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Originally Posted by moral necessity  I would lean towards saying that God was exhibiting goodness, but was not necessarily making it manifest. The scripture comes to mind that says, "what if God...has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known (ie. manifest) the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy,..." - Rom.9:22,23. It seems that the manifestation of the riches of his glory is dependent upon a thing involving its opposite prior to it, and so it cannot be known or understood properly in isolation. |
This is true insofar as we are addressing man's, or maybe the created universe's, perspective. We have, as well does hell, a starting point in time; God does not. It may be necessary from our linear perspective that evil exist that God's goodness may recieve it's proper glory, but that cannot be true for His eternal existence prior to the creation of the universe. The only extant intellect in that temporal environ was God's, and He is fully capable of thoroughly, properly, and super-sufficiently acknowledging the immeasurable glory of His own goodness. He doesn't need us and our fetid sinfulness to recieve glory.
It is more a case that He has endured the existence of wickedness as a necessary extension of the infinite grace He exerted for the purpose of creating for Himself a people.