a question on morality for christians?

Question

can you not see a reason for morality without the existence of a god? if god revealed himself to the world tomorrow and said, "nevermind his ten commandements", would you go ahead and break them because they are no longer laws of god? you can't say god would never do that. several times in the bible, god is shown to have gotten rid of rules he felt did not apply anymore and make new rules.

idahomike, incest is not a part of the moral code? tell me again, how did the human population sprout from only two people?

cheryllynn, where is this ten commandments written before the old testament? have you ever heard of hammurabi's cod?

mr. taco, no it's not like that at all. i can see the sun. i can't see god. you can ask 10 different people to point out the sun, and provided they are all of sound mind and have good vision they will point out the same object. however, ask 10 different people to give their description of god and you will get 10 different answers ranging from he doesn't exist at all to him being omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscent.

mr taco, rules that do not apply anymore... stoning disobedient children to death, the eating of shellfish is an abomination, you are not to go near women on their period, etc. all of these were rules of god in the old testament. we don't follow them anymore... happy?

Answer 1

do you understand what is the purpose of 10 commandement? God will never forsake the 10 commandement. you know why? it is not just the law of God. it is God himself. it is what he is. To broke the 10 commandement is like you say to the world that you don't like law of nature, i don't like to live the human life. i like law of Dog, i will live like Dog and become a Dog tomorrow.

Answer 2

Asking this is like asking, "If a scientist came around and told you the sun didn't exist, would you believe there was no sun?" A scientist would never say that. If they did, you would think they were a quack. Same thing holds true for God. God wouldn't come down and contradict morality. If a supposed God did, I would know that wasn't God. You are calling up a hypothetical situation that simply could not and would not exist. What if the sun started talking to us and told us that we should all paint ourselves purple? Well you know what? That ain't ever happening, so who cares?

Regardless, I also disagree that God is shown to have "gotten rid of rules he felt did not apply." I notice you don't give any examples. Hmm...Things change. That is a fact. But morality is not one of the things that change. Not stealing. Not murdering. Not bearing false witness. Loving your neighbor. Honoring your parents. The main themes of the Bible are amazingly consistent. Most of the examples atheists cherry pick as contradictions are taken out of context. That is a common error that even a lot of Christians make, however, so don't feel too badly.

Not that you would. Even if morality can exist without God, I don't see any evidence here that you have even the most basic understanding of morality anyway.

P.S. There is nothing in the Bible that condones incest. Incest, in fact, has traditionally resulted in bad things happening to the people in the Bible that have practiced it. Your argument about Adam and Eve is only valid toward those who view the creation story in a literal way. Many Christians don't. It appears to me that you are ignorant on more points that you are knowledgeable.

Answer 3

No, there isn't one. Without God, everything is material, with no higher purpose or value than colliding particles of matter. If I wanted to kill you, what would it change? Your matter would simply change forms, your body decompose, and other organisms arise from it. The process continues until the sun expands to the point that it roasts the oceans of the earth and boils them away, then all life here will cease. Perhaps some will arise elsewhere, but as the universe expands, it will pull the atoms apart to compensate for the even distribution of matter and energy, and everything will end a grave, cold, nothingness.

So, if you believe that there is a logical, rational grounds for morality in a world like that, perhaps you should posit it rather than asking us to. I've posed the question. I've seen others do so, and so far, there aren't any real takers. None of them were very strong at all.

The only two remotely reasonable responses are, well, irrational. The first is preference, the person prefers to do good. Preference also leads to evil, and the larger the group, the stronger the pressure on its leaders to do evil. Thus, all power corrupts those in power, and all atheist regimes have been brutal, tyrannical, and immoral.

The alternative is that atheism, simply the absence of a belief in God, doesn't have any rational moral bearings at all. This is nonsense. Every belief, if rational, is predicated on another belief. If, say, I decide that I don't believe Jews are fully human, then I have justified slaughtering them all. If I deem humanity a scourge and evil, then it has a direct impact on how I treat others. If I deem that there is no God, then I deem this material universe is all there is. This, of course, changes our view of the world, humans, values, everything. These beliefs have long been predicated upon God. If we could isolate beliefs like that, then it wouldn't matter what people believed. I could believe in Nazism or that humans are wicked beasts and all life a plague on the universe, and it would have no effect on my beliefs on how to treat people. Neither of these makes any direct assertion on how we treat humans; it just makes an assertion about people (or groups of people).

So, if you really want us to consider your thesis, that morality is sound, logical, and rationally possible without the existence of God, then I strongly suggest that you start providing the philosophical underpinnings. This can't start with atheists who have helped people. That's sentimentality. Remember, I can find good, charitable examples of people in almost any philosophy. There were *lots* of Nazis who cared for their neighbors, their family, and their people. That doesn't change that their beliefs were evil and resulted in violence. Likewise you can't say it doesn't matter, because again, it would deny all our human experience where one belief leads to another.

Without those two flaws, can you make a case for a moral atheism, one that can limit human behavior, prevent the Stalins of the world, and give value to another person greater than the material of which they are composed? If *you* can't, then why should you expect us to treat it as anything but a philosophy of barbarism? Religion, at least, supplies a system of values that can do it for those who believe.

Answer 4

Look into History: What were people like before the ten commandments...

How did people views change because of the bible...

Without the morality the God put into people long before our time, Then today would be the same as those days.

Answer 5

Doing good deeds, living a good life, and being a moral person can occur with Christians and non Christians alike. The ten commandements are God's standards which will be the same tomorrow as they were yesterday and are today. If you believe God's revelation of himself, as stated in the bible, you will want to live your life according to his purpose and direction. In return you will receive his blessings and guidance for a better life on earth and eternity with him.

Answer 6

Oh, thats a tuff one. Well, I'm a Christian and do try to follow the ten commandements. If God himself came down from heaven and told the world that they don't have to follow the ten commands then I would still more and likly follow them, due to the reason that I love to do good works (Even if it dosn't get you to heaven). I makes me feel good to be a blessing. You reap what you sow.

No matter what Belivers do nothing can seperate them from the love of God.

Answer 7

There is only one absolute law that we must abide that covers all morality, and that is quite simply to love one another as we love ourselves. It requires two things: to want good things for others, and value ourselves enough to want good things for ourselves, too.

Eros (self-fulfilling love) and agape (selfless unconditional desire for the betterment of others). It's when eros is ruled by agape that we find balance. One has to rule the other, but self-fulfilling love leaves us with no witness, no mark on the world except a negative one...because all we did was take for ourselves. But if the greater concern is the welfare of mankind, to live the life of a willing servant of one's fellow man, we leave a lasting positive mark on the world.

This is a moral law that is common regardless of race, religion, gender, or social circumstances. It just so happens that God has pointed it out to us. Truth is self-evident, but sometimes it takes some guidance to see our way to it. Our faith, as Christians, is in a God who gave us the most perfect example of this kind of love. I believe this because I want to. Not believing it does not improve my life.

Answer 8

In ancient times it was common to kill a baby, place them in a jar and put the jar in the cornerstone of your house for good luck. This was common and Moral in that society.
Without absolute truth, without God there is no reference for morality. Morality is just as the wind blows.
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Answer 9

nothing new in your question. in the new testament, the commandment of love covers all the law of God, plus the ten commandments.
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Answer 10

Not the moral code... only the cerimonial and priestly and dietary were changed or eliminated.... in any case.... God makes The Rules... play by God's rules... or you lose