Transcript Divine Command Theory

Divine Command Theory
• Suppose a believer told you that God
had instructed them to give £10 to
charity – would you be surprised?
• Why? Why not?
Now suppose
• … this mother
said that God
told her to send
her son on a
suicide bombing
mission
• What would you
say?
You have encountered
…..
The DIVINE COMMAND THEORY
The Euthyphro dilemma
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According to Plato, a man called
Euthyphro was asked:
Does God call good acts “good”
because they are morally good?
or are the acts morally good because
God told us to do them?
“Hmmmm” said Euthrypho
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That’s a poser. Because, you see
If God approves acts BECAUSE they are
morally good, then they must have
been good BEFORE GOD SAID THEY
WERE!!!!
MORALITY IS THEREFORE
INDEPENDENT OF GOD. AAAAAAGH!
And on the other hand ….
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If acts are good by virtue of the fact
that God wills them … then
God could ask us to do ANYTHING and
it would be a good act.
Er, yes, that WOULD mean rape,
murder, etc would be good if God
ordered it
DOUBLE AAAAAAAGH!!!
Furthermore ….
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morality would therefore be based on
mere whims of God.
God’s commands aren’t informed nor
sanctioned by morality.
How could such morally arbitrary
commands be the foundation of
morality?
And another thing!
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It means that statements like “God is
good” and “God’s commands are good”
are meaningless: “God acts in
accordance with his commands” and
“God’s commands are in accordance
with his commands”.
But that one does my head in!
But hang on a minute …
Divine command theory is by no
means the only ethical theory in the
Christian tradition. There’s Situation
Ethics and Natural Law
so the believer need not panic even if
these objections are correct. There
are other morality theories to choose
from!
And furthermore
If God created all things, then He must
have created our moral obligations too!
If God is sovereign, He must have the
authority to tell us how we are to live our
lives. Why should we expect to understand
it all?
If God exists then all morality necessarily
flows from Him. Moral lanuage describes
God. It does not define Him.
But then again ……
Some people say that Divine
Command theory provides a good let
out clause for God when He asks
fathers to sacrifice their children to
Him, or to destroy towns and kill all
the inhabitants. He’s God, right, so it
must be OK, OK?
Come to think about it, it provides a
good let out clause for criminals too..
Ultimately
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Believers might argue that
Divine Command operates
in at least two ways
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The general – “Love your
neighbour as yourself.” “
You shall not commit
murder”
Such commands can apply
to everyone everywhere
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And the particular which apply
only to a few people and at
particular times.
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“Go, sell all that you have and
give it to the poor. Then come
and be my disciple. “
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God has the RIGHT to do it –
and who are we to judge!