DIVINE COMMAND THEORY
For centuries, there has been an unrelenting attack against the concept of absolute truth and morality, in favor of moral relativism. Rather than accepting the, Divine Command Theory DCT, (also known as theological voluntarism), which is an, "...ethical theory which proposes that an action's status as morally good is equivalent to whether it is commanded by God. (Wikipedia)"; Modern thinkers have rejected the very idea of objective morality. i.e. Darwin, ...reduced morals to an extension of animal instincts; Freud, ...regarded repression of impulses as the source of neurosis; and Marx, ...disdained morality as an expression of self-interest. (Colson)"
Consequently, we’ve been busy brain washing people for decades into believing that they are nothing more than evolved animals resulting from a cosmic accident, removing all accountability for their own actions. So, here at the beginning of a new century; they are killing innocent children in schools, slaughtering the masses at music festivals, and martyring the faithful in their houses of worship, for virtually no discernable reasons.
Ideas often have deadly consequences and the chickens of moral relativism are coming home to roost in devastating ways that we could have never imagined! Mankind's unwillingness to merely acknowledge his creator and the sovereignty to which God ultimately wields over him, will inevitably culminate in his utter destruction, but even this fact is obscured from those who will only acknowledge what is right in their own eyes.
Its true, I am unapologetic about my belief in moral absolutism, and equally unapologetic about my belief in the fact that the proponents of moral relativism should be held accountable for their treacherous philosophies, which have effectively obliterated the lives, both temporal and eternal, of literally billions of people upon the face of the earth. And they will be held accountable for it...
These beliefs were ingrained in me from a very young age by my father who was a Southern Baptist minister, and my family which all held equally strong beliefs in the Christian faith and the Bible. However, I eventually rejected this belief system throughout my teen years and early twenties, choosing rather a deeply depraved lifestyle of, “sex, drugs and rock-n-roll”. I continued down this self-destructive path for many years until the consequences of my own actions and the guilt that they produced, led me to the inevitable conclusion, that the moral truths and Christian ethics I had learned and accepted as a child, were indeed far more valid than ever before.
Not surprisingly, the much maligned, Divine Command Theory, holds significant weight for me. Since, if you are going to believe in absolute truth, there must be some absolute source of that truth, along with the moral and ethical implications that follow. If there is a universal moral law, there must be a Universal Moral Law Giver! In typical fashion, most philosophers and "free-thinkers" today will complete undermine this theological assumption before they even fully explain it, sighting disagreements between religious communities about which text to use, the lack of universal exposure, interpretive challenges, and the persistence of ethical dilemmas not addressed in ancient texts, as reasons not to believe, but these straw man arguments are merely distractions, designed to obscure ultimate reality.
After all, who determined that our ultimate goal in life is to live together in harmony, agree with each other about morality and religious texts and, “…arrive at some common ethical norms… (Lawhead 410)”? If you take that as your premise, then yes, the DCT is woefully inadequate, but this is not at all the premise that the Bible prescribes for our existence on this planet, so these arguments are mute points! They only distract from the truth of God’s Word, which is the very definition of what is good! God did not just arbitrarily say in His Word that, “…hatred, adultery, stealing, and murder are good… (410)”; things that we all naturally understand to be bad. In fact, He strictly forbade these things as being evil, and this agrees with every instinct that we know and relate to in the world, up to the present moment!
Remember? It was the God of the Bible who taught us how to treat our fellow homo sapiens. It was God that commanded us:
"Honor your father and your mother..."
"You shall not murder."
"You shall not commit adultery."
"You shall not steal."
"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, ...nor anything that is your neighbor's." (Ex 20:12-17)
Oh how much better off we would be in society if we would heed those words rather than the worthless chatter of the "Wisemen" of this age.
By Pastor Glen Mustian
Works Cited:
Lawhead, William. The Philosophical Journey. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Print. 2014.
NKJV New King James Version. Holy Bible. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN: 2000. Print.
