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Kimberlee Richardson
Greg Spendlove
PHIL 1130
20 March 2011
Divine Command Theory
In his article, “Morality is Based on God’s Commands,” Robert C. Mortimer
argues that right and wrong are insistent on God’s will. What God says is right is
right, and what He says not to do, is wrong. Mortimer states that what the Christian
religion is about is the Revelation of God and the nature of Him. God has given
examples in the Bible of Himself doing good, and so He is good, and men should
follow his example. What man believes is good is what he will do, and his actions
will follow his beliefs.
Mortimer, referring to the first chapters from Genesis in the Bible, states that
the first foundation of the Christian religion is the doctrine of God. God is the Creator
of all things. He created us, all that we are, and all that we believe. Because of this, he
has a claim on our obedience. We are his creatures and so we should do what He
says we should do, or not do. Something is not right because we think it to be, it is
right because God commands it. Mortimer quotes, “… that there is a real distinction
between right and wrong which is independent of what we happen to think. How we
live should depend on God’s will. If we live righteously according to His desires for
us, we will have a happy life and reach our eternal goal.
Mortimer then describes the second work of Revelation as what God
demands of men; He demands it out of His own righteous self and Holiness. He isn’t
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just telling us what we should do, but that we should be as He is. Or, at least, strive
to be Him.
Thirdly and lastly, Mortimer describes the third work of Revelation. Each
human being has extreme, individual value. All children of God are equal and are the
object of His love. We continue to grow, learn, and strive to be better. There is
always a need for further refinement and we look to God to help us achieve
perfection.
In his article, “Why Morality Does Not Depend on Religion,” John Arthur
refutes the Divine Command Theory and claims made by Robert Mortimer and other
theists. Arthur claims that morality is not dependent on religion and vice versa. He
states that, “far from religion being necessary for people to do the right thing, it
often gets in the way.”
Arthur begins his article with definitions of morality and religion. To have a
moral code, a society evaluates the behavior of others and judges as to whether they
are right or wrong, whether a person would feel guilt in doing or not doing
something. Religion, he states, is the belief in a supernatural power and worship of
said supernatural power. Morality and religion include completely separate
activities.
Arthur goes on to explain the connection, if any, between morality and
religion. He argues that yes, there are some connections between the two, but that
the connection is not necessary. Morality and religion do not depend on each other.
One example he uses is that God motivates people to do the right thing, that God and
religion are a deciding factor in people’s everyday decisions. He argues that most
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people do not think of God and religion when making a decision. They usually think
about the consequences, if they will have any regrets, and if it will hurt anyone in
anyway, among other things. Arthur suggests that people will think those things
when making decisions, regardless of religion.
In his article, Arthur also argues that religion actually hinders moral choices
and that the Divine Command Theory is false. He concludes his article with,
“morality does not need religion and religion does not need morality.