For the lessons drawn by our Lord from the wickedness and the destruction of Sodom, see art. Sodom. A. H. M'Neile.
GOOD ((£70965, KoXis).— It is not easy to define Christ's idea of what is good. His expressions vary from a conception of the Good as one with the infinitely and inimitably Perfect to the most commonplace uses of the word. He speaks of old wine as ' good ' (Lk 5""), of the wedding-guests as ' both bad and good ' (Mt 22'»), of salt as ' good ' (Mk 9™ II Lk 14"^), of certain ground as being 'good ' (Mk 4' II Lk 8^), of God making ' his sun to rise on the evil and on the good ' (Mt S''*), and He says of Judas, ' Good (icoXiic) were it for that man if he had not been born ' (26='' |i Mk 14'-'). Yet when the young ruler comes to Him with the same conventional usage of the word, ' Good Master (SiSdaKoXe d7ae^), what good thing shall I do to in- herit eternal life?' (Mk 10" || Lk IS'* ; cf. Mt 19""- and WH's 'Notes on Select Readings' ad loc), Jesus rejects the title as applied to Himself, and asserts that 'none is good save one, even God.' Whether this be read as ' not denying that He is good, but insisting that none should call Him so who did not believe Him to be God ' (Liddon, Bampt. Led. i. 23), or as 'the self j\id:jimiit which felt hurt by the epithet good' (M.-ui iiii:iu, Sent of Authority, 651), there can be lilllr di.ul.t Hint Jesus purposely made use of the young iu;in's iilirase to point him to the ideal Good. Behind the tilings to be done, which were in the questioner's mind, — greater than matters of law or ritunl, or even charity,— was the necessity that he should recog-
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rxOODNESS
nize the Supreme Good, the Eternal Spirit of all goodness. This did not imply that man should he hopeless of attaining a certain measure of the good, that it was something beyond the reach of the race, but that the fimdamental idea of the good is God, and that to define or limit it is as im- possible as to deiine or limit the Eternal Himself. Only on this occasion does Jesus so suddenly soar beyond the intention of any questioner who ap- proaches Him. Elsewhere He tells a parable, and puts into the mouth of the master of the vine- yard (a most human representative of the Heavenly Master) the question, ' Is thine eye evil because I am good ? ' (j\lt 20'*) ; and He speaks of ' the good man ' who ' out of his good treasure brin^eth forth good things' (12'' |i Lk G*^). So we may look upon the story of the Kich Young Man as a unique expression of Christ's highest thought of the Good, but not as thereby ruling out all lesser conceptions. A man may begin to do good or to live a good life before he learns that the foundation of all the good he accomplishes or attains to is God Himself ; that no ethical aims are good whicli lack a Divine sanction. It is better for a man when this inward recognition of the Eternal Goodness precedes the active goodness of his life, for then he finds the peculiar secret of St. Paul's dogma (Ro 8-'), 'All things work together for good to them that love God.' But the doing of good for its own sake may be a man's first step towards the Kingdom of God, and later he will be prepared for any self-denial or self-sacrifice that may bring him nearer the heavenly perfection (Mt IS^ II Mk 9-"- •«■«), when he has learned that it is God's Kingdom he approaches and not the invention of his own sympathetic im- pulses alone.
In line with this thought of Christ's is the liberty in the modes of doing good which He frequently asserted. With Him the present was always the fitting opportunity of the good, though He might occasionally ask the opinion of the Pharisees and scribes as to whether it was ' lawful to do good on the Sabbath ' (Mt 12'2 H Mk 3^ Lk 6").
Some element of altruism enters into all His conceptions of "ood. The Greek masters (especi- ally Plato and Aristotle) assert the good of a man to lie in his ' well-ljeing' (Sidgwick's constant rendering of fvSai/ioi'la.), a condition which depends on certain visible ' goods ' that are his own personal possession, and in no way bring him into contact ■with less fortunate men, such 'good things' as •wealth, health, beauty, and intellect. But Christ regards that alone as good which lessens the dis- tance between man and man, and man and God. The good a man should seek is that of each and all men, even 'them that hate you' (Lk 6^), for the doing of good to others is "the final test of the practical value of religion, and became the dis- tinctive note of the character of Christ in the Apostolic days when He was described as one who 'went about doing good and healing' (.\c 10*). This is indicative of all the -visible elements of the good in His teachings. Ix)ve, His supreme dogma, finds its essence in self-surrender. The parables of conduct, such as the Good Samaritan, are in- sistent upon the actual doinu' of some good. AVhen Jesus sends the Baptist Hi- imn rocord, the good things that will bear witnc--^ lo Him. it is a tale of deeds of brotherly kindness, of help for the blind, lame, lepers, deaf, the poor, and even the dead (Mt 11°). Zacchreus is assured of his salva- tion when he has learned to share with his poorer brethren (Lk lO"- "). The fact of giving is accepted by riui-t .1- till' rvidence of a desire to do good (jlk 14' . Ill'' J "1(1 man is not only devout ; his pers(in;il pi'ty niiy be the surest basis for the