DIVINE COMMAND THEORY Candidates should be able to: explain with clarity what the Divine Command Theory is; have a good understanding of Adams’ version of the theory; appreciate the differences between Adams’ version of the theory and a more traditional version of the theory; have a clear knowledge of each of the three criticisms given and why each is specifically damaging to the Divine Command Theory. All of the criticisms should be exemplified to aid candidate understanding.

What is good?

How does the DCT define good? From your pre-reading What type of theory is the DCT? Meta-ethical, objective and absolutist What beliefs is this theory based on?, e.g. God is omnipotent, omnibenevolent, he orders the whole universe, he is creator, sustainer, humans have a duty to obey.

Why is it called the Divine Command theory? God Ideas about how Christians should behave are linked to the Christian understanding of God as Father. For example, the Apostles’ Creed opens with the words: “I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.” This means that: a. God is omnipotent and omnibenevolent; b. He is the creator and sustainer of all things. c. Humans have a duty to obey God

God’s creation – includes everything, including what is right and wrong God made the universe through his Word and, since he is perfect, his Creation is also perfect. Therefore Christians have to respect God’s Creation, like tenants respecting the property of their landlord. They must also understand that everything they have in the end belongs to God. They must therefore obey God by living their lives in accordance with the Bible and the teachings of the Church.

Christians believe that God is omnipotent and that compared to Him they are powerless. This sense of helplessness led to the development of an ethical theory called Divine Command Theory. It basically says that humans must obey God and do what He wants.

Divine Command Theory has 5 main points: pages 4 and 14 God as the origin and regulator of morality Right and wrong as objective truths based on God’s will Morality is determined by God The commands are usually found in sacred texts. Frankena ‘the standard of right and wrong is the will or law of God.’ For example - III. Moral goodness is achieved by complying with divine command iv. Divine command as a requirement of God’s omnipotence v. Divine command as an objective metaphysical foundation of morality The only way to be morally good is to follow God’s command e.g. Punishment for those who don’t and reward for those who do. Grayling (page 4) DCT is a natural consequence of God’s omnipotence – this means God has power over everything – otherwise there would be something else more powerful Morality is not influenced by personal choices and humans have no moral authority only God William of Ockham ‘With Him a thing becomes right solely because He wants it so.’ Objective – moral facts Metaphysical – what lies beyond the physical world – not testable

An analogy to help understanding Imagine that God is a general in the army and that Christians are his soldiers. The soldiers wait on the battlefield of life. They know that the general has the strategic plan that will enable them to be victorious. What should they do? Should they follow the orders, however strange the commands might seem at the time? The clear answer is that they should, for their own good; by doing so, victory will be achieved. Run forward!

The 10 Commandments What does absolute mean? What is a commandment? Where do Christians believe the 10 Commandments come from? Read the 10 Commandments sheet on page 5 How absolute are the Ten Commandments? Can they ever be broken? Does this raise any problems with DCT?

Joshua – 5:13-15, 6:21-24 Fall of Jericho Read the story of the fall of Jericho. What issues does the story raise for divine command theory? Link to the challenges

Challenges to the Divine Command Theory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRHBwxC8b8I The Euthyphro Dilemma – next slide The Arbitrariness Problem http://resource.download.wjec.co.uk.s3.amazonaws.com/vtc/2015-16/15-16_18/divine-command-theory/eng/1%20-%20Considering%20divine%20command/index.html Horn 1 Horn 2 The Pluralism Problem Examples of God's commands Other problems Peter Geach Problems with obedience Problem of supervenience

AO1 and AO2 Challenges to Divine Command Theory 1. The Euthyphro dilemma In Euthyphro, one of Plato’s first works, Plato tackles the issue of where moral values come from. He asks 2 important questions: a. Do the gods decide what is good and what is bad? b. Or do moral values come from an independent source which is totally separate from the gods? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRHBwxC8b8I Watch the video and complete the summary sheet on Challenges to the Divine Command Theory

If morality comes from an independent source beyond the will of the gods, then gods are not all-powerful; they too can be judged, and morality is independent of religion.

If the gods decide what is morally good, then they could command an act that would, by human standards, be wicked. It becomes a moral act just because the gods have willed it. Are gods inherently good and moral? (Remember that in Greek mythology the gods were not necessarily good and moral. The Christian God was a very different being.)

The arbitrariness problem – Baggini quotes What does arbitrary mean? What is the arbitrariness problem? Based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system. If morality is based solely on God’s commands it is not an adequate basis for what is right or wrong. How can the Joshua example be used to support this view? How can the story of Abraham support this view? Abraham and Isaac

The pluralism objection What does plural mean? What do you think religious pluralism might mean? Can you think of any moral rules regarding food in Christianity, Islam, Judaism or Hinduism? Can you think of any other differences in moral teaching between religions? (if is always good to have examples to use in your answers) Can you think of any different groups within Christianity that might have different opinions about moral issues Divorces, abortion, How might this raise a problem for DCT?

b. Robert Adams – Modified Divine Command Theory The American theologian, Robert Adams, a contemporary supporter of the Divine Command Theory, argues that God would not decide to do anything that goes against his nature as revealed in the Bible. For example, Jesus commands that Christians love their enemies. God will not go against this and suddenly decide that killing them is OK. Read pages 9 and 5 How has Adams modified the Divine Command Theory? A little clue for you!

Robert Adams – key points It aims to solve the problems of the Euthyphro Dilemma 4. Horn 1 – if an action is only right as God commands it, then morality becomes arbitrary Adam’s modified DCT avoids this problem as morality is not just based on the commands of God but is rooted in God’s unchanging omnibenevolence. So, morality is not arbitrary, nor could God command cruelty. It would not be possible for an omnibenevolent God to command cruelty. Horn 2 – there is a separate standard of goodness that God has to follow, therefore God is not omnipotent. God is the source of morality as morality originates from the character of God. Moral law is a feature of God’s nature 1. God is all-loving – based on the assumption that God loves humanity. ‘Any action is ethically wrong if and only if it is contrary to the commands of a loving God’. 2. So evil deeds can never be good Some actions and perhaps intentions and individual possess the property of ethical wrongness – if contrary to the commands of a loving God 3. Action is wrong if it goes against the commands of a loving God is a necessary truth – rather than being on contingent truth (this is a stronger claim as contingent truths are dependent on other things)

Summary of the Modified DCT – complete the missing words – God, loves, science, cruelty, modified, character, objective, contrary, logically, Robert Adams argued that this theory is ____________ because he renounces certain features of the old divine command theory. It requires the assumption that God _________ us. He defines DCT as: “The theory that the wrongness of an action is ________ to God’s commands or that the word ‘wrong’ means contrary to God’s commands” (Philosophy of Religion, An Anthology, ed. Talifiero and Griffiths p462) 1. It’s what religious people mean by ‘wrong’ not non religious. Objection 1 Abhorrent Commands What if God commands ________ for its own sake? (Extract – Joshua). This is unacceptable, Adams argues. DCT is only acceptable “if God has the __________ I assume him to have, that of loving his human creatures”. (p464) He admits that his theory would break down if ______ actually commanded cruelty for its own sake. “The statement that something is wrong says something about the will of God, but not about his love”. “The modified DCT believes it is ____________ possible that God should command cruelty for its own sake, but that it is unthinkable that God should do so”. (p465) 2. Wrongness rests on non-natural ___________ facts that are different from those facts which exist in _________ . These facts are revealed by the will of God.

Robert Adams argued that this theory is modified because he renounces certain features of the old divine command theory. It requires the assumption that God loves us. He defines DCT as: “The theory that the wrongness of an action is contrary to God’s commands or that the word ‘wrong’ means contrary to God’s commands” (Philosophy of Religion, An Anthology, ed. Talifiero and Griffiths p462) It’s what religious people mean by ‘wrong’ not non religious. Objection 1 Abhorrent Commands What if God commands cruelty for its own sake? (Extract – Joshua). This is unacceptable, Adams argues. DCT is only acceptable “if God has the character I assume him to have, that of loving his human creatures”. (p464) He admits that his theory would break down if God actually commanded cruelty for its own sake. “The statement that something is wrong says something about the will of God, but not about his love”. “The modified DCT believes it is logically possible that God should command cruelty for its own sake, but that it is unthinkable that God should do so”. (p465) 2. Wrongness rests on non-natural objective facts that are different from those facts which exist in science. These facts are revealed by the will of God.

AO2 arguments Against For

1. PETER GEACH Peter Geach argues that the Divine Command theory is unnecessary. He believes that actions are morally good or bad in themselves not because God commands them.

2. Some writers disagree with the idea that obedience is a virtue. Does God want us to be blindly obedient, never questioning anything? They see something perverse in the idea that God has set humans free from sin just so that they can become slaves of Christ!

3. THE PROBLEM OF SUPERVENIENCE Supervenience is a type of dependent relationship between properties of objects in philosophy. Christians sometimes take a teaching from the Bible that doesn’t talk about ethics and then apply it to an ethical problem. For example, “God made humans in his own image” is then applied to abortion and taken to imply that abortion is morally wrong. Some people think this is an illogical way to apply factual statements.  

AO2 Defence of the DCT William of Ockham William of Ockham, an English medieval philosopher, tried to solve this problem by saying that: whatever God wills is morally right and ii. God has total power to make evil good. E.g. this would allow crusaders to kill people (usually a bad act) because they are doing God’s will (a good act). Ockham said that God has total power (de potentia absoluta) but he limits himself.

He agrees to abide by his own moral framework and voluntarily limits his power to act. If he wanted to, Ockham argues, God could make good evil and vice versa but he chooses not to do this. Ockham’s solution was rejected by the Protestant reformers of the 16th century because it placed a limit on God’s freedom. As a consequence, God was no longer omnipotent.

AO2 How can the arbitariness problem be solved? Baggini’s response ‘This doesn’t seem to work, however, because the dilemma can just be restated: is God’s nature good because it is good or good because it is God’s’ God is all-loving – Modified DCT

Key words activity http://resource.download.wjec. co.uk.s3.amazonaws.com/vtc/2 015-16/15-16_18/divine- command-theory/eng/2%20- %20Introducing%20key%20term s/index.html

AO2 Strengths of Divine Command Theory It fits in with the Christian idea that God is omnipotent. This is the idea of divine sovereignty. 2. It fits in with the Christian idea of God as Creator of the universe who expects humans to care for the environment. 3. It is an objective moral system, not based on human emotions or consequences. 4. It is universalisable. 5. It emphasises the virtue of obedience - the idea of Christians being called to be ‘slaves of Christ’ (Ephesians 6.6). Christians see obedience as a good thing.

DCT Discussion generator activity http://resource.download.wjec. co.uk.s3.amazonaws.com/vtc/2 015-16/15-16_18/divine- command-theory/eng/3%20- %20Discussion%20prompts/ind ex.html