Do you believe that morality did not exist before a bible?

Question

I believe so, thus, do we really need religions to teach us morals? I never got anything out of the religious teachings I was subjected to. I found them flawed even at the age of 8.

Do you believe people were truly lost before written words that carried so much underlying hate?

If it is not clear, I meant that I believe that morality did exist before religion.

Answer 1

Each culture defines its own morality. No single religion can define morality without imposing on someone's culture somewhere. Could you define a morality that would apply to everyone on the planet for all time? No you can't, simply because cultures constantly change, religion does not.

Christianity didn't teach what we consider morality before the Dark Ages, it just entrenched the hypocrisy and married it to politics. Pagans the world over had perfectly ethical belief systems before the church/states forced them to conform.

Is the abolition of an entire culture moral? Who are we to say what is moral when religion encourages us to be intolerant?

No, religion does not and cannot define morality.

Answer 2

You are correct, morality did exist before the Bible was written.
Many early characters in the Bible were moral people, and the Bible had not been written at the time of their existence.

Morality (the ability to know right from wrong) is a Godly trait. Mankind has it as a result of Adam & Eve's disobedience.

Answer 3

Yes, God taught Adam morality and Adam hadn't organized a religion yet or started writing.

What really makes me mad is that Atheists have banned morality from our schools because every good religion includes morality in their texts. Each decade moral values drop lower and lower since it was banned from schools. The value of a human life is lower and the value of another's feelings are even lower. So crime is on the rise. Gangs run rampant. Kids don't pull punches and some of their victims have gone on shooting sprees at school.

Wake up U.S.! Every great country that has fallen, first lost it's moral values. The Roman Empire, for example. Moral values are values for a healthy society. They are about "not hurting yourself or any one else" (includes respect). They can also be about lifting the self-esteem of each other. The latter makes the world a happier place.

Answer 4

I believe that all of us are born with an inner knowledge of good and evil. Otherwise there would never be any Mother Teresa's of the world representing high morality. And evil represented by Hitler and others like him. The Bible is God's manual given to us to help guide our footsteps through life filled with temptations on all sides.

A friend once told me that the Bible is:
Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. B.I.B.LE.

Answer 5

Define morality. Morality is a set or standard of truth which is righteous. Yes, it existed before time even started. There was God's ways and there was Satan's ways. Satan was cast out of Heaven as a transgressor. A transgressor is someone who breaks the laws of God. There was no man at the time, so there was no law, except how God chose to rule in Heaven. That is ONE KIND of morality.

When sin entered the physical world, thanks to Adam, Eve and Satan, death became part of life. Religious teachings should reflect the truths of God, His precepts and ideas, because HE is the one who sets down what is moral, righteous and what is immoral or sinful. The purpose of these precepts is to guide man back to God and in a state similar to Adam and Eve, eventually.

Religion must reflect the standard, if it does not, it is a false religion.

Answer 6

Morality can exist separate from the bible. The ancient Greek had a system of ethics. Aristotle wrote extensively on ethics. Philosopher's who are not Christian have produced tomes on ethics. The bible is not the sole source of morality. Even in other religious traditions morals are taught. I have no doubt that morality has existed seperate from religion.

Answer 7

Morality existed way before the written word. It also depends on where you are talking about. China was advanced in many ways compared to Western civs. For the majority people know right from wrong and whatever religious beliefs they have could possibly reflect on their behavior.

Answer 8

It amazes me, the depth and breadth of some peoples ignorance. Right and wrong are not defined as such because some church says so, they are concepts that stand on their own. If you have an ounce of compassion and a whit of empathy you can tell how you make someone feel.

The mere fact that some people question the human capacity to know right from wrong without religion is the best argument FOR religion I have ever heard. If you can not tell right from wrong without being threatened with everlasting torture then I thank every God that has ever been worshiped that institutions exist that will fill your empty head with lies in order to keep a sociopath such as yourself in check.

EDIT: To the questioner, I read your question and I agree with you but the fact that I have seen this brought up so many times saddens me.

Answer 9

Morality does not exist because of a certain book--any book.

Morality is innate to human beings; we all have a code "hard-wired" into us about how to survive in a society and to promote the survival of others in the society.

If anything, I think that our natural morality is corrupted by religions who promote unfounded doctrine based on ignorance or hatred.

Answer 10

Every culture in history has had some sort of moral or ethics code. Even before the bible was written.

Peace be with you.