Is an action wrong because God forbids it or does God forbid it because it is wrong?

Question

So any action that is actually wrong could have been morally right, including, say, acts of torturing innocent children for fun.

if god forbids an action because it is wrong, then there is some standard of right and wrong that is independent of god's will

Answer 1

Surely if God exists and is omnicient and omnipotent, it is wrong because God forbids it. For the reverse to be true would deny God his most fundamental power.

If you believe in that sort of thing...

Militant agnostic: I don't know and NEITHER DO YOU!

Answer 2

God didn't forbid Cain from slaying Abel, but it was wrong and God eventually said "thou shalt not". God did tell Adam and Eve "thou shalt not" eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil before they committed the act. So therefore, an action is wrong because it breaks God's commandments. A lot of things happen today that are not God's will, so they are wrong, even though we might have become tolerant of them. Would God say it is wrong to say a prayer over the P.A. system before a high school football game? No. Would God say it is wrong for a man to have sex with another man? Yes. God is above judgement, we are beneath understanding. God's will is above judgement. Right and wrong only pertain to us mortals. God doesn't forbid, He simply punishes us for not obeying His laws and disregarding his directions.

Answer 3

God is right. He cannot do something morally wrong because that would be against his nature. So it is really a combination of both. God forbids it because if he does no do it by definition it would be wrong and it is forbidden by God because it does no fit wih his nature and therefore is wrong.

Answer 4

God forbids an action because it is wrong.
And yes, there is a moral standard that is independent of God's will.

Answer 5

It is a complicated question. First point:
The Torah (God's law, or commandments) wasn't handed down to Moses until thousands of years after creation, yet we see immorality being condemned by God long before that (before Noah's flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, etc.)
So these were immoral before God forbid them.
However, God is eternal and therefore all of his commandments were eternal, but he just had not given them to mankind yet. So in this sense, the commandments existed (as an integral part of God's mind) before mankind did, and therefor before immorality did.
Again, it is a complicated question.

Answer 6

I'm a muslim and when God says it is wrong ,it is wrong cause God knows best for us.There is one God warning that the muslim should not touch a dog when it is wet or allowed the dog's tongue licks any part of your body and if it happens,quickly changed into new cloth and wash up.So I thought this is one weird warning because I like small cute dogs like puppy dog sometime with ribbon on,oh what a cute dog!Now at age of 45yo,I know now one of the reason why,God gave the muslim that warning without explaining in details except that dogs is unhygienic.Just a few days ago,I saw commercial involving a dog and his loving owner.The story goes like this,the owner left the dog in the house alone as she went for groceries at nearby shop.The dog went to have a drink and it seems thirsty and quenched it thirst at the toiletbowl,I think it is quite normal for the dog to do that.The dog's owner came back suddenly thru the front door and placed the groceries on the floor and the dog heard his master calls,came down running and immediately out of joy licking,slurpingly on the lips,face of the lady with the tongue still wet from drinking at the toilet bowl and the advertising subtitle came on saying,you can't be sure that you are very clean or not ,until you use " branded "antiseptic bar of soap.Uggh!! now I know the dog drinking habit and his owner predicaments. I think I says thanks to God for making it possible for me to see the truth about dog's wet tongue and to dog's owner,Keep your darm,filthy dog away from me!!no thanks to you.dogs,uggh!!

Answer 7

If the correct answer is that God fobids an action because it's wrong then by whose standard is it wrong?

There is no "reality" apart from God.

There is no authority above God.

Answer 8

anything apart from God is wrong this is why we are all sinners . It doesn't have to be just our action but also our thoughts. We constantly are bombarded with negative thoughts some people act upon them. Jesus said that the Law (ten commandments) we should not commit adultery , but I say that even if you look at a women with lust you have committed adultery in your heart"

Answer 9

An action is wrong depending on your social surroundings. Just like it is not wrong to stone people to death in the middle east because that is the way they were brought up. it would be different according to where you live....

Answer 10

The former. Right and wrong can exist without the presence of religion in one's life. Besides, I've seen a lot of very disturbing things carried out because the person's god told them to do it...