Why is Good Friday called "Good"?
score:7
We call that day good on which Christ died because by His death He showed His great love for man, and purchased for him every blessing.
On Our Lord's Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension - Baltimore Catechism
This reflects the most common and appropriate answer among Christians.
While Christians reflect deeply on what Christ endured and the great sorrow of that day, all generally agree that what is truly important about that particular Friday is not what men did to God, but instead what God did for men. God, perfectly innocent, sacrificed Himself and his own life in order to save us from the worst possible fate because of his love for us. There is nothing, not even our own individual conception, for which we should be more thankful. This is the source of every blessing.
So a template answer might be:
I call it Good Friday because, though it is a very sad day, it is also the day that Jesus, because of his love for us, saved us from the very worst possible sort of death, and through this sacrifice purchased everything that is good. There is no other day that I am more thankful for, no other act or day that is more Good.
The intensity of the language can be toned up or down as you see fit, though. Or more briefly:
It's the day that the most Good person ever did the most Good thing ever.
As for the history of how this phrasing came to be, we're not so sure. The Catholic Encyclopedia says:
The origin of the term Good is not clear. Some say it is from "God's Friday" (Gottes Freitag); others maintain that it is from the German Gute Freitag, and not specially English. Sometimes, too, the day was called Long Friday by the Anglo-Saxons; so today in Denmark.
Upvote:8
Normally, I prefer to author my own answer, but in this instance, Johnny Hart (of B.C. comic strip) nailed it so well, that I'm just going to repost his answer to this question.
For those who cannot see the image, it reads:
Now, who can call "Good Friday" good?,
A term too oft misunderstood,
You who were bought by the blood of His cross
You can call "Good Friday" good.
Update, based on the nature of the individual.
There was nothing "Good" about Good Friday for Jesus. He was humiliated, hurt, abandoned, and killed in horrible fashion.
But he willingly chose this for one simple reason - He loved humanity with his entire heart. As such, he choose to suffer these "indignities" in order to give mankind what it sought.
In some fashion that theologians are still debating (Atonement? Satisfaction? Expiation? Christus Victor?), Jesus' death and subsequent resurrection gave us the ability to become heirs with God.
Whether this was some legal impediment or moral ability, we don't know, but we do know this: Prior to the Crucifixion, man was unable to stand before God. Afterwards, we had Jesus to stand in our place, that we could be reconciled to him. To me, that's about as good as it gets!
More post
- 📝 Are jokes like those listed here blasphemous, according to Catholicism?
- 📝 How do Trinitarians understand the phrase 'image of God' as in Colossians 1:15?
- 📝 Did Jesus really had to be God for the atonement of sin to work?
- 📝 What is the biblical argument against having a concubine?
- 📝 What is the basis for baptism being the new circumcision?
- 📝 What's the goal of Catholic/Protestant ecumenism?
- 📝 Can I pray for the past to change certain aspects of life? (Catholic perspective)
- 📝 What historical periods do the 390 year and 40 year periods refer to in Ezekiel 4:1-8?
- 📝 Did Christ know who He was as a youth?
- 📝 Are the Bible and God the same... thing/being?
- 📝 Are angels spirits?
- 📝 Is it possible to receive the full effects of the Catholic Spiritual Communion if one is being distanced from the Communion due to being gay?
- 📝 What if God instantaneously moves people from one time to another?
- 📝 In 1 Corinthians 1, who were Crispus and Gaius?
- 📝 What is the falling out between Tullian Tchividjian and The Gospel Coalition about?
- 📝 A set of traits common for all protestant believers
- 📝 How does Jesus fulfill the Protoevangelium (First Gospel) in Genesis 3:15?
- 📝 According to the Catholic Church, is belief in trinitarianism required for salvation?
- 📝 What is the position of the UK Methodists on pre-marital sex?
- 📝 Intelligent design - Creationism by a different name?
- 📝 Are supporters of gay rights considered apostates within the LDS Church?
- 📝 What is the earliest claim that Jesus Christ kept the law of Moses on behalf of others?
- 📝 What pronouns make most sense when referencing the Trinity?
- 📝 Is the Qur'an compatible with Christianity?
- 📝 Can a non-Catholic receive Baptism (to formally marry a Catholic), without converting to the Catholic faith?
- 📝 Do any denominations teach that angels have, or do not have, free will?
- 📝 Which sects of Christianity recite verses of God and prostrate to God during the night?
- 📝 What is the dominant theory of atonement in Catholic theology?
- 📝 When did the practice of bringing non-believers to church originate?
- 📝 What are the distinguishing characteristics of the Restoration (Stone-Campbell) movement and its various denominations
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Why is Good Friday called "Good"?
- 📝 Why is Good Friday not called Black Friday?
- 📝 Why do Roman Catholics consider eating fish on Friday a good work?
- 📝 When was Good Friday first called "Good"?
- 📝 Why is the Jewish Passover on 28 March 2021 but Good Friday is on 2 April 2021?
- 📝 Why is saying Vespers on Holy Thursday and Good Friday discouraged?
- 📝 Why are Matthew, Mark, and Luke called the synoptic gospels?
- 📝 Why is Jesus the Son called the Father in Isaiah 9:6?
- 📝 Why is faith so much more important than being a good person?
- 📝 According to the Catholic Church, why is God called “Father” (and not, say, “Mother”)?
- 📝 Why did God need to plant the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden in the first place?
- 📝 Why is Satan called the prince of the power of the air?
- 📝 Why is the Nation of Israel called Israel and not Abraham?
- 📝 What is the origin of the Good Friday tradition?
- 📝 Why is the Son of God called the Eternal Father in the book of Alma?
- 📝 When, how and why did Mary start to be called "Queen of heaven"?
- 📝 Why was Jesus called Jesus, and not Immanuel?
- 📝 Why is the second beast of Revelation called the Antichrist?
- 📝 Why did God not want man to have the knowledge of good and evil?
- 📝 Why is the line from Seth to Noah often called righteous?
- 📝 Why is the Catholic Church called "The Roman Catholic Church"?
- 📝 Why was it so special that John the baptist was not called Zechariah?
- 📝 Why did Eve say that "touching" the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil would kill you?
- 📝 Why is Jesus called the Truth?
- 📝 Why would Jesus begin to be called the Son of God?
- 📝 Why are church leaders called "Father"?
- 📝 Why was Jesus called the King of the Jews?
- 📝 Why are archdeacons (Anglican, Catholic, or Orthodox) called "The Venerable"? What is the origin, in Latin and English, of this title?
- 📝 Why was the first man called Adam?
- 📝 Why are Matthew, Mark, and Luke called 'synoptic' gospels?