B. Realms of Value
1. Ethics. The nature of good and evil. The problems of conduct and ultimate objectives.
a. The worth of living.
(1) Optimism. Existence is good. Life is worth living. Our outlook can be hopeful.
(2) Pessimism. Existence is evil. Life is not worth the struggle; we should escape it by some means.
(3) Meliorism. Conclusions as to the goodness or evil of existence cannot be made final. Human effort may improve the human situation. The final end cannot be assured, but we must face life, not escape it, applying all the effort and resource we can command.
—J. Donald Butler, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1951♥Add a Tooltip Text
According to the story, God goes into the garden and he is looking for his children, Adam and Eve. They are hiding from him. Which they have never done before. And this confuses God. He says, “Where are you? I can’t find you.”
Adam says, “We’re hiding. We don’t want you to see us.”
“Why not?”
“We’re naked.”
God reels. “Who told you that? Who told you that you were naked?”
No answer. God despairs.
“Who told you that, Adam? Who said you were naked?”
Silence.
“So, now you know. Get out.”