The Will of God and Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Will of God and Ethics - Essay ExampleThe fundamental question of theology is, Does God tell us what to do and thusly it is right, or does God happen to be right and tell us the right thing to do? Does justice forgo theology, or theology precede justice? The distinction is important. If one states that good precedes God, one might be being blasphemic, as God might do something evil in some(prenominal)(prenominal) respect, obedience to God is a mere logical consequence, not a highest duty. But if one states that God precedes good, the question is, wherefore? As Sayre-McCord puts it, Many fork out thought the right answers to these questions are found in an appeal to God. On their view, moral principles are the expression of Gods will they are His commands to us and they get their license from their source. In important ways, though, this merely shifts the puzzles back a step. Whatever problems one might have making sense of eternal transcendent standards re-emerge when act to make sense of an eternal transcendent being who might issue commands...One is also left with the difficulty of explaining why Gods commands are authoritative (2007). ... in well-off of which He counts as morally perfect), in which case speaking of morality as consisting of Gods commands will not explain the origin or nature of these on an individual basis existing standards...Alternatively, one might eschew an appeal to Gods knowledge or goodness and claim that there is no independent standard for Gods will and nature...If we abjure the idea that Gods commands reflect His knowledge of right and wrong, and reject as well the idea that God is all good, it seems reasonable to wonder why his commands have any special authority (Sayre-McCord, 2007). Euthyphro exposes some of the obvious logical dilemmas of the theological position admirably. Socrates asks Euthyphro, What is the meaning of attention? For attention can hardly be used in the same sense when applied to the gods as when applied to other things. For instance, horses are said to require attention... When Euthyphros offers that piety is other obedience or care of the Gods, it begs the question, why would powerful entities care for what a human being has? Either the gods want the obedience of people who can offer them nothing, in which case the gods are any petty or helpless, or they do not, in which case the gods do not care. This difficulty is especially applicable to the modern world Assuming an omnipotent and good God essentially obviates the idea of obedience or sacrifice, since God can get anything He wants. Further, Socrates exposes the issues of theodicy and hermeneutics, the question of what God or the Gods want. And further, Euthyphro, the gods were admitted to have enmities and hatreds and differences? If the gods had differences, then how could one be pious? Try to represent the general opinions of the god, or only obey directives of all the gods? Since