Is God subject to any moral constraints whatsoever?

Question

Even self-imposed ones?

Why do some religious people think other human beings deserve to be roasted alive for eternity for any "sin," including some utterly inconsequential ones, yet these same people see no moral problem at all with the actions of their god? A god who, by their own beliefs, encourages murder (sometimes to the point of genocide), who himself supposedly killed practically every living thing on this planet.

If a human being did half the things gods are CELEBRATED for doing, that person would be executed for crimes against humanity! So why no moral outrage?

Oldguy, I don't see where I'm backwards on this. If man is to conform to God's values, then God must HAVE values, he must be subject to SOME moral code, even one he himself created. If God's moral code condemns murder, it must do so even if GOD HIMSELF IS THE MURDERER. If God's moral code condemns lying, it must do so even if GOD HIMSELF IS THE LIAR. If God's moral code condemns torture, it must do so even if the torture is carried out on God's orders, or by his own hand. Otherwise, it's just the most immense "do as I say, not as I do" policy imaginable.

And the Bible includes stories of God ordering (or himself carrying out) the destruction of entire nations, complete with women and children, even the killing of infants who never got a chance to do anything worthy of "justice," and mass slaughter of animals who lack the capacity for "sin".

Nightmare, you were not remotely worth the wait.

According to I Kings 22:23, God lies by proxy, putting a "lying spirit" in the mouth of prophets.

As for destroying cities, God would be perfectly capable of destroying ONLY those people in the city that offended him, and sparing the others. Any city of meaningful size is bound to include some diversity of beliefs. And small children not yet old enough to have done anything to anger God. Yet by destroying EVERYTHING, when a surgical strike was within his power, God kills innocents.

Punishing a child for the sins of his father, no matter how egregious those sins might be, is never just. Never. To punish the father for his own sins, perhaps, but to pass on that punishment to the innocent is an act of grotesque injustice.

I do not see God as a cruel taskmaster. I see God as an imaginary tyrant created by priests to control the populace and increase their own power. I see Satan as just another aspect of this fearmongering.

Answer 1

If there are Absolute Rules of Morality then they are absolute for everybody at everytime no matter what. Otherwise the are relativistic morality.

So, yes, by any rational thinking that I can imagine, god must be subject to his own rules.

This sees to be a big problem if you read the bible, huh ?

Answer 2

How funny. I just asked a question like this a few days ago, with many attempting to call me a fool (one person even saying I was less mature than a 8 year old or so) by simply asking what seems to be a very thought provoking question. The person I chose as best answer said that the modern western god is modeled after tyrant kings and that is why we cannot question his judgment and actions. I think it is interesting that people put so much energy into this being that may or may not exist, and who knows where he came from in the first place. And yes, many terrible things happen in this world that God gets away with, just because he is named God.

Answer 3

Have to agree with Old guy on this.

The OT was explained very clearly as to why each action was done...People were warned time after time....By the time they believed He'd really "do it" it was a bit too late to say "sorry".

Same thing is happening now, and which Isaiah, Jesus, and Revelations speak about.

May you find Truth and Peace :)

**One thing so many fail to remember...up until God's people wanted an earthly "king" like other societies had, God was very much in the midst of His people-talking with them and guiding them much the same way as the Holy Spirit is within the lives of Spirit Filled Christians now...but, God granted their request, even though the person they chose was NOT exactly the best choice. and though they were soon begging God to intercede for them with their new earthly ruler, they still wanted Him to do as they asked and then go away till needed again... Do you see an ongoing trait in human beings whether they be Jew or Gentile...then and now? :)

Answer 4

God is.....

There is no one above him,his judgment is sure.

Is man subject to moral constraints? I can not tell? God knows what is in us,so he set a standard to let us know what is sin. God is celebrated for the good. And man is often executed for crimes against humanity.But tell me who executes for crimes against God? God chose his people to worship and serve him just like today. The world hated them and abused them. These people were and ungrateful people and abused the land and worshiped idols. Made jokes about God and crucified Jesus. God sent prophets to people to warn them but they killed them and tormented them. So you talk about moral outrage,something you do not understand or care about. Genocide! There were a lot of people that would have killed all of the Israelites if it had not been for the hand of God. Man has been blaming God for their selfish and angry ways every since time began. If any thing is self -imposed it is from us. 1 Samuel 16:7 The Lord looks not on the outside appearance he looks at the heart.

Answer 5

God will not sin.
If you read the whole bible and pray to understand you will.
God is not PC (He is not under the authority of the PC powers that be).He will not change because the world is becoming PC and thinking they can decide what He has to believe and decide how He needs to change.Can any anti-God...anti-christian do all the creating God has done and council Him on how to be.If booms (I mean "bangs" can make things why aren't scientist using firecrackers to make maybe a lambourgini (ought to be easy).


Please read:
Romans (1,3,6,10)

Answer 6

I think you are backwards by suggesting that God conforms to human values rather than man conforming to God's values. God's values state that the wages of sin is death, and God meets out death, both temporal and eternal as a consequence of sin. Even a superficial look at scripture will reveal that God's judgment on nations and even on the whole world was the result of sin going beyond control, and God justly dealt with it.

Answer 7

You've opened a big can of worms. That is fine. I will try my best to answer, if you will do your best to listen to what I have to say. God does have many things He will not do. He will not lie, and Satan uses that to his advantage. Also, even though it may not seem like it, God's actions are always motivated by love. Yes, you heard me. God does not murder any more than capital punishment can be considered murder. God creates life, He has the sovereignty to take it away. Also in this day in age, where sin is tolerated, and even sometimes glorified, it is very hard for a non-believer to understand how God views sin. It loses its seriousness, and when that happens it appears that God is over-reacting. Right? Why would God destroy that city, just because they didn't follow Him? Well, no. They were wicked. God had warned them, and they had flat out refused to repent. They were in fact anti-God. They had turned off their consciences and could not be reached. The entire society was like a cancer. Sinfulness spreads, and since they had made their choice, God knew it had to be cut out. The same thing happened during the flood. God destroyed the wicked after 120 years of appeals. But after the decision was made, His justice resulted in disaster for evil. Also don't get the impression that God enjoys destroying the wicked. The Bible says that God does not delight in the death of the wicked. He must surely weep for the lost just as Jesus wept over Jerusalem and its impending destruction. If you read the minor prophets, you get an idea of how desperately God wants people to obey Him. He is overly patient and long suffering, but there comes a time when that expires, and people are set in their ways, and their existence does more harm than good.

There are two reasons why He wants us to obey Him.
1. Sin is a part of Satan's government. All he wants to do is cause us harm. God warns us to avoid those consequences. For example, God desires sex to be within marriage to help us avoid all the diseases and emotional problems that can come with promiscuity.
2. In order to spare us from His justice. Make no mistake about it, the unrepentant will be punished. It is the just reward of many deliberate decisions. He did make a way for us to be spared from that too.
One last thing. Anyone with a brain can see that a life of sin is not worth an eternity of punishment. That is not just. The Bible says death and hell themselves are thrown into the lake of fire. God does destroy the wicked with fire, and their punishment has eternal consequences, but all traces of evil will be gone. There is no eternal perpetuation of evil in a different part of the universe. It is gone for good.
One last thing, Satan wants you to view God as a cruel taskmaster who requires people to serve Him beyond their ability, and then crushes them when they fail. That is a lie. It has always been his accusation. If this is even remotely your view, you must know that it is not the truth. The whole picture of God, even the Old Testament is that God is love. Never forget that.


Response- I though you might use that verse. Here is a link to a page that goes over the issue of "God lying." It would take much too long for me to even try and sum up. http://www.christian-thinktank.com/godlies.html

Let me say that God's justice is not something easily understood by us humans. I can give you the principle behind his actions, but I do not completely understand his ways. I have included another link that explains the sins of the father topic. I don't want to simply be a copy and paster.... but it is so much easier. So here you go.
http://www.bethanybible.org/askpastor/sins.htm

Lastly, to assume the Bible was simply written by power hungry priests would be an over simplification of how it was compiled and when it was written. That theory doesn't hold water.
I am not a big fan of just giving links, but if they have already done the work in answering the same questions, no sense in me doing the same thing.

Answer 8

Fortunately, the Bible was more or less finalized in an era of absolute tyrants, when people would see God's actions as just and not as atrocities as they would today.

I say "fortunate" because, as we are more enlightened about human rights and seek scientific proofs for phenomena, we can see that the Bible is largely based on myth.

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Answer 9

Man is unable to properly judge another man let alone God. God is righteous and his judgment even more so. The creator is not judged by the creature. We have no idea what righteousness is with respect to God. Jesus Christ demonstrated it and what did man do? He judged Jesus, God himself, if you really think about it. So, in a way, we may have judged God. But he arose regardless.

Answer 10

Most presumptuous of you to be able to fathom the mind and motivations of God.

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven." John Milton, Paradise Lost