488. The unnatural belief that God predestines people to hell can be compared with the unnatural behaviour of fathers in some savage nations, who throw their own unweaned babies and children out into the streets; and with the unnatural behaviour of some enemies, who throw the bodies of those they have killed out in the woods for wild beasts to devour. It can also be compared with the cruelty of a tyrant, who divides the people under his control into groups, and some groups he hands over to executioners, some he throws into deep water at sea, and some into fire. It can also be compared with the ferocity of some wild animals which devour their own young; and with the madness of dogs which fly at their own reflexions seen in a mirror.

10619. 'And great in goodness and truth' means that He is absolute Goodness and absolute Truth. This is clear from the consideration that the Divine is infinite, and nothing other can be said of the Infinite than that He is the Absolute, or Being itself, and so is absolute Goodness; and being absolute Goodness He is also absolute Truth since all truth is the complement of good. But this Absoluteness is expressed in the sense of the letter by the description 'great in goodness and truth', thus by words descriptive of something finite on account of man's finite power of perception. That the Divine is absolute Goodness is clear in Matthew,

Jesus said to the young man, Why do you call Me good? None is good except one, God. Matthew 19:17.

By this one should understand that the Lord, and the Lord alone, is good, thus is absolute Goodness. And that He is absolute Truth is clear in John,

Jesus said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. John 14:6.