciousness in Ch’oe Namsŏn’s T’aebaek Poetry

Abstract Ch’oe Namsŏn was a key figure in the introduction of geography into the print media culture of early twentieth-century Chosŏn. Ch’oe used geography as a tool, creating a new territorial consciousness for national cohesion, and this article explores how this greatly shaped his poetic landscape. Locating itself between the boundaries of literary studies and cultural geography, this work looks at Ch’oe’s underexplored T’aebaek poetry, in which his interests in geography, history, and national identity significantly converge. Drawing on “Mount Taebaek” of Korea’s past, Ch’oe fashions the mountain into a pseudo-religious icon of nationhood. A symbolic landscape, evocative of a uniquely Korean past yet rising as a global icon going into a modern world, Ch’oe’s poetry creates a godlike figure for the Korean people to look to in a changing time of imperialism, nationalism, and modern progress. Through various iterations of T’aebaek—benevolent deity, bringer of modernity, omnipotent ruler of the world—one sees the mountain play a vital role in the shaping of Ch’oe’s nationalist project, which would have continued influence on his writings later in life.

The Impact of Land Belief in the Song Dynasty: Spiritual Control, Modes of Sacrifice, and Reinforcement of Grassroots Governance

In primitive society, individuals were constrained by low productivity and could only beseech the earth for abundant yields. As a fundamental element of human existence, land naturally garnered reverence; however, natural disasters were often perceived as manifestations of the land god's retribution against humanity. Consequently, traditional China developed two distinct beliefs regarding land: one perceives the land god as a benevolent deity who fosters growth and is honored through various positive sacrificial ceremonies; the other views the land god as a stern figure who metes out punishment to those who transgress. The evolution of land belief during the Song Dynasty significantly contributed to controlling the spirit of lower strata and reinforcing grassroots governance while also influencing sacrificial practices to some extent.

Divine ambiguity: A philosophical inquiry into God’s uncertain decisions

The debate surrounding the nature and attributes of God as presented in the Bible has garnered significant attention and critique from various philosophical perspectives like Friedrich Nietzsche, Bertrand Russell and David Hume. This philosophical critique emphasises the inconsistency in the nature of God and challenges traditional theological beliefs. The expression of regret by the God of the Bible in Genesis 6:6 raises philosophical dilemmas regarding divine attributes and the problem of evil. The contradiction between God’s regret and the affirmation of his creation as good underscores fundamental questions about divine omniscience, omnipotence and benevolence. The presence of evil and suffering in the world poses a significant challenge to the notion of a loving and all-powerful God. Examples of human suffering, such as slavery, colonisation, apartheid and natural disasters, further highlight the complexity of reconciling divine attributes with the existence of evil. Philosophically analysing biblical narratives, such as the story of Job, Noah’s flood and the plagues of Egypt, raises ethical concerns regarding divine justice and the moral agency of humanity. Additionally, the indiscriminate punishment of innocent individuals in these narratives challenges the credibility of a benevolent and compassionate God. The philosophical inquiry into the problem of evil and natural disasters underscores the need for a nuanced understanding of divine attributes and their implications for human existence.Contribution: The study encourages reflection on key questions about the nature of divinity, the morality of divine actions, and the compatibility of traditional theology with rational thought. It highlights how inconsistencies in certain biblical accounts challenge those trying to balance faith with reason and scientific understanding. While some may view these narratives as metaphors or allegories, others find it difficult to align them with their intellectual beliefs, resulting in tensions between religious faith and scientific rationality.

Enki’s Seven Sages (Adapa/Oannes and the Apkallu): Humanity’s Cosmic Guardians

In contrast to the cruel and militant gods, who treated humans as pawns in their power struggle, Enki is remembered not just as a benevolent god who saved the human race from extermination, but who also imparted knowledge. Especially scholarly disciplines like divination, astrology, astronomy, lamentation and exorcism were considered a revelation by Enki. The Catalogue of Texts and Authors attests that a handbook of medical symptoms comes “of the mouth of Ea”, “Adapa wrote them down at his dictation.” Enki was helped by his Seven Sages – the apkallu (Adapa being the main one) – the cosmic guardians who disseminated his knowledge, and were remembered as teachers of humankind and laying the foundation of civilization. According to Berossus, “from that time nothing further has been discovered.” Sometime around the Flood they disappeared, descending to the abode of Enki. This transition is reflected in the change from semi-divine sages or culture-heroes (apkallu) to scholars (ummanu).

Varieties of gratitude: Identifying patterns of emotional responses to positive experiences attributed to God, karma, and human benefactors.

Good fortune can be attributed to many sources, including other people, personal efforts, and various theistic and nontheistic supernatural forces (e.g., God, karma). Four studies (total N = 4,579) of religiously diverse samples from the United States and the United Kingdom investigated the distinct emotional reactions to recalled positive experiences attributed to natural and supernatural benefactors. We found that the hallmarks of interpersonal gratitude (e.g., thankfulness, admiration, indebtedness) were reported when believers attributed their good fortune to a personal, benevolent God. However, a distinct emotional profile arose when participants attributed good fortune to the process of karmic payback, which was associated with relatively less gratitude but with higher scores for feelings of pride and deservingness. These results were partially explained by participants' attributions of positive experiences to an external agent (e.g., God) versus a universal law or internal factors as in the case of karma. We conclude that diverse spiritual beliefs influence causal attributions for good fortune, which, in turn, predict distinct emotional responses. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Is God a Free-Range Parent?

AbstractIf a benevolent and all-powerful God exists, how can there be so much suffering? Could God have created a better world? Or is evil the price we pay for freedom of the will?

The Nature of Power: Elaborating the Association between Divine Control and Mental Health

Over the last decade, we have witnessed a resurgence of research on religious cognitions and mental health, including, most notably, perceptions of divine control. Although prior work on divine control tends to assume a loving or benevolent image of God, this is only one potential representation. Using nationwide data from the 2017 Baylor Religion Survey ( n = 999), we test whether the mental health benefits of perceived divine control vary according to various images of God (authoritative, benevolent, critical, and distant) and educational attainment. Results suggest that individuals with a college degree tend to report worse mental health if they also exhibit high levels of divine control beliefs and authoritative or critical God images. For those without a college degree, mental health was optimal when perceived divine control beliefs were low and their images of God were either authoritative or critical. For those with a college degree, the best mental health profiles were observed among those who reported high levels of divine control and a benevolent God image. By exploring the intersection of perceived divine control and God imagery, we may gain greater insight into novel processes related to religious cognitions and mental health.

Epistemic Theodicy, Epistemic Evil, and Epistemic Responsibility

The paper explores the concept of epistemic theodicy and strengthens an argument that reconciles human fallibility with the existence of an all-powerful and benevolent God. This argument is grounded in epistemic responsibility, emphasizing our epistemic autonomy. The paper supports two aspects of this argument: the role of epistemic agency in shaping beliefs and belief formation based on experiential rationality. The paper begins by introducing the concept of epistemic theodicy and its relation to the problem of epistemic evil. Next, it presents a succinct version of the argument based on epistemic responsibility. The paper then focuses on epistemic agency, proposing a notion rooted in reasons-responsiveness and highlighting the agentive nature of belief formation. It provides an outline a of view of epistemic rationality grounded in experiential rationality, showing its compatibility with the responsibility-based response to the problem of epistemic evil. The conclusion reflects on the significance of these accounts of agency and rationality in the context of epistemic theodicy.

Superman as the Measure of All Things: Black Gods and White Saviours in Watchmen and Doomsday Clock

Abstract While the groundbreaking graphic novel Watchmen (1986) responded to Cold War paranoia with a nihilistic critique of a benevolent God, recent spinoffs have taken radically different approaches to race and Christology in the Trump Era. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ original Watchmen has spawned two unlikely and unauthorised—by Moore, at least—quasi-sequels in different media: HBO’s limited TV series Watchmen (2019), created by Damon Lindelof, and Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s graphic novel Doomsday Clock (2020). Like estranged siblings, HBO’s Watchmen and Doomsday Clock take the same source material in opposite directions. HBO’s Watchmen explores themes of racial justice by foregrounding 1921’s Tulsa Massacre and vesting Black characters with divine power. In contrast, Doomsday Clock departs from the original Watchmen’s cynicism about cultural and political change, embodying its message of hope and renewal in a white saviour. This article contributes to the growing body of literature examining how pop culture circulates Christological concepts by exploring the racial and theological significance of two of DC Comics’ most iconic characters—Superman and Dr Manhattan. I examine how Black theologians conceptualise Christology, discuss the deistic portrayal of Dr Manhattan in the original Watchmen, analyse the character’s incarnational iteration in the television series, and contrast this with how moral influence Christology underpins the relationship between Superman and Dr Manhattan in Doomsday Clock to show that superhero comics in particular, and pop culture more broadly, are crucial sites of Christological imagination and negotiation over race.

NIODA and the Problem of Evil: God as Ultimate Determiner

The problem of evil permeates contemporary theodicy, raising the question of how an omnipotent and benevolent God can allow its existence. Exploring this inquiry is inherently tied to investigating divine action, specifically the interplay between time and eternity within a temporary creation. In recent decades, the Non-Interventionist Objective Divine Action (NIODA) project has endeavored to present a science-backed perspective that acknowledges a respectful divine action harmonizing with the workings of nature. However, this viewpoint has faced criticism from various angles, particularly for its perceived inability to provide a definitive response to the problem of evil. This contribution aims to overcome these criticisms. While not necessarily endorsing the NIODA proposal, it seeks to present a fresh outlook on the question of evil that aligns with NIODA, addressing the dichotomy between the unity and plurality of divine action in the world and offering novel insights for the Christian doctrine of creation.

Benevolent God Concepts and Past Kind Behaviors Induce Generosity Toward Outgroups

Humans behave more prosocially toward ingroup (vs. outgroup) members. This preregistered research examined the influence of God concepts and memories of past behavior on prosociality toward outgroups. In Study 1 (n = 573), participants recalled their past kind or mean behavior (between-subjects) directed toward an outgroup. Subsequently, they completed a questionnaire assessing their views of God. Our dependent measure was the number of lottery entries given to another outgroup member. Participants who recalled their kind (vs. mean) behavior perceived God as more benevolent, which in turn predicted more generous allocation to the outgroup (vs. ingroup). Study 2 (n = 281) examined the causal relation by manipulating God concepts (benevolent vs. punitive). We found that not only recalling kind behaviors but perceiving God as benevolent increased outgroup generosity. The current research extends work on morality, religion, and intergroup relations by showing that benevolent God concepts and memories of past kind behaviors jointly increase outgroup generosity.

Berlin’s Savoyard Vicar: Religious Skepticism and Toleration in Mendelssohn and Rousseau

While both Mendelssohn and Rousseau were deeply spiritual thinkers whose writings continually reflect a profound belief in a benevolent God, they both still used religious skepticism in order to undermine the logic of religious intolerance. In doing so, these religious thinkers reflect a critical assumption they share with the far less religiously inclined David Hume, namely, that skepticism is a critical tool for the promotion of tolerance. This paper analyses the skeptical and tolerant similarities in Mendelssohn’s and Rousseau’s religious thought. It explores Mendelssohn’s reception of Rousseau, before focusing on Rousseau’s arguments for religious tolerance and showing both how they reflect a skeptical undercurrent and how Mendelssohn uses many similar skeptical arguments for the same purpose. Finally, this analysis will lead to concluding thoughts on the dialectic between skepticism, faith and tolerance in the Enlightenment, and more generally, for skeptical believers ever since.

Suffering in evolutionary biology and Christian theology: Mutually exclusive notions?

The question of suffering, specifically that experienced by human beings, has been contentious in the discourses of biology and religion. The dilemma, especially in the Christian faith tradition has been to reconcile suffering with the idea of a benevolent deity in whose image humans are believed to have been created. Evolutionary biology, and specifically the field of cognitive psychology, contends that the experience of suffering may have more pragmatic origins, while not necessarily being to the benefit of the individual, may be a mechanism that favours the longevity of a species. This article explores the understanding of ‘natural suffering’ from the perspective of evolutionary biology and Christian faith convictions and proposes principles that can facilitate a mutually beneficial religion and science discourse.Contribution: This article investigates suffering in evolutionary biology and Christian theology respectively. Its interdisciplinary nature contributes towards the science and religion discourse.

God of the good gaps: prevalence, eliciting situations, and demonstrations of gratitude to God as compared to interpersonal gratitude

ABSTRACT Gratitude for another person’s actions has received exponential attention from the scientific community for its many benefits. Yet, this research is virtually silent on one key target of gratitude – god – despite billions of people believing in a personal, intervening, and benevolent god. In a large multi-method study, we sampled U.S. Hindus, Muslims, Jews, and Christians (N = 1270). First, we document the prevalence of spontaneous mentions of god as the target of a gratitude expression following a personal success. Only 16% of our religious participants did mention god but priming god increased this number to 29%. Second, we document a wider array of eliciting situations of gratitude to god (GTG) compared to gratitude to another person (GTO) and particularly for broad good things in life that don’t have a clear agent. Finally, we document ways that GTG vs. GTO is demonstrated, suggesting that GTG sustains religious practice and builds morality.

Rethinking God’s Omnibenevolence and Omnipotence in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic: An African Perspective

The reality and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic question God’s omnibenevolence and omnipotence. Two questions that stare us in the face are a) is God omnibenevolent given the current reality? b) is God omnipotent? This paper addresses these questions from the African place using the African theory of duality and its underlying logic, Ezumezu. We argue that the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic and its adverse effects (such as death, hardship and social isolation) do not negate God’s benevolence and powerfulness. We assert that while the current reality cannot sustain a defence of the traditional theistic qualities of omnipotence and omnibenevolence, the notions of a powerful and benevolent God are not necessarily undermined by the reality of Covid-19. In the light of the African theory of duality and Ezumezu logic, we contend that the COVID-19 pandemic brings out the argument that inherent in God’s benevolence is wickedness and inherent in God’s powerfulness is weakness.

God Images in the Cities of Bilbao, Cordoba, Lima, and Montevideo: a Qualitative Study

The aim of this article is to analyze God images reflected in 57 interviews conducted among Catholics, Evangelicals, and other people without religious self-identification (“unaffiliated”). The interviews, which follow the Lived Religion approach, were carried out in three Latin American cities (Córdoba, Lima, and Montevideo), and in the city of Bilbao (Spain). In the latter city, both the Latin American immigrant population and the local population were considered. The systematic analysis of the interviews lets us identify a multi-faceted imaginary of the divine with diverse nuances in the images of the benevolent God, the authoritarian God and other hybrid God images. Likewise, it is striking to note what is, and what is not God, as it is reflected in various interviews. The analysis of the identified quotations suggests some differences in God images, based on geographical location and religious belonging, as well as the specific case of the unaffiliated to any religious faith.

A Benevolent God and the Moment of Sudden Death

A Benevolent God and the Moment of Sudden Death

Making sense of the crisis: how religion shapes the attribution of meaning during the corona pandemic

In times of existential crisis, such as the Corona pandemic, people may turn to religious traditions that help them make new sense of the depressing situation. While recent studies have shown that during the Corona pandemic, the frequency of prayer and church attendance increased in several countries, we know little about whether and how religious interpretations of the current crisis occur. Building on Crystal Park’s Meaning Making Model, the article examines whether individual religiosity, religious affiliation, and the experience of a SARS-CoV‑2 infection influence religious interpretations of the Corona pandemic. Our results show that religiosity is strongly associated with the idea of a benevolent God and weakly associated with the concept of a punishing God. Members of specific religious groups differed significantly in their religious interpretation of the Corona pandemic. Finally, we found that the experience of a SARS-CoV‑2 infection was associated with doubts about the power of God.

The Mystery of Evil and the Hiddenness of God: Understanding Mystery in Christian Theodicy

Mysterium iniquitatis, the “mystery of evil,” constitutes the unresolved theological, philosophical, and pastoral debates over the pervasion of evil and suffering that contradicts a world under the providence of the omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent God of Christianity. At the same time, the idea of mystery not only characterizes the conundrum of evil but also the hiddenness of God that formulates the relationship between creature, creator, and the pervasion of suffering that spans Christian scriptural and theological thought. The paper aims to construct a comparative exegesis of three works concerned with the meaning and significance of mystery in Christian theodical thought. Explicating the Grand Inquisitor from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, the paper begins with highlighting a cynical view of mystery as a tool for the authority of liturgical institutions that ultimately offers no pastoral consolation within the framework of Christian theology. Then, drawing on Karen Kilby’s critique of Post-Enlightenment theodicy and its shortcoming in understanding the creator and the divine and Gustav Gutiérrez’s idea of divine love and gratuitousness, I propose understanding mystery as a destabilizing opening in the practice of theodicy that constellates ways to engage theologically with the mystery of the divine and translating it into an ethical understanding of, instead of a justification for, the pervasion of evil and injustice.