How did man know what was good or evil if it wasn't for GOD's commandments?

Question

The difference between Man and a Animal is that we know the differrence between right and wrong..Animlas do know what love is and respond to love, they understand mothering in procreation and they look for thier instinct in surviving.

However they are animlas and can be very dangerous even when given no reason because they don't have that ability that Man has..

If God did not gives us commandments to live by wouldn't we live or act like an animal? if not who becomes the leader of right and wrong? how are we better than an animal without GOD?

Answer 1

There is one flaw with that logic.......People were already following the commandments before the story of Moses.

The scene he arrived on was not considered socially acceptable even during his time.

Think, if Moses really believed that the people had no idea that they were offending God with their actions, would he have reacted in such an angry manner.

I like to view philosophy and religon as a way of instilling common sense to people that have none.

Answer 2

Right and wrong are two concepts that always depend on the way of thinking of a certain person. Something that can be wrong for you would be the right thing to do for someone else, it depends on culture and people´s beliefs. In my opinion the idea of evil or goodness is a fake one. There is no way to know who is right or wrong, both are right at the same time because there is no such thing as a ''Universal Truth'', everything is relative. There are only things that harm you and things that make you progress although this idea doesn't fit with the Christian's way of thinking.

Answer 3

This is an illusion that religion often creates. The idea that without religion and religious ideas that we would act like animals. The only problem with this idea is that it is simply nonsense.

Many people that I have known over the years wo were not in the least bit religious were some of the nicest most loving people that I ever knew.

Some of the most hate filled people that I ever saw claimed to be good Christians.

There just isn't any real correlation.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 4

We didn't need Judaism to roll around to tell us that lying, stealing, and killing can be bad.

Don H is right. Religion does perpetuate this false dichotomy of "our rules or no rules", and it's a dangerous and absurd mentality, while at the same time implying the idea that many members of our society need religion to prevent them from becoming murderous beasts.

...and yet a large percentage of the prison population is Christian.

The commandments didn't seem to work, did they?

You need to do a little more research before you ask another question here.
1. Evolution of altruism
2. the REAL 10 commandments in Exodus
3. Code of Hammurabi, which predated the 10 commandments
4. religions predating Christianity

Just google all those and educate yourself.

Answer 5

How did man figure it out before your silly god fantasy was made? Man is a tribal animal and as such figured out, long before the scam artists that made up the silly christian god fantasy, that certain acts affect negatively the whole. Societies don't function well when you have some doing things that affect others, such as stealing or murdering.

You might want to study human history instead of relying on your book of B.S. You wont find any truth in that book.

Answer 6

Same way "god" knows the difference. By viture of reason. Unless you think that god's commands are arbitrary, that he might have as easily said murder was good and that would make it so, then you concede that good and evil are independent of gods word. He is not makeing it he is just explaning it. Since it is out there independent of god, non christians can figure it out for themselves. It is only the christians who seem to lack the ability to distinguish right from wrong without being told and threated with a spanking.

Answer 7

There is no denying that humans have the "gift" of intelligence, that is why we learn that our actions have consequences and choose to shape our behavior in ways favorable to a positive outcome. "I'm not a thief because I don't wish to live in a community of thieves," (Clearly an allegory to the Golden Rule.) This form of rational self-interest is the instinctive basis of moral behavior. It's a social contract between a man and his civilization and the urge to enter into such a contract is instinctive, because we are social animals. Organized religion hinders moral behavior because it clouds the real issues with superstitious mysticism.

Answer 8

There were many religions and many moral people way before the invention of "God" and his ten commandments.
Get the facts and true history. You will find out that "God" isn't all he's cracked up to be.
People can be extremely moralistic, kind, and loving without ever having a patriarchal deity in their lives.

Answer 9

Conscience, which is a product of evolution. We are animals, of course - just particularly clever ones. Part of the reason we're such an enormously successful species is precisely that conscience we acquired in our evolutionary past - it's what makes it possible for us to have the complex, co-operative society that we live in.

Answer 10

Why is this so hard for you Christians to understand?

You have emotions don't you? You don't want your loved ones, or yourself, to be hurt do you?


Well, then why don't you see its a no brainer?

You don't hurt someone else because you don't want them to hurt you. Its called "stopping the endless cycle of revenge".

It doesn't take a whole lot of brains but you Christians seem to think it does. An inability to think for yourself is a BAD thing.