Is God Necessary for Morality? from The Veritas Forum on Vimeo
Is God Necessary for Morality? Part 1 of 2 from The Veritas Forum on Vimeo.
Is God Necessary for Morality? Part 2 of 2 from The Veritas Forum on Vimeo.
I've posted a link on Edwin Curley's lecture on God's character here. The real interesting thing to me is that Loftus says that William Lane Craig lost these debates against Shelly Kagan and Louise Antony. I'm really amazed. I don't see that at all. Kagan did not show that we know what morality is without God. I think Antony did better. At least she recognizes that somethings are wrong and somethings are right no matter what anyone of us thinks. I think where she loses it is trying to argue that God himself cannot be the standard of reality. She made the statement that she can't prove or explain where our morality comes from and it's not her burden of proof. I disagree. I also got the feeling that she thinks of God being worshiped because he commanded what was right. She also said that she came to think of repentance as being only given to god to avoid hell. As a Christian I want worship and praise God not because of what God does but because of who God is. I don't obey God because I fear hell but out of love and a desire to please the one who is worthy of my trust and obedience. That is not a part of traditional religion in general nor Roman Catholicism in particular and that is underscored in Antony's Roman Catholic upbringing as she underscored it. Neither she, nor Shelly nor Curley know what it is like to know God on personal one-on-one basis. If they did they would not wonder if it's okay to steal if God said so because they would know God would never ask them to steal. God would never ask you to murder. God would never ask you to cheat on your spouse. Yet these things are wrong because God has decreed they are wrong. He has the right because as Dr. Craig said he is the ultimate being there is nothing or no one God is accountable to. If there was, He would not be God and would not be worthy of worship.
As for Curley's lecture, I was unimpressed. Is God a dictator - doing anything He wants to do, how he wants to do it, when he wants to do it? Yes. Does it matter what you or I think about what He does or does not do? Nope. Does it bother me? Sometimes - when things don't go my way. However it gives me hope knowing that it goes the way He has decreed it and all things work together for my good. Roams 8:28-29. What hope does the Atheist have, especially one who has no objective foundation to build on? We can agree that it's wrong to steal, but why does it matter? Not everyone cares that it will hurt people. To convince them, you have to have a better argument than that.If Morality is not a gift from heaven then from where did it come? And if God did not give it to you how did you get it? The argument that we made it up as we go isn't going to fly either. We distort it and rationalize it as we go but that is about it.
Debunking Christianity: Is God Necessary for Morality? Hell NO!
