Is God a Utilitarian?

[JamesR]

If utilitarianism is the philosophy of the greatest good for the greatest number and thus by implication the idea that the ends justify the means, then in light of the problem of evil, wouldn't that make God the greatest utilitarian of them all?

He intentionally chooses not to intervene in order to stop our wickedness because through doing so he would compromise our freedom which is necessary for our Theosis--the greatest good. In other words, God values the fact that at least some human beings will reach true Theosis so much that he is willing to turn a blind eye to the evil in our world.

The good of those who will attain salvation through this mess that he created and is ultimately responsible for as a deadbeat father overrules the good of those who have to suffer in this life and will never attain salvation, as well as all the suffering that even those who attained salvation had to endure in the process of living. The ends justify the means.

That said, how can anyone here speak evil of utilitarianism or better yet, the evil of inaction if God is the greatest utilitarian ever and the master of the evil of inaction? Furthermore, in light of all that, how can anyone be stupid enough to affirm God's love?

 

[LenInSebastopol]

There are to many assumptions in your post and it would take a semester just to begin!
Your "If" condition is violated by your definitions, and implication of 'the ends justify the means'. In a moral world, and several ethical places, the ends never justify the means.
Your notions of 'the good' and 'greatest good' is a bit off, however one may see that your conclusions are consistent wth it being off.
As you torture the definitions, etc. go play with a top and other gyroscopes; ever watch one?
Consider prior to The Fall and clear thinking of The Good, The Beauty and Truth. We are as the top after the slight wobble has set in, except it is no longer slight in the tilt. This means that trying to even THINK clearly on such issues we find ourselves truly 'in a glass, darkly'.  PS: I like your questions, but they are still diamonds in the rough.
As you school yourself, consider working on The Energies and skip His Essence, at least for now.
Just suggestin'

If utilitarianism is the philosophy of the greatest good for the greatest number and thus by implication the idea that the ends justify the means, then in light of the problem of evil, wouldn't that make God the greatest utilitarian of them all?
He intentionally chooses not to intervene in order to stop our wickedness because through doing so he would compromise our freedom which is necessary for our Theosis--the greatest good. In other words, God values the fact that at least some human beings will reach true Theosis so much that he is willing to turn a blind eye to the evil in our world.
The good of those who will attain salvation through this mess that he created and is ultimately responsible for as a deadbeat father overrules the good of those who have to suffer in this life and will never attain salvation, as well as all the suffering that even those who attained salvation had to endure in the process of living. The ends justify the means.
That said, how can anyone here speak evil of utilitarianism or better yet, the evil of inaction if God is the greatest utilitarian ever and the master of the evil of inaction? Furthermore, in light of all that, how can anyone be stupid enough to affirm God's love?

 

[sestir]

the idea that the ends justify the means

For example, God may refrain from helping a person who associates him with loathed political ****ism in forum posts because he will be able to do twice as much good for mankind if people are not afraid of him, yes.  :
When people think about the above mentioned principle they do so from a human perspective where we do not know beforehand how things will end. Which leads to biased speculation justifying greed, filth and their evil stepmother. They also assume that if empiri says one thing and a majority of humans says another, then reality is wrong. They think that courts' judicial decisions are always right and that TV is always true. Therefore, what might be factually right can be emotionally wrong, and emotions matter. So we don't mention the striked out principle because it is evil, if you want to take my advice.