Religious
The context of truth and morality stems from certain beliefs and values. Particular beliefs of individuals about God may differ, but the concept of God being a supernatural power remains the same across diverse religions and cultures. Experts may debate the very existence of God however God being as an omnipotent cultural idea cannot be debated (Laurin, Kay & Fitzsimons, 1). According to Plato one should be a firm believer of god and he recognized two reasons as to why we should believe in the superpower.
- According to Plato, the world, moon, sun and stars and in that order was created by something and that something is god.
- He proposed another reason for believing in gods. The reason is that majority believe in the gods and hence the belief of majority is not likely to be wrong.
Philosophers further hold that broad considerations of god and creation are totally dependent on certain resistant beliefs. From this argument it follows that the non existence of god is as a result of non conformity to any non resistant belief. According to the traditional ardent believer, God is a manifestation of a thing which exercises power by intervening in particular situations. This position suggests the existence of an omnipotent and omnipresent God (Yandell, 205).
Christians define God as being the creator of every living being except God and having the traits of being morally perfect, omniscient and omnipotent. However the globe has innumerable issues with respect to ugliness and waste, evil action by human beings and suffering and pain. The issue with evil, according to some philosophers have falsified the claim of the existence of Judeo – Christian God. Philosophers argue that a morally perfect being would not tolerance evil to exist, grow and prosper (Brown, 235).
However the dilemma is that theists do not believe that just because the world has its share of evils, it falsifies the existence of God. Christians do admit that evil exists around them and yet believes in the existence of morally perfect, all-knowing and all powerful God. Also they do not acknowledge the fact that the individuals who are forced to notice the immoral activities committed across the globe are trying to forget or ignore them. One of the central dogmas of Christianity is that evil permeates into the world. In the absence of immorality Christianity would be ridiculous as concepts like redemption from sin would be rendered irrelevant. Hence, the religion of Christianity would be falsified given the existence of a perfect world. This further leads to the causal inference of absence of any Christian in Eden as Paradise would not need a religion of salvation (Brown, 236).
The second criticism which may be provided is the inclusion of the Christian connotations with respect to man and world which further implies that creatures and creation are not perfect. However this view is falsified due to the belief of ‘fall from grace’ which further explains that it does not fall upon the Christian beliefs of world and man. The Christian belief of Jesus being the perfect man as well as the supernatural being supports this belief.
This leads to the dilemma that some people believe that the evils existent in the world weaken theism whereas others believe that the main foundations of Christianity are formed by the existence of evil. Hence both arguments seem to come to a conflict at this juncture. One view claims that the existence of a morally perfect, omniscient and omnipotent God is not compatible with the evils that exist in the universe. The other belief is that the religion of Christianity assumes the existence of a perfect Creator and also believes that evils are present in and around human beings. However, sceptics believe that the above two doctrines do not comply with each other. This is because by definition, a perfect Creator cannot create a world which is imperfect and at the same time the Christian belief of rescue holds that creation is partly evil. From this an omniscient, omnipotent and a perfect being would neither create nor permit any immorality and hence the religion of Christianity would negate itself. One of the most forceful dilemmas which are presented in the religion of Christianity is the issue with evil and a broader issue is that the globe does contain evil. With reference to the Christian religion, the idea of the Creator being the Supreme Being is incompatible with the ideas of the need for redemption from sin and this renders Christianity to be a religion which contradicts itself (Brown, 236).
The above mentioned issue does not render Christianity to be fatal because the religious person may interpret another meaning to the connotation that ‘God is good’ which may not be in line with the assumptions of the sceptics. Moral philosophers have opined that the will of the Creator does not signify a particular path of action for a human being. Hence from this stems the notion that God is associated with a partial moral connotation. In our language and civilization a particular being is not referred to as ‘God’. The association of good with God is a lingual fact and not a moral contingency because the usual guideline for godhood is associated with the commands and actions of a being to be perfectly good. This stems the notion that a being may be referred to as God when that being is found to have no moral imperfections. This again poses an association with the comparison of God with saints (Brown, 238).
However there exists an important discrepancy with the linkage of goodness with God and that with saints. The saint is good as he follows the will of the Creator, but the Creator is a being who is associated with good because he has the standard of goodness in him. From this we may infer that there is a presence of a transcendent, omnipotent and omniscient God and he is associated with the quality of goodness. Another inference also stems from the above argument and that is the connotation of ‘There is a God’ is a moral commitment on which the fundamentals of Christianity rests upon. Hence for the followers of Christianity, to abide to certain moral principles is the same as abiding to God’s will. The logic of Christian morality is that persons, actions and things whether evil or good, wrong or right depends on whether God condemns or approbates them.
Works cited:
Yandell, Keith, E. “The Wisdom to Doubt: A Justification of Religious Skepticism, by J. L. Schellenberg. The Elusive God: Reorienting Religious Epistemology, by Paul K. Moser”. Mind, 121.481(2012): 205 – 217. Print.
Brown, Patterson. “Religious morality”. Mind, LXXII. 286 (1963): 235 – 244. Print.
Laurin, Kristin, Kay, A.C. & Fitzsions, G.M. “Divergent Effects of Activating Thoughts of God on Self-Regulation”. American Psychological Association, (2011): 1- 18. Print.
