The Doctrine Of The Divine Command Theory

The bible teaches us many things about God. From Genesis and Exodus we can learnwhat the Judeo-Christian view of God was. Genesis shows us that God made the sun, the moon,the earth and every living thing. During the days of creation God made all things good. On theseventh day of creation God rested and declared all he made to be very good (Genesis 1:31). God created human beings in his own image. We as humans can be certain of our owndignity and self worth because we have been created in the image of God. The book of Genesisshows us that people disobey God by choosing to do wrong. Even great bible heros failed Godand disobeyed him. The bible teaches us that God is forgiving. God has many attributes. God makes no mistakes and this is wisdom. God is infinite, heknows

The Divine and Command Theory states that an action is right or wrong if God commands it. Divine Command Theorists would say that anything God commands is morally correct, but do not like the fact that cruelty or suffering could be morally right. They believe that any command God gives, He is commanding it because it is morally correct. Meaning that this is the better option for us, but this is where I

The divine command theory states that “An act is morally required just because it is commanded by God and immoral just because God forbids it” (Shafer-Landau, The Fundamentals of Ethics, p.67). In interviewing an Elder of a local Jehovah’s Witness congregation on the ethics involved in religion, he agreed that the divine command theory is correct, and that there are many commands and things that are forbidden in the bible that are considered to be God’s standards for the way we live our lives. But, when asked the modified version of the Euthyphro Question: is an action morally right because God commands it, or does God command an action because it is morally right, (Shafer-Landau, The Ethical Life, p.57) he picked the latter. Despite agreeing with the statement that the divine command theory makes, picking the latter is not uncommon even if the first affirms the theory. The statement that God commands an action because it is morally right, “implies that God did not invent morality, but rather recognized an existing moral law and then commanded us to obey it” (Shafer-Landau, The Fundamentals of Ethics, p.67-68). This does not make the Elder’s message wrong, in fact most theists don’t follow the divine command theory. This is based on the fact that if the theory were true, whatever God says is a command, and therefore morally right, but God could have said that rape, murder, and stealing is morally right if that was the line of thinking.

The Divine Command Theory is the assertion in ethics that an action is morally right if, and only if, it conforms to God’s will. This premise ties together morality and religion in a manner that seems expected, since it provides a solution to arguments about moral relativism and the objectivity of ethics. On the other hand, in Plato’s Euthyphro, Socrates questions whether something is right because God commands it, or whether God commands it because it is right. The ethical implications of the Euthyphro problem suggest that the relationship between morality and religion might not be as straightforward as suggested by the Divine Command Theory.

Moreover, the second part of the argument asserts that morality is not objective if Gods decisions are arbitrary. It affirms that anything can be either good or bad, for example, ‘one should not steal’ comes from one of Gods own commandments. However, how God feels about this certain action can change, by making stealing a morally right action. Furthermore, if God commands someone to steal, then it will be a justifiable action. If Gods choices are said to be arbitrary, then it would make them irrational, creating no reason to obey God, besides the fact that with obedience may bring a greater reward and disobedience

It is a pleasure to read your post. From a Christian point of view, the Bible is the word of God,2 Timothy 3:16-17, Paul asserted that the Bible equips for good work, is beneficial for correction, rebuke and training in righteousness. God’s word gives the view of life and His absolute standards. The Bible is not irrelevant to ethics but, instead, it is the foundation for ethics.

When looking at this from a Biblical and Theological standpoint we also have to look at this from a deontological standpoint. Reasoning from a deontological standpoint says that the ends does not justify the means. Therefore, the

The Bible clearly warns of what happens to those who reject the word of God and who willingly choose to make immoral decisions. On the other hand, an important part of moral relativism is tolerance, which is not so far off from the Christian worldview as the Bible clearly portrays God as tolerant. While tolerance may be a common theme between these worldviews, the authority of The Bible divides these worldviews

Divine Command Theory is defined as “ethical principles are simple the commands of God” (Pojman p.356). Basically, this theory states that “morally right” means “commanded by God” and “morally wrong” means “forbidden by God” (Rachels p.53). The positive feature of the Divine Command Theory is that it solves the old problem about the objectivity of ethics by providing an answer as to why anyone should bother with morality (Rachels p.53). According to this theory, if nature of what is right and what is wrong depends on God’s command, then we have to wait until judgment day to deal with the consequences of our actions due to them begin immortal (Rachels p.53). But there is

The divine command theory states that in order for something to be “morally right” it would have to be “commanded by God” and for it to be “morally wrong” it would be “forbidden by God” (Rachels, 2003). There are two interpretations to this theory; one is the author interpretation and the other is the reliable reporter interpretation. The author interpretation of the Divine Command Theory says what is right is right because God commands it. While the reliable reporter interpretation says God commands what is right because it is right.

    Morality is defined as conformity to ideals of right human conduct. According to the Bible, "1 Timothy 1:10 - For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for

A great example of our ethics being in opposition is the period of slavery in America. There were abolitionist and others that sought to free slaves at peril to their families and themselves. When their homes were search, did the abolitionist lie and seek freedom and justice for all or were slaves surrendered? It simply may not be possible to live life without exceptions. We all operate with certain hierarchy of values. As we develop commonsensical Christian priorities, we can begin to investigate the duties of a

Even though different people have distinct convictions, those convictions do not affect God’s unchangeable rules. In Exodus 20, God gave the Ten Commandments to the nation of Israel as an ethical code to live by, a code in which reflects the character and nature of God. Although God offered them grace and mercy in abundance, His laws and standards did not change and remain unchanged, and even though Christ followers are not living under the weight of the Levitical Law today (Galatians 2:16), and are, therefore, living under grace (Ephesians 2:8), God’s character reflected in the Ten Commandments endures. It is this author’s opinion that God has chosen to work in various ways with different people across time, nevertheless, He has and will always have absolute, unchanging truth (Psalm 19:7b). Therefore, mankind cannot establish its own ethics because there is a higher authority to whom man is accountable. Furthermore, it remains inconsistent to recognize both ethical relativism and God’s word as true because the Bible expresses its supreme authority in various locations (Psalms 119:160, John 1:1, John 17:17, Galatians 1:1, 1 Peter 1:25, Revelation 22:18-19). Although ethical relativism cannot be proven true or false using human logic or reasoning, this author believes it contradicts the

First, Divine Command Theory is the philosophy that morality is reliant on God, and that moral obligations are directly associated with God’s commands. In other words,

Divine command theory is an ethical theory (metaethics) which asserts that an actions place as morally good, is corresponding to whether or not it is commanded by God. The theory states, roughly, that “The view that morality is somehow dependent upon God, and that moral obligation consists in obedience to God’s commands. Divine Command Theory includes the claim that morality is ultimately based on the commands or character of God, and that the morally right action is the one that God commands or requires.” Enthusiasts of both mono and polytheistic religions, in both archaic and modern times, have regularly welcomed the extreme influence of God’s commands in implementing morality. Diverse modifications of the theory have been conferred: historically, powerful symbols and characters, including Plato, Duns Scotus, Thomas Aquinas, and Saint Augustine, have all given us distinct and diverse versions of the divine command theory. However, a recent philosopher named Robert Adams, has suggested a type of modified divine command theory set on the good-will of God in which morality is directly related to human interpretations of right and wrong.