What IS good, and how do we determine it?

[Wyrd of Gawd]

Thank you all for the responses. I see several of you bringing up instances of slavery, murder, etc from the Old Testament and trying to say that if I believe in God and the bible, then I must believe that God, at least at one point, considered those things good.

I just want to make a general statement about that since it keeps being brought up so much:

Remember,  I am a Christian, not a Jew.

I cannot speak for Judaism, but Christianity is defined by the New Testament - the Gospels, the teachings of Christ. The OT was not perfect, and neither were the people's view of God back then. That is part of the reason why Jesus came. To show us what God is *really* like and to set the record straight on some things. While the OT talks about an eye for an eye, Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek. While the OT justified stoning or killing in some instances, Jesus stopped a whole crowd of people from stoning a woman.

I am not saying any of this to "convert" anyone. I know none of you believe in any of it. I'm just saying it to clear up some misconceptions you may have about my beliefs and my religion. If anything, so that you can be better equipped to debunk Catholicism if you so feel the need to do so.  ;-)

That might sound good but it's pure BS.  Remember, in the Old Testament the God character interacted directly with all of the major characters.  He told them what to do and how to do it without intermediaries.  

The Jesus character is the one who corrupted things because he put his own slant on what was acceptable.  In the Old Testament when the God character told his minions to gut and roast everyone in town he didn't want them to show them any mercy.  He got really ticked when his minions got soft and spared someone.  

When Jesus stopped the crowd from stoning the woman he broke the First Commandment because the woman was worshiping another deity, probably Jesus himself.